by Todd Davis
Just an hour north of the Dallas / Ft. Worth Airport is arguably the best striped bass fishing in the United States. Let me introduce you to Lake Texoma. World Class Fishing, a lake where you go catching. Lake Texoma touts the best documented natural spawn in the country. With the world’s largest striper spawn and a generous 10 fish limit, Lake Texoma is known as the Striper Capital of the World, and is definitely one of Texas and Oklahoma’s best kept secrets.
Lake Texoma covers 93,000 surface ares on the border of Texas and Oklahoma on the Red River. Texoma is one of the few freshwater lakes in the United States with a self-sustaining, landlocked population of striped bass. Several other lakes in Texas and Oklahoma support striped bass fisheries; however, routine stocking is required in order to maintain those populations. Striped bass were first introduced in Lake Texoma in 1965 by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. It wasn’t until 1974 when natural reproduction was first documented. The lake boasts a self sustaining striper population to this day.
The Thrill of the Hunt
I thought fishing could be tough in the month of August. A quick Google search, and you can’t help but notice Bill and Chris Carey’s Striper Express are the go-to guides for hunting stripers with lures. Their “Thrill of the Hunt” slogan sold me. I called Bill and he told me about the top-water fishing action. Ask any fisherman, top-water action has to be the best and most exciting action for any species. It just so happens, the pure striped bass strain is the biggest and meanest to catch.
Supernatural Striper
I arrived at the dock a little before 6:00 am. Soon, everyone else arrived and after a quick meet and greet we were on our way. The big boat cruised through the water and by 6:30 am we were slowing to a stop. Lake Texoma is a beautiful lake, and we were fishing in one of the prettiest coves you could dream of. The oak trees line the top of the bluffs that surrounded us, and the cliffs slowly disappeared into the water. We were the only boat there, and the water was calm.
Our guide, Chris, had his gear ready to fish and Tom, Bill and I started throwing pencil poppers in all directions. After 10 unproductive casts to the east bluff, I was starting to get worried. The bite the day before began at 6:35 am and so far, there has been no action. I liked the looks of the bluff I was throwing at. There was just something about the dark water with the bluff disappearing into it that seemed fishy. All at once, the water exploded and Chris yelled, “There they are!” It was like something from shark week. The striper had pushed baitfish into the cove and against the bluff. Once the baitfish surfaced, the striper attacked.
The scene was supernatural. Stripers were hitting the shad so hard it was like we were fishing in a blender. My first cast sent a pencil popper right into the frenzy. Instantly it was hit, but I was late setting the hook. A quick jerk of my pole and the lure was hit again, and again, I missed. I made another quick jerk on the pencil popper and the third time I had him. I set the hook and the rod bent, almost jerking it out of my hand. With my drag singing, a 12-pound striper exploded on the surface of the water. The fight was intense all the way to the boat. I let out a big sigh of relief when the
big fish was finally in the net. My relief was short-lived. I knew I had to get my lure back in the frenzy. Every time my lure hit the water it was hit, and with every set of the hook, I had another exciting fight.
Fill the Box
After fishing a solid hour, the supernatural ended, and ended in an instant. We cruised around the cove, but 60 minutes after the topwater feeding frenzy began, it ended. I think this was when our guide Chris got most excited. He went into hunter-mode. With a quick burst down the channel we came upon a feeding school of fish and were back in the action. We were literally hunting bass. Chris slowed the boat, and we started casting the big plugs. Again, the bite was on the surface, and we were in the middle of them. These were not the 10–12-pound stripers from the previous cove. They were 2 to 6-pound stripers with a mix of Texoma’s magnum sand bass. They were in a frenzy knocking shad 2 feet out of the water. Back in the action again! These voracious fish were feeding fast and hitting hard.
As soon as we got a fish to the boat, it was netted and measured. Chris was quick to determine if they were keepers and he wanted us to fill the ice chest. It only took a couple of fish to reach our limit and we went into catch and release mode. The water was erupting all around us now. I found myself casting as far from the boat as possible so I could fight the fish the whole way in. I kept hearing Chris yell that Tom or Bill also had fish on, but I was too busy with mine to notice.
The second bite lasted much longer but eventually played out. It was no matter; we were played out too. We had our limit and threw back at least another limit. The big boat fired up and soon the cool breeze was blowing in my face and the magical bluffs were fading away. Mission accomplished! We pulled into the slip for pictures, bragging and fish cleaning. My new best friend Tom Bresnahan and I were all grins as they started pulling fish from the cooler. Tom and I are both veterans and enjoyed swapping war stories at the lodge the night before. We have another war story to tell now, a supernatural one you must see to believe.
I found out that our guide service was not what you think of when discussing striper fishing on Lake Texoma. Chris’ dad is Bill Carey who started Striper Express 40 years ago. They have a stellar reputation and operate a 10-boat fleet. Striper Express boats are fishing everyday year-round except Christmas Day. “The people who are fishing are the ones catching the fish,” stated Bill Carey. If you like the sounds of this supernatural action you must hire a guide for success. Call MT at their office 903-786-4477. They are easy to find. Striper Express is active on all of the social media networks. Find Striper Express Guide Service on Facebook for action packed videos and pictures. You can web chat with Bill at www.striperexpress.com.
