Lake Texoma Fishing Report

MAY is the most exciting time for Lake Texoma striper fishing!
It is special to us because Winter cold is in retreat, Spring has brought very fine weather, and the striper spawn is in high gear. But mostly we like May because the Topwater Striper Bite is ON!

THIS IS WHY WE GET UP EARLY

The Lake water temperature has risen to about 65 degrees, stimulating both adult striped bass and sexually mature shad, the striper's favorite food. Each night, gizzard and threadfin shad swim up from deep water to spawn in Texoma's rocky shallows.

At first light each morning, big striped bass wake up and cruise the shallows in large numbers. They're doing what their mommas told 'em - eat a good breakfast now, ya'hear!

YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS

The striper schools herd the shad into smaller and smaller areas. Trapped against the rocky bank and the water's surface, the shad have nowhere to go. Ravenous from their own spawning activity, the stripers feed aggressively and without caution.

A big ball of agitated, escape-minded shad plus hungry stripers feeding at the surface sounds a good deal like a summer rainstorm.

Charlie Haak 14.7lb Lake Texoma Striper

Cast a Cordell Pencil Popper amongst 'em and these striped bass will hit it HARD. SO hard they will sometimes knock the big 7" lure, bristling with treble hooks, 3 feet out of the water.

Not to worry though, these bass are highly motivated and will often lunge time and again after that same lure as you retrieve it, pausing only when they've gotten their mouth on it and hooked themselves.

NOW YOU'VE GONE AND DONE IT

Hooking 'em is just the beginning. Striped bass "pull like a Deere" as my farmer friends say. Don't quite understand what that means? You'll "get it" when your striper decides he's leaving - and yard after yard of monofilament is relentlessly pulled away.

Big stripers will inspire in you a deep appreciation for your reel's drag setting.

WHY YOU'LL LOVE TOPWATER LURE FISHING

You'll love topwater Lake Texoma striper fishing with lures for the same reasons we do:

• these fish are fighters - mean, nasty, and maybe even a bit arrogant about it;
• the action takes place where you can see it - close to the boat and near, on, or even above the water surface;
• the fish are handsome, and they are capable of anything when fighting you.

Lake Texoma Fishing Report - Five to fifteen minutes fighting a big Texoma striperis as energizing and exciting as offshore tarpon fishing - except without the seasickness.