It seems the OK bioligists have spent more time on the lake than our Texas guys. While I have not spoken to any of them directly, there seems to be some consenus. First, we definately lost many smallmouth in the flood. The river guides are catching more and bigger smallmouth than they ever have. Given what we saw weighed in last year, that is probably a foregone conclusion.

The winter shad kill definately stressed most of the gamefish population going into the summer. It could have been, in my opinion, made worse with the fish having to relocate due to the zebra mussels. Then you go into August, when there is always a fish kill anyway, and the result is the worst kill we have seen in years, at least for stripers anyway. It does not seem to have killed the little guys, mostly stripers 4 pounds and up. I know guides that have caught less than 10 stripers over 5 pounds since summer. They are catching limits, just not big fish.

In regards to the bass, it is my understanding that there is some OK bioligists that have concluded the bass kill was much worse than anticipated. I have also heard it is hard to estimate because bass sink rather than float. This has been my experience on some Mexico lakes where we have seen kills. However, there is no way to know for sure, and I don't want to put words in the mouths of OK bioligists since I have not talked to them. Based on my experience and my time on Texoma, I would definately agree with that conclusion though.

On a better note, I expect that the Zebra mussel issue is not going to affect Texoma to the degree we were concerned about. They are here to stay, but I would expect them to build up in the winter, making for very clear water conditions through early summer. It appears a water temp of 80+ really takes a toll on them, along with the huge population of Texoma bluecats. Seems going into late summer they retreat, leaving texoma with typical water conditions until spring again. Just my opinion based on what I know and have seen. Time will tell I guess.