Anglers fishing on Lake Texoma are reporting excellent striped bass fishing over the last several weeks with large numbers of big fish being caught. However, warm water conditions can be stressful for stripers when they are caught in deep water.

Lake Texoma, located on the Red River along the Oklahoma and Texas border, has earned a reputation as being one of the top striper lakes in the nation. Known for their outstanding fighting abilities, striped bass are long-lived and fast growing. Stripers are voracious predators with a diet consisting mainly of threadfin and gizzard shad.

“This time of year schools of stripers will often move to deeper water to find cooler temperatures,” said Paul Mauck, south central region fisheries supervisor for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. “There can be problems when you pull a big fish up quickly from 30 feet or deeper and then try release it. Their air bladders cannot compensate for the quick changes in pressure and the fish can die.”

Anglers are allowed to keep two stripers 20 inches long or longer and Mauck is urging anglers to exercise caution once they catch a limit of fish over 20 inches.

“Everybody, including myself, loves catching stripers. But it is important that we as anglers are aware of this issue and take responsibility for our actions. When the fishing is good, it can be hard to move to another spot or try a different technique, but it is simply the right thing to do if the methods we are using are hard on the fish that we all love,” Mauck said.

Larry Manering, law enforcement chief for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, pointed out that the issue goes beyond just good fishing ethics. “No good angler wants to waste this great resource, but this is more than just an ethical issue, it is also a legal issue. In the state of Oklahoma it is against the law for an angler to release a dead or dying fish,” Manering said.

Mauck offered several tips for releasing healthy striped bass during the summer months, including:

1. Fish as shallow as possible: If fish are in 60 feet of water try catching them at 30 feet rather than at a depth of 60 feet as this helps reduce the changes in air pressure as they come to the surface.
2. When bait fishing, use circle hooks, hooks specially designed to lodge in the corner of the fish’s mouth. One that has been successful is the Mustad “Croker Hook” in the 1/0 to 2/0 size range.
3. Release fish along side of the boat to reduce handling stress. Be sure to wet hands and towels before grabbing the fish. Boga grips are good tools for holding fish while removing hooks.
4. Cut line and gently release deep hooked fish.
5. When you have caught a limit of big fish (2 fish 20 inches or longer in length), move and find a school of smaller “box fish” rather than staying and releasing fish that may die as a result of being caught.
6. As a last resort, “fizz” floating striped bass by using a #18 -1 1/2″ or 2″ hypodermic needle. This procedure involves releasing air from the fish’s air bladder – go to:
   www.wildlifedepartment.com/fizzingstripedbass.htm for complete details.

Editor’s Note: Texoma Striper handling tips courtesy of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Photo courtesy of Trails Guide Service, Lake Texoma.

We were recently in Seattle and while at Pike’s Place Market, saw a very funny T-Shirt with the following fishing saying:

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer!

Editor’s Note: Got any funny fish or fisherman sayings? If so, email us for posting here or on our main site, www.OklahomaFishingGuides.com

GW Chisholm of Trails Guide Service on Lake Texoma says the big stripers are biting right now. Read his report below:

Stripers are giving us about 2-3 hours of awesome action first thing in the morning in the Preston peninsula area.

Top water baits (large & green) are the best for the first 45 minutes for big fish. Then as the light drives them down, live bait (5-6″ shad) seems to take charge producing lots of fish (2-10lbs.) for the next couple of hours.

Editor’s Note: Thanks for the report GW. Everybody heading to Lake Texoma for the 4th of July weekend should be drooling right about now!

I have been fishing Lake Tenkiller for about 20 years now, and I would like to report the growth of the Smallmouth population. It is BOOMING! Most of the time I am fishing for Largemouth. I still manage to catch 4 or 5 Smallies. Most of the time I have caught some really nice ones in the 2 pound range.

It only started (to me) about a year ago and seems to be getting better and better. I guess the natural progression of the lake would lean more to favoring Smallmouth and Spots with the loss of wood & vegetation in the lake. It’s strange sometimes you will catch them on a piece of structure under a dock in 3 ft. of water, a total surprise when this happens! I have manage to catch some really nice ones & lost some really nice ones that I wished I hadn’t.

I am excited about the progression of the lake. The Largemouth population doesn’t seem to be dropping any either, which is really nice. I practice “Catch Photograph & Release”.

Darris Smith, Fort Smith AR

Editor’s Note: Thanks for the update Darris! We all appreciate you practicing photograph & release – it gives us all a better chance the next time we are there. What have you been catching them on? BTW – Darris has contributed to Hawg Blog before. Take a look at his 5LB Smallie pictured in the May 2006 archives – it’s a nice one!

We have had a lot of inquiries on our main site, www.OklahomaFishingGuides.com, concerning a record alligator gar from Lake Broken Bow. One reader sent us the top two images as documentation of the monster gar. Unfortunately, the captions documenting this catch as coming from Broken Bow in Oklahoma are incorrect.

