Fishing Report

Monday July 29, 2002

Water pool level: 618.19, normal annual pool level is 617 feet.

Water temperature: 86 degrees.  Water clarity: clear.

The Corps is currently generating two units from 8am till midnight.

Airboat fishing the Red River below the Denison Dam has improved over the past two years.  Anglers are catching limits of stripers daily.  Twenty-plus pound silversides are not unusual.  Ten-plus pound stripers are common. Using live shad produces fish faster and usually larger fish than artificial baits do.  Landing a fifteen to fifty pound blue catfish while striper fishing with bait gets any fisherman's adrenalin flowing.  You can fish from an airboat or from the bank on both the Oklahoma and Texas side of the river.  Remember to purchase an Oklahoma fishing license.  All of the Red River is considered to be in Oklahoma to vegetation on the Texas bank. For non-residents, five day permits can be purchased for $10.00. Other types of non-resident licenses are available from the ODWC.  The daily limit for striped bass in Oklahoma is five fish per person with no size limit.  The combination catfish limit is fifteen.  Catching and releasing striper is allowed as long as the fish is alive when released.  No culling is allowed. The river can get crowded on the weekends.  When planning a river trip, I suggest you pick a weekday.

The US Army Corps of Engineers controls all water flow through the dam. The Corps not only decides when the flood gates need to be opened, they also schedule all generation times.  These vary from day to day. Call
903-465-1491 for a recorded message every weekday morning after 8:00 AM to hear lake conditions and generation schedules.   You are reminded that unscheduled generation or flood discharge can happen at any time. Heed the warning signs and be aware of sudden water level changes.

There are many factors that affect fishing in the river. When the generatorsare on, drift fishing near the dam is the best method.  This is also the best time to fish from the bank with bait or large topwater lures.  When
using live bait from the bank, put the bait about three feet below a weighted cork casting upstream letting the current carry the bait downstream.  If all the water is off, there are many deep holes down river that hold fish. There are also plenty of rocks and sandbars visible. Walk out on these and use live bait free line or under a cork. This is a great opportunity to fly fish.  After a heavy rain, inflow into the river from creeks muddies the water.  This usually shuts the fish off for several hours.  All water level changes will affect the fishing.

Brush piles around and in the deeper holes are great for catching largeblues.  The darker water can be seen from the driver's seat of an airboat, which will identify the deeper water.  Always stop your boat before you get
to the hole you plan to fish.  These holes vary in size from fifty feet diameter to fifty yards long.  Driving your boat into the hole spooks the fish.  Fish a hole for forty-five minutes to an hour and move on to another
spot.

Lake Texoma topwater and slab fishing is good.  Surfacing stripers arefeeding from the dam to the islands early.  Most of the surfacing silversides are small.  Finding a school of larger top feeding stripers is very exciting.  Sometimes the larger fish will knock your topwater lure eight to ten feet out of the water and strike it again when it hits the water.  Several twenty inch+ stripers are being caught with slabs on flats just off the river channels under the smaller fish feeding above them.  The best topwater lures are Zara Spooks, Pencil Poppers and Striper Swipers. After the fish are run down by the boats, tie on an ounce and a half or two
ounce slab.  The better colors have been green and white or chartreuse and white with a red dot.

To see July's pictures go to: http://www.tinker.net/fishpics02/fishpics07.html