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Seasonal Striper Patterns

Striped Bass movements on Lake Texoma...

Get a good Fish Finder and use it. Practice and experiment with it. It is a very valuable tool to eliminate unproductive waters. Take the time to make it your friend and something that "helps" you find schools of fish.

Early Spring

Keep up with water temperatures, look for the warmest water you can find that isn't muddy. Stripers do not like muddy water and will stary ahead of it as it flows into the lakes after spring rains. If they are spawning, they my "put up" with the stained water, and prefer location to water conditions. They usually move toward their spawning grounds when the lake warms into the lover 50s. On Lake Texoma these areas are in the Newberry Creek area, where the Washita river dumps into the lake on the East arm of the lake. And West of the 377 Willis bridge, where the Red River dumps into the lake on the West arm.

Striper spawning activity takes place when the water temp. reaches around 65 degrees F.

As they move, stripers stop and feed along key main lake structures. Long slow tapering points that connect with the deep lake river channels are especially good. It is always a good idea to check these points beginning in the middle of the lake, working your way up the lake until you locate schools of stripers. Some stripers may stay on long points and attempt to spawn there rather than move into the headwaters.

Spring

As the water temp. approaches 60 degrees, look for shallow points in the upper end of the lakes, Clear flowing water attracts spawning stripers, so don't be afraid to venture into extreme shallows upriver. If these areas are muddy, move back down the lake until you find clear water. Start looking for humps and points, that is where the stripers will be.

Summer

This is prime live bait time! Stripers are likely to be deep, locate the stripers on your graph and notice the depth of suspending baitfish schools, Then fish just above this depth. Stripers feed up, they will seldom go deeper to take a bait.

Trolling multiple lines at different depths works also. Troll across primary main lake structures, especially humps and points (both shallow and deep), around the islands and along the bluff banks. All of these spots attract baitfish. Concentrate on the areas that you see large amounts of baitfish. Stripers are likely to be sluggish in warm water, so don't troll too fast.

Fall

This is a time of transition for stripers, In a deep clear lake like Texoma, the water remains warm longer in early fall, so trolling live bait is still your best bet. Troll a bit faster and move your lures progressively shallower as the water cools. When it drops down to the mid-60s, stripers move much shallower and will be catchable early and late in the day on long main lake points and humps, and in the deeper creek arms. Feeding activity is likely to be intense now, so faster moving presentations should draw savage strikes.

Winter

When the water temp. Drops into the mid-50s, stripers move shallow and gorge themselves on bait fish. In many instances they will feed near the surface. The water below them might be 35 feet, but stripers will attack bait closer to the surface. Key on shallow flats, points, and creek arms. Down line fishing and float rigs work well this time of year. Bigger shad (as big as you can find) work well in February and March on those huge trophy fish.

 

 

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