In pursuit of that which you love, it is often the case that security must be abandoned. Like my colleagues and I as fishing guides, our business and livelihood are at the whims of Mother Nature.
This past year, the spring flood on Lake Texoma was a major setback to the fishing and tourist industry. Then last month we were met with another setback with the ice storm. Many guides lost their docks and had their boats and equipment damaged due to the weight of the ice causing various boathouses to collapse all around the lake.
I was fortunate enough to have made it through without harm to any of my equipment but I feel for those who have to rebuild. It has been 3 years now since I had to rebuild everything myself after losing my boat to fire so I understand what they are going through. This lack of security working with nature can be a lot to endure at times. Even the small setbacks of the fish not biting can put a weight on your shoulders.
They say these setbacks make you stronger but I don't see it that way because I'm not trying to carry all of that weight. They certainly make you wiser though where you understand how to put the weight down sooner or ideally not pick it up at all. Eventually you understand that things sometimes happen, some days the fish just don't bite and you learn not to take it personally.
Luckily those days are few and far between on Lake Texoma and in the pursuit of happiness, making a living doing what you love to do, these setbacks and lack of security seem like a small price to pay. That's enough of the sermon though, y'all came for a fishing report.
This is the time of year I love to fish most. The structure bite is in full swing and fishing is good! They have been moving around on me with the ice storm and the big rain we had causing a slow day here and there where I had to find where they moved to but overall it has been excellent fishing.
We are fishing key structure around the lake casting glow swimbaits on 1 ½ oz. heads reeled just fast enough to keep it from getting snagged on the bottom. We are looking for structure stacked on structure like a stump bed or rock pile on a ledge, point or creek channel, these areas, once you find them will reliably hold fish day in and day out during this time of year so mark them on your gps when you find them.
Then its all about positioning the boat up to drift perfectly over these gps locations for a successful presentation to catch fish. Often my trips prove successful for nothing else but stubborn persistence in this method. I have had several trip s this year where we haven't caught a fish after the first 2-3 hours, only to keep sticking with this proven method that I know will work and wind up having a very successful day.
It will be hard at first to have the confidence to keep up that stubborn persistence if you lack the experience. If you are looking to learn how to be successful in fishing this way, I offer educational trips where I'll be happy to teach you all that I can. You can sit next to me as I drive, watch as I find the fish with my electronics, see what they look like on the screen, and follow how I'm scouring the structure on the map to find them. You will probably learn more from experiencing this process live than I'll be able to teach you in words.
Spring break is fast approaching and I'm already starting to get booked up. We will continue to structure fish like what I described above through the end of March and part of April. We are using only lures and casting swimbaits to catch these fish until around the middle of May. Then its time to switch to live bait which will last until the first of July before we switch back to lures only so keep that in mind when booking your trips. From now through May, I only have 1 Saturday left available so you will want to plan your trip soon if you need to fish the weekend this summer. However, I highly recommend coming during the week as the fishing is much better without the pressure from the weekend crowds. You can book your trip online or you can give me a call at (903)815-1609 and I'll be happy to get you setup over the phone. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Your Lake Texoma Striper Fishing Guide,
Brian Prichard
Stripers Inc.
(903)815-1609
