Fishing Report
 

April 1, 2004
Water pool level: 614.61, normal annual pool level is 617 feet.
Water temperature: 56 degrees.  Water clarity: stained.
Generating Schedule: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM

Sunrise was 6:14 AM and sunset was 6:46 PM.  The morning started out cool with the temperature 43 degrees at 7:00 AM and a light wind.  As the morning progressed the wind stayed light and the temperature rose to 66 degrees. The forecast for Thursday and Friday is partly cloudy skies with the high around 70 and low around 50. The next few days will be cloudy with the highs in the middle 60’s and the lows around 50. There will be a 30% chance of scattered thunder storms.

When is the Best Time to Striper Fish?  The answer no one likes to hear........ 

"You should have been here yesterday".

In March, April, May, June, July, Sept., October, November and December you should be able to catch a limit of stripers over 90% of the time.  When the water has been very cold in January and February and starts warming in March the stripers feed heavily.  After they spawn in April they are empty and very hungry.  This is a great time to catch numbers of stripers very quick.  The larger stripers are usually caught after they have had time to feed, gain weight and get healthy after months of preparation and completing their spawn.  This is usually early May through July.  Stripers start feeding up for winter in September and October.  October is my favorite month to fish.  The conditions are usually favorable for both stripers and anglers.  Large stripers are always caught in November and December.  Sometimes these months are a little cold on the fishermen but, the water is still warm, shad are easy to find and the large stripers are feeding in shallow water.

Predicting when stripers will feed is nearly impossible.  After 30 years of fishing for stripers, I can still only give you an educated guess.  For the last fifteen years I have kept records of size and number of stripers caught, bait used, weather conditions, lake level and locations where the fish and bait fish were caught. These records have only been helpful for seasonal clues as to what part of the lake the stripers and shad may be in.  Water temperature, fronts, bait fish population, wind, moon phase, lake level, water clarity, water inflow, water discharge, and the striper spawn all have an effect on the feeding habits of stripers.

We can fish for several days and have every boat come to the dock with limits of stripers. The very next day, for one of the reasons listed above or for some unknown reason, finding a feeding striper is nearly impossible and the boats will come in with ten or less stripers each.  This feeding habit can last one, two or three days and then we will start catching limits again.  When the water temperature is either extremely hot or extremely cold is about the only time feeding stripers are hard to find for a period longer than 3 days.

I guess you noticed I left August, January and February out of my list of best months for striper fishing.

In August the water temperature is about as hot as it gets on Lake Texoma.  When the water temperature gets as hot on the bottom of the lake as the temperature on the surface, silt and debris come up to the surface.  Some call this "the lake turning over".  When this happens the water stinks and looks very nasty and the oxygen level is very low.  In August, you have to deal with more than just "the lake turning over".  The sky is clear, not a hint of a breeze and it is as hot as blue blazes.  The best way to fish August is to go out at daylight, fish until it starts getting hot or the fish quit biting and go to the dock and go back out about an hour before sunset and fish until after dark.

In January and February the water temperature is very cold.  We turn our attention to fishing for large catfish during these months.  The big blue cats go to deep water to feed and also swim the channels toward the creek mouths when there is an abundance of water flowing into the lake.  We catch some very nice stripers during January and February in shallow water on sunny days.  Where the sun has warmed the shallows the shad move in to feed and the large stripers follow them.  We have several customers that like to do a combination striper and catfish trip or just catfish during these months.

The bottom Line……When I want to go fishin', I throw all of this out the window and just go, hoping to learn something new about stripers and catch a lake record while enjoying my favorite pastime.

The last few days have been off and on for our striper fishermen.  Only about half of our boats have been coming in with a limit of stripers.  Most of the catch has been smaller stripers.  Live shad have been very hard to net also.  If the weather goes as forecast this weekend, it should be excellent striper fishing. Stripers are being caught on Gladiators, sassy shad and cohos from the banks out to about twenty-five feet of water.  Live bait is producing stripers in 25 to 50 feet of water.  Our last boat to get to the dock today finished up the last half of their limit long line trolling Sassy Shad in around 20 feet of water.

Four, five or six fishermen can fish in one boat Monday thru Thursday for only $95.00 per fishermen. You are welcome to stay overnight with Tinker FREE.

This discounted special is good for weekdays only with availability.  It cannot be used together or with any other discount, promotion, gift certificate or previously scheduled trip. Tinker’s Striper Guide Service reserves the right to change or cancel this special at any time. 

To see pictures of these catches and other fish caught this month by our customers, click on the following link. http://home.texoma.net/~tinker/fishpics04/fishpics03.html

Go to http://www.tinker.net, to read testimonials sent in by our customers and see pictures of the fish they caught over the last year.  Links to both are on the right side of my home page.