Catching with Striper Express!

Larry Weishuhn

“Just had a call from Striper Express. Bill said he had an unexpected opening if we wanted to come fish. Said they’ve been catching limits every time out, nothing huge but truly great fish and perfect eaters. They’re down near the bottom but once they find the schools the catching is as Bill said is, plentiful.” Said Luke Clayton. “If you have any room in your freezer, I suspect this will be a good way to fill that empty space with striper fillets.”

“As a matter of fact, I do have space I need to fill in my freezer, but also in my stomach!” I replied. “When do we need to be there, I’m only about five hours away…”

Luke chuckled. “Bill’s talking about meeting him and Chris at their dock on Texoma ready to leave about 9 in the morning two days from now.”  All sounded perfect to me, I told Luke I would be there. He then reminded me Bill too had made arrangements with lodging for us and we could arrive the afternoon before to spend the night. That way we did not have to leave home so extremely early.  The plan just got “more perfect”.

“We’re almost over the top of them, start dropping ‘em. When they hit bottom crank up three rounds.” Chris Carey instructed Luke Clayton, Jeff Rice and me. Turning toward me specifically Chris said with a chuckle, “Larry start stripping!”

“Seems a bit cold and windy and an improper place to do so with all those other boats not that far away watching. I’ve done several things in my lifetime to catch fish and shoot a particular animal, but I don’t recall ever being told to strip to make it happen.” Before Chris could respond, I added “You didn’t tell me undressing in public was required to catch as striper…”

Chris laughed, “Noooo… You stopped your slab before it hit bottom. I meant strip some line off of the reel, let the lure hit the bottom then crank up three turns. That’s where the school should be!”

Before I could even think of a clever comeback, I felt a vicious tug on my line. The fish hit my lure so hard there was no reason nor actually time to set the hook. The striped bass stayed near the bottom, taking out line. I followed Chris’ and his dad, Bill’s, instructions about keeping the rod tip high so it could do its work of helping tire what was on the end of my line. The fish made a hundred feet run straight away from the boat, then promptly turned to come straight back. For a heart beat I thought it may have come off the hook.

“Reel! Reel! Reel” shouted Bill, “Fish is headed this way!” I cranked the reel as fast as I could to gain all the line possible trying my best not to allow any slack. Knowing if I did there was a good chance I might lose the fish. To my left I heard Jeff say “Fish on!” Thankfully he and his fish were on the other side of the boat.

My line was taunt and almost under the boat, then it turned left at a pace that made the reel’s drag groan. “Good fish!” I heard Luke say who had put down his rod and picked up my video camera to record the catching for our weekly “A Sportsman’s Life” digital television show on carbontv.com and our YouTube Channel of the same name.

My fish made one more run before Chris could net it. As Bill had said before leaving their dock, “Stripers fight all the way into the boat. They never give up!” My fish weighed somewhere around 8-pounds, but fought like it had weighed twenty or more! After showing the fish to Luke for footage and photos, I dropped it in the live well. Stripers are delicious every way one can prepare them.

I dropped my slab overboard in hopes of catching another. Now before anyone asks about “the slab” tied on to my line which had just caught a great striper, allow me to say I love to fish and I love to prepare and eat fish. However, I am not someone who knows about lures or what names they go by. Frankly I really do not care what they’re called, only that they catch fish. When it comes to fishing for striped bass on Lake Texoma, I trust all to Captains Bill and Chris Carey with Striper Express (www.striperexpress.com). They know Lake Texoma better than anyone, have the proper boats to fish for stripers, know where to find them and how to catch them. They have been doing so for several decades. They have the best equipment to fish for striped bass regardless of what they’re biting and they fish almost exclusively with artificial lures, as opposed to live bait, although some of their guides on occasion do so. No one is better at what they do.

Striped bass (Morone saxatilis) are salt water fish that can live in fresh water. Lake Texoma is unique in that it is the best documented freshwater lake in North America where they not only live but also naturally reproduce. This is because of the salt content in the streams flowing into the Red River, which separates Texas from a portion of Oklahoma and forms Lake Texoma.

The salt content keeps the striped bass’ eggs buoyant as required for them to hatch and insures future generations of naturally reproduced striped bass.

Because the lake is in both Texas and Oklahoma it requires a special Texoma fishing license which is honored by both States, available in both Texas and Oklahoma. But if you are fortunate and are of a certain age to be considered a “senior citizen”, either a current Texas or Oklahoma fishing license suffices.

Thanks to Luke Clayton with whom I have doing a weekly radio show now for twenty years, and who has been fishing with Striper Express even longer, I have had numerous opportunities to fish with Striper Express when stripers are down deep to hitting topwater lures. Given a choice between catching them near the bottom or on top, I will freely admit it surely is fabulous fun when they go after lures on the lake’s surface. To me one of the most difficult things to do when this is happening is to keep from jerking the lure out of a striper’s mouth as he starts to “hit” a lure. But oh my goodness is it fun!

As to the best time to fish Lake Texoma for striped bass, I will defer to Bill and Chris Carey. You can contact them through their website. Personally, THE best time as far as I’m concerned is whenever I can journey to Lake Texoma with Luke and Jeff to fish with Striper Express. Normally we book dates months or even a year in advance to be assured a guide is available. That said, Bill and Chris have several extremely competent and fun to be around guides who have worked for them for years. Striper Express can accommodate individuals, large family, friends and/or corporate groups. They can also help arrange comfortable lodging near Lake Texoma for the night before and the day after.

Luke, Jeff and I fish with Striper Express several different times each year. We have always caught striped bass no matter the season. My two partners, like me not only like to catch them, we like to eat grilled and fried striped bass. Striper Express’s guides are experts at filleting fish and removing the dark red lateral line that can cause a “fishy” taste. Properly taken care of striped bass are absolutely fabulous table fare.

You say you have not yet fished for striped bass on Lake Texoma with Striper Express?  Well, partner, it is high time you did so!