Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Show off your catch Historic Black Bass day in Texas

Wow! Encouraging to see Texas still produces giants.

Just think what she would have weighed 4-5 weeks from now!

Outstanding!!!

I guess you Texans have some bigger stuff....sometimes!!!

You guys may already know this but Brodey is sponsored by Russell Marine in Kansas and this fish was 1 of 5 he's caught there in the last 8-9 days over 14lbs.

That is actually even more impressive!

Anyone else up for a road trip to Texas?

They should be getting ready to spawn really, really soon now. Full moon is March 18th, so if the water temp is correct, I'd want to be catching them in the next 2 weeks.

Thanks, esshup.

After I had typed my timing estimate, I realized I was working from a "Kansas" calendar. Then I thought I should leave it up, because someone will surely post on the peak weight timing for Texas LMB.

Once again, Pond Boss performs!


P.S. My father has had a leg amputated and is fighting off two cancers. We want to take him out for some "easy" and productive fishing this spring. We were thinking about going down to Texas while the stripers are running.

Anyone have good recommendations for some low effort/high catch rate fishing for this spring?

(He can still travel fairly long distances from Kansas.)

FishinRod.....if it really is "low effort/high catch rate" I have the perfect fishing guide for you. However it is mainly just sand-bass. I've gone out with guide Don Novak at least 4 times for half day trips on Lake Grapevine and caught tons of fish.

The Sand Bass (white bass) are not huge, but it is literally almost a constant bite. Just drop a slab he supplies down to bottom, jig it a few times and boom FISH ON! You and your Dad would most likely catch 75-100+ fish on a half day trip. I did catch a nice catfish on a slab on one of these trips, but that's more rare. (see image)

Lake Grapevine is near DFW Airport, easy access, and quiet on weekdays and usually calm water.

Don is a great guy, has a nice boat, and he will not let you take your own fish off the hook. It's not trophy fishing, but it is a fun half day of fishing and being out on the water.

Luck O' Irish Fishing Guide - Don Novak - Lake Grapevine

ps: I've also gone out on two "Striper Guide Trips" with other guides and not caught near as many fish, but it was still fun.

Texoma might be a really good choice for your dad. I'd start checking PDQ though, as spring trips fill up pretty quick.

EDIT: Zep's suggestion is a good one also.

Zep,

Thanks for taking the time for such a thoughtful recommendation!

I will definitely put Don's number in my list.

Al,

Thanks for the tip. I was looking at Texhoma as our best bet for a striper trip.

My brother has a client that said he did real well there last spring and had an excellent guide. My brother is trying to get the name for the guide service.

That is not my usual style of fishing, but I think it is our best option.

Are those lakes erratic in the spring (like alternating good years and bad years), or does good guide + good day on the calendar = good fishing trip?

(The exception being a strong cold front blows through right on your scheduled day, etc.)

And another.....Texas Lake Record! (4 miles from our property)

FishinRod, Texoma striper fishing suffers when there's a shad kill. Last winter was obviously tough on this area, but I'm not sure how bad it was. I'm posting a link for you from the Texas Fishing Forum, and if anybody knows, it will be on there.

TFF Striper Info

Mark, that striper is a beast. Lake Tawakoni wouldn't be a bad choice either. It's loaded with stripers, hybrids, whites, and some of the biggest blue cats in the state.

Al,

Thanks for that link!

There are already lots of pictures from 2022 at Texoma with guys in cold-weather gear showing off big catches.

Those catches pre-date the spawn of the gizzard shad (barely?) and the threadfin shad, so the guides must have some other pattern that is catching fish. (I have never fished for stripers.)

When you are referring to the shad kill, are your talking about the bitter February 2021 kill, or has there been a kill again during winter 2021-2022? If the few TFS that survived Feb. 2021 got hit again this past winter, then there can't be too many left in the lake.

If the stripers are moving to their 2nd favorite food choice, does anybody know the revised estimated peak fishing date in that circumstance?

If so, I will try to book a guide for that window.

I was referring the 2021 February kill. This winter was short and harsh, but the water temps didn't drop as much as last year.

That is what I thought.

It will be interesting to see how the TFS populations respond during this year's spawn in the big Texas reservoirs. Hopefully, there were enough that survived in some temperature refuges to rebuild viable populations in your reservoirs.

I googled to see if the state had stocked any TFS into the public reservoirs during 2021. I did not see any relevant results.

Do you happen to know if the state stocking programs are helping out your TFS, or if the little fellas are going to have to do all of the hard work rebuilding by themselves?

We used to slow troll 6"-7"+ Bluegill for Striped Bass (Not Hybrids) on Raccoon Reservoir in Indiana. I thought the 15#-18# fish that we caught were huge. I just looked up the record for Indiana and now it's sitting at 39# (Striped Bass) that was caught in Cecil M Harden Lake (that's the same lake, the name was changed). It measured 42.25 inches long with a 30-inch girth.

I just have to wonder how big they are now, that fish was caught in 2010......

Thanks to all of the people that offered me fishing advice.

Have a guided trip reserved for early May to Texoma with my father and brother!

None of us have ever done that style of fishing before. Therefore, it is guaranteed to be a memory-making, record-breaking trip - regardless of how we do on the stripers!

I took my boy on a guided trip to Texoma a couple of February's ago. Spent all day catching fish too big to keep. It was a blast!

Did you guys see this HSB that a bass angler caught tournament fishing?

Bass tournament HSB

I think this is an actual striped bass, and not a hybrid striped bass?

Now that's a great attitude. I hope y'all tear them up.

Thanks to everyone that gave me good fishing advice.

We had a great time at Lake Texoma!

1 member likes this: Zep

We caught our limit in just over 2 hours. The biggest fish were right at 5#. (The guide said the big ones were still spawning up the river and up the inlet creeks.)

1 member likes this: Zep