This time of the year hits different, the long, dog days of summer build a catharsis; you can feel the stress from nature, animals trying to escape the heat and the plants dying and turning brown in the drought. I see it in the fish, too. The big fish especially get stressed and start to become skinny as the water gets too hot for them. The dissolved oxygen content is less in warmer water and they don't want to move around as much. Summer drags on like this and it feels like it will never end. Then, finally it does, when that weather shifts and you feel even the slightest drop out of the 100's it brings so much relief and appreciation.

It is truly magical when rain finally falls upon the scorched earth. The big fish have been waiting for it too, just a little relief from the heat, they search for the coolest places in the lake and find them in the shallowest water as it cools off the fastest and they lay there and bask in it. This is what I have been waiting all year for. You have to know where they are, the graph doesn't help much, side scan helps a little but not really. They are usually not actively feeding on the surface so you can't see them, but if you cast out a big surface plug, hold on because something big is about to explode on the surface. This is fall topwater striper fishing on Lake Texoma and the bite for big fish is currently underway.

We are in the full swing of the fall topwater bite right now and it should last through the beginning of November. Our mornings begin with casting topwaters and swimbaits in the shallows for the first hour or so then when the sun starts getting overhead the fish move out into deeper water to avoid the heat. That's when we switch to slabs to finish filling the box with our limit of smaller fish we can keep. On Lake Texoma you can keep 10 stripers per person but you are only allowed 2 fish over 20” per person so we often have to leave the big fish to go look for the smaller fish that we can keep.

The slab bite has been just as good as the topwater bite here lately, the fish are running in big schools all over the lake and breaking the surface to help you find them. Usually we locate them running along a ledge or out in the deep water but they seem to be somewhere different all the time. Once we find them we drop slabs straight down over the side of the boat, no casting with this method, then we watch closely as they are falling, they fish will often hit them as they are fluttering down and you have to be ready to stop the spool and set the hook. If you didn't get one on the fall, reel it as fast as you can and you will get one on the way up, stop it half way and give it a jig or two and reel some more and then let if fall again. If I stop on a big school, it is a normal occurrence to have everyone hooked up before they can get their slab to the bottom on the first drop.

This is when we catch some of the biggest fish of the year, and we do it on the surface, the most thrilling way to catch them. If your dream is a big striper on a topwater plug or on the fly, this is one of the best stretches of the year to try for it. This pattern typically runs from now through the first part of November.

Weekdays are always the best time to come, fewer boats and more room to sneak in to where I know the fish are. Weekends can still produce, but you often have to work a little harder for them. If you don't have a full group, we offer open boat trips where any individual can join in the trip for $150/person. I try to offer an open boat trip at least once a week. We I have a text thread that I can add you to if you are interested as well as a Facebook group that you can join to find out when our open boat trips are.

You can book your trips online at www.stripersinc.com or give me a call at (903) 815-1609 and I'll get you set up over the phone. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'll be looking forward to fishing with you!

Your Lake Texoma Fishing Guide,
Brian Prichard
Stripers Inc.
www.stripersinc.com