This monster gar was caught while bowfishing the backwaters of Sam Rayburn Reservoir near Lufkin, Texas by Keith Riehn and Robin Parks of Missouri on August 4, 2005. All totaled, the monster Texas alligator gar was slightly more than 8 feet, 2 inches in length, weighed 244.5 pounds, and measured 44.75 inches in girth – NOT the 327 pounds as noted in the second photo.

The current unrestricted division alligator gar record for Oklahoma is shown in the third picture. This 184 pound monster was hauled out of the Red River in Love County by Sean Chatham of Ardmore, Oklahoma on Feb. 25, 2006.

To view a larger version of the three pictures, simply click anywhere on the picture set.

Editor’s Note: Oklahoma State records courtesy of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife conservation. The full story can be found at: www.wildlifedepartment.com/alligatorgarrec.htm

Fisherman Terry Evans reports that even though it wasn’t mentioned in the last fishing report, the bass fishing at Lake Hudson has been excellent. He has fished there for 15 years and says a pumpkinseed lizard works well at depths of 4 – 10 feet.

Editor’s Note: Thanks for the report Terry! Got any pictures to share with us?

The mystery fish is a mystery fish no more. DNA analysis recently confirmed that Dru Kinslow, of Oklahoma City, caught a state record black bass hybrid last March. Kinslow caught the 8-pound, 5.6-ounce bass from Veteran’s Lake near Sulphur.

When he took the fish to fisheries biologists with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, they immediately recognized it was bigger than either the current smallmouth or the black bass hybrid records. However, the brute had characteristics of both a smallmouth bass and spotted bass.

Fisheries biologists sent a small fin sample to a DNA lab which has now confirmed that fish was a cross of a smallmouth bass and spotted bass. Black bass hybrids occur rarely in nature when the spawning areas of black bass species overlap.

Kinslow was using a jig and salt craw combo when he hooked the big fish in the clear waters of 67-acre Veteran’s Lake. “I was just trying out different lures to see what might be biting when I hooked the fish,” Kinslow said. “It fought pretty hard and went all the way under the boat. I didn’t realize how big it was until I got it in the boat.”

The fish measured 22.75-inches long and was 16.5 inches in girth. The former state record black bass hybrid was just established this February when Sean McAllister pulled a 6-pound, 14-ounce fish from Lake Texoma.

Editor’s Note: Courtesy of Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation

For the first time ever documented in Oklahoma, fisheries biologists have documented natural reproduction of rainbow trout. The discovery was made in the Lower Mountain Fork River trout fishery below Broken Bow Lake.

“Clearly, this new information sets the Lower Mountain Fork River apart as one of the premier tail water fisheries in the nation,” said Barry Bolton, assistant chief of fisheries for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Anglers reported observing trout spawning activity in December and January. A few months later, scattered reports began coming in of very small rainbow trout being caught by anglers.

“All of the trout that we stock are much bigger than a few inches, so we did a small survey with a bag seine,” said Paul Balkenbush, southeast region fisheries supervisor for the Wildlife Department.

In four different locations, biologists caught a total of 17 young rainbow trout.

“Due to the nature of the river – lots of boulders and swift current – there was a very limited number of places we could use our seine effectively. The fact that we were able to catch young trout in every location was very encouraging and leads us to believe that they are abundant and widespread. We are not certain of their age but they were born here,” Balkenbush said. “They may only be two or three-inches long right now, but we can say without a doubt that these are wild fish.”

The Wildlife Department first stocked the Lower Mountain Fork River with trout more than 17 years ago. Since that time the 12-mile designated trout stream has seen many habitat improvements. Additionally, thanks to the efforts of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation, the U.S. Congress passed the Water Resources Development Act in 1996 to ensure that cool water from Broken Bow Lake is released throughout the year to sustain the trout fishery.

Editor’s Note: Courtesy of Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation

The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission approved a resolution to designate June 3-4 as Free Fishing Days in Oklahoma. Oklahoma was the first state in the nation to offer free fishing days 24 years ago and has since been followed by dozens of other states that have established similar free fishing days.

“Free fishing days are a great opportunity to introduce family and friends to fishing,” said David Warren, information and education chief for the Wildlife Department.

Resident and non-resident fishing licenses (including trout licenses and fishing and hunting legacy permits) are not required on the free fishing days, although anglers should note that local or municipal permits might be required on those days. Texoma Lake anglers should be aware that the Texas free fishing day is June 3 only. Anglers must also follow all other fishing regulations.

Editor’s Note: Courtesy of Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation

OklahomaFishingGuides.com is proud to announce the honor of receiving 5 web site awards within the last week! Judges have rated and described OKFG as “World Class” & “Outstanding” in the areas of concept, design, layout, rich content and easy navigation.

It has always been our goal to have an easy-to-use, comprehensive Oklahoma lakes information portal. Each page is dedicated to one lake and is loaded with everything one would need when going to the lake; fishing guides, lodging, marinas, weather, directions, maps & more – just print and go!

We appreciate all the wonderful accolades and will continue to work hard to bring you all the best that the lakes of Oklahoma have to offer.