Lake Texoma Striper Fishing Guide’s Capt. Steve Barnes said the lake is in its full summer fishing pattern, and, for Barnes, that means trolling for striped bass.
“You can catch some striper before sunrise running close to the bank throwing top-water or swimbaits, but once the sun starts to come up, look for them schooling in open water,” Barnes said. “They won’t stay up long, so better get them while it’s hot because once they go down they get a little tougher to track and catch.”
Barnes said you can still catch stripers on slabs and live bait out in the open water, but he feels trolling consistently puts bigger fish in the boat when the fish are schooled up and running fast.
“The boats really stack up on these fast-moving schools of fish this time of year,” he said.
Boats trolling while other bait-fishing boats are in the area don’t always mix.
“The trollers don’t like the boats in the way and the bait fishermen don’t like the trollers passing by, but that’s Lake Texoma in the summertime,” Barnes said. “There’s no sense fussing about it.”
Capt. Steve Barnes (940) 841-0910
