Hooked on Texoma Stripers

Like thousands of other Oklahoman's, I love to fish. I love being out on the lake at daybreak fishing until it's too hot to take it, come in take a nap, and head out to fish in the evenings. Bass fishing is my all-time favorite. Sure it can be uneventful, but you are casting and reeling instead of staring at a cork for hours. I can be out on the water all day and not catch a single thing, and have the best day. I guess I get that from my daddy. He's been taking me fishing since I could stand up.

Until a couple weeks ago, trolling was not my idea of a good time. Too much sitting and waiting. When bass fishing you're casting, and moving around the edges of the banks instead of driving in circles. My entire outlook on trolling changed when our News 9 Weather Intern, Shelby Hays, invited my husband and me to her families place on Lake Texoma. Tyler and I had never been to that lake and neither of us had ever been striper fishing. Now we are HOOKED! We used downriggers for the first time and found out depth makes all the difference in the world. Those things make trolling actually exciting. Well the downriggers and the fact that our guides, Chris and Leslie Hays, are fantastic! I think Chris is some kind of fish whisperer. He took us right to the fish, and we were even catching doubles! I literally had bruises on my tummy from holding the rod and reeling in those feisty fish. At one point we tried spoons. Tyler ended up catching one that way, but I never got a bite. If you‘ve been striper fishing then you know this already. Even the smallest lil ones think they are 10 pounders and they fight like a shark. You get all excited and then it finally surfaces and you realize it still has milk on its lips. Hahaha I stole that from Chris.

We had an absolute blast that weekend! Catching fish, eating fish, eating homemade ice cream that Mema made, tubing, making new friends, and enjoying the Oklahoma outdoors. So when the dog days of summer set in and it's too hot to do much of anything else, you can always go fishing. Oklahoma has over 200 lakes to choose from. Here's a link to state lakes.

http://www.outdoorsok.com/Oklahoma/Lakes