September 6, 2006

The fall run is upon us after this cool front. The water temps will be dropping and with the full moon the fish will be on the move following the bait out of the back of coves and marinas. Get ready fishermen. It’s starting!!! If the weather goes as forecast this week, it should be a great time to enjoy the lake and the topwater action. We are seeing many fish bust the water. They are not staying up very long because of the boat traffic. After the fish go down we are catching them on sassy shad and coho minnows about 5 to 12 feet below the surface. With more rain raising the lake level and cooling the water, bait fishing large feeding schools of stripers on structure will pick up. A couple of short rains in the last few days added some oxygen to the water. We are leaving the dock at 7:30 AM for our morning trips. With the shorter days our afternoon trips will begin at 2:00 PM or later. Our guides will only be fishing one trip a day so everyone will be able to get plenty of time on the lake during the cooler weather. The late bite is super during the full moon and customers always catch more and larger stripers in the afternoon and early evening. You can take off a little early from work and drive to Texoma for a very productive afternoon striper trip and stay the night with me free.

As of 8:00 AM, Tuesday, September 6 the water pool level was 612.24 feet, not much change since July 11th. The normal annual pool level is 617 feet. The water temperature is 85 degrees. This is only two degrees cooler since July 11th. We have had about one and a half inch of rain since my last report that cooled the water. The water is clear. The Corps of Engineers is not going to generate this week. Sunrise this morning was 7:03 AM and sunset will be at 7:47 PM. There are 13 hours and 32 minutes of visible light. The moon is full tonight and will be full thru the fourteenth. Yesterday’s low was 68 degrees and the high was 89 degrees.

The forecast for the next several days is for lows in the lower 60’s and highs in the upper 80’s with NE to SE winds 5 to 15 mph. The next three days should be partly cloudy with no rain in the forecast. There is a slight chance of precipitation forecast for Saturday afternoon, 20% chance of scattered thunderstorms Sunday, slight chance of thunderstorms Monday morning then several days of mid to lower 80’s with partly cloudy skies.

Fishing was fair to good during August. Limits were being caught on around 89% of the trips. We fished 247 fishermen in August, down around 100 fishermen from July, and cleaned 2,193 stripers. This does not include the stripers that were caught and released. Some of our customers only want to catch and release fish. We are very proud of the many customers that brought their children fishing before school started. The 100 degree plus temperature kept some fishermen off the lake during August. Pictures of our customers’ catch for August are on www.tinker.net and the September pictures thru the 5th have been sent to our webmaster and should be posted soon. We apologize if your picture does not get posted. We had a problem with one of our cameras this last weekend.

Our guides furnish tackle, bait and friendly instruction for you. Tinker’s private boathouses are always available for our guests to fish for catfish, striper, perch, crappie and bass before or after the guided trip. Everything is furnished except food, drinks, licenses and rain gear.

Our bedrooms are comfortable, clean and fully furnished with private entrances and baths. All types of outside cooking facilities are available for your use. The game room has pool, card and domino tables, plus dart boards, washer boards, stereo and TVs with DVD, CD, VCR and surround sound.

Open Dates:
We have one or more days open for morning trips during the rest of September. On September 9, 22 & 23 our free lodging is full. Every day has at least two boats available for an afternoon trip. October and November weekends are booking fast. All Saturdays in October are booked except for one boat available the 7th and two boats on the 28th. Occasionally we have late cancellations. Please call our toll free number to make sure we have an available boat on the day you can fish.

Christmas in September????

We have already been receiving phone calls and emails about our Christmas Gift Certificates. Purchase your personalized Christmas Gift Certificate before November 1, 2006 and receive a discount for each fisherman. Don’t forget that special fisherman this Holiday Season. Call early; the certificate can be used on any available date before December 31, 2007.