Lance's Guide Service

Oologah 1-7-12

2012-01-07T21:29:00.000-06:00

Jacob, John, and Ben joined me on Oologah today. John and Jacob were running late, so Ben and I went to catch bait. The fourth throw was the ticket and we had about 100 large gizzards ready for catching some cats. The air temp was in the low 30's warming up to the high 40's for the day. Wind was gusty to 25mph from the NE-NW and water temp was 41-43.
We picked John and Jacob up at 8:30 and headed to where we had caught them last weekend since the wind was and temps were the same. The graph lit up, but the fish were suspended and not feeding. We tried for a little bit and caught a few eater sized fish. Graphed a few more areas, but decided to go try an area I have been meaning to look at the last few trips. Graphed some good fish and caught a handful of eaters before heading to another area. The next area was a dropoff near the channel and that was the ticket. We stayed there catching good fish until time to leave. Nothing huge today, but some really good fish and lots of fun. I forgot to get pics today.

Oologah 1-2-12

2012-01-02T22:29:00.002-06:00

Scott was in town from PNG and wanted to catch a trophy catfish while he was in town. We got to the lake around 8:15 and it took a while to get bait. Air temp was in the lower 30's and got to the high 40's for the day. Water temp was 41-44.
Graphed a few areas and tried an area that drops from 4ft to 22ft, but only caught a few small eaters. Took off to graph the channel and marked a ton of fish, but only caught a couple there, so we headed to a wind blown point and that was the ticket for more and larger feeding fish. Ben with his new personal best.

And then Scott not to be outdone by his brother broke his personal best and had big fish for the day.

It was a great day on the water with good friends and my father. We had two other good fish on, but they both found their way in a tree and could not be freed.

Oologah 12-26-11

2011-12-29T19:51:00.000-06:00

Took my dad and Tommy fishing yesterday. Bait took forever to catch. The blues bit good after we caught enough bait. Caught in 2-47 feet. Water temp is around 47. Nothing big today. Dink to box fish were caught mid-lake and the size got better farther north. The north end had lots of floating debris from the recent rains. The wind blew every direction but the northwest that the weatherman predicted. It was great to be back on the water after missing two months with a broken hand. Tommy and dad got to reel in all the fish today.

Tommy with a long skinny male 15 pounder.

Fat ten pounder.

Oologah 10-20-11

2011-10-20T21:37:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I posted. We moved to Owasso, OK the first week of July and I have not been fishing much and it has not been good when I have gone. The water temp is coming down and the fish are biting now though.
I took Uncle John and Jacob fishing at Oologah for blue cats. Water temp was 60.5 and shad was pretty easy to catch in 22-25ft of water. We started out fishing a deep channel near a point where I marked a few fish, but they were suspended and not wanting breakfast. We moved to a hump in the middle of the lake and caught a few eaters in 16-22ft of water that were chasing huge schools of small shad. I decided to move shallow and see if the fish were taking advantage of the north wind we had for four days. We picked a spot and marked some good fish and shad on the side image in 2-7ft of water. We caught a couple the first 15 minutes and just as we were trying to decide whether to try a different location a front pole went down with Jacob on it. I looked back and a back pole on the other side went down and Uncle John hooked up with that one. I was getting the net and another pole off the back slammed down for a triple. We got all 3 fish in the boat and took a pic of two of them.

It wasn't long after that Jacob tangled with his personal best of 13 pounds!

Another double.

It was consistent with multiple doubles for 3 hours and we ended up with 42 good blues. We had a great time and I look forward to our next adventure.

Eagle Mountain 6-22-11

2011-06-22T21:14:00.000-05:00

Took repeat customer Dwight and his buddy Tommy out for my farewell trip to Texas. My family and I are moving this weekend back to Oklahoma to be closer to family. I will begin guiding there as soon as I feel comfortable about putting fish in the boat.
I picked them up from West Bay at 6:00am and they asked the itinerary. I laughed and I told them the first stop we would catch small fish and at 9:15 we would pull up and head to a deep hump and at 9:30 the fish would be on top for about 30 minutes and then would head to a hump and we'd slab them from there. After that died off we'd go to Auggie's and have a burger until 12:15 and then head to a flat and the fish would come up there at about 12:30. We'd fish those until it got to hot or they scattered and went down.
Well...normally this would be a fish story and we all know how those go...but this itinerary was dead on and we even had a boat show of buddies around to enjoy it with. Actually had once old man throw a rope and hook on my boat and ask for me to keep his butt on fish...what a guy!

The other guy was confused on whether to chase little catfish or play with the sandies, so he went and fed the catfish and then came over to play.

And Dwight actually managed to snag to channels this size and hooked one in the mouth...skill!!! I didn't get a picture, but Tommy not to be outdone caught a mussel shell.

Except for out Auggie's and 12:30 appointment (they were to scared of the heat).
Thank you to all that have helped me in my venture of guiding and all the good friends I have met here in Texas. It truly has been a fun six years and I hope some of you will look me up if you head north. I will be fishing Oologah and Skiatook lakes mainly.
Dwight, thank you for all the trips and I look forward to showing you how to catch some in Oklahoma.

Eagle Mountain 6-21-11

2011-06-21T21:08:00.001-05:00

Took repeat customers John and Chad out this morning and the wind was so much nicer today...enough to make the fishing excellent, but didn't beat us up.
We started out the morning fishing a ridge that runs from 5-28ft and I positioned the boat at the 13ft area because the fishing have been chasing bait along the ridge at that depth. The day started out as a bunch of dinks but then I saw a group of larger fish coming on the side scan to the left. They cast over there and bam, big doubles! That school of larger fish played nice for about an hour of nonstop action then we headed to a deep hump and as I was graphing the area about 2 acres of topwater action began! My customers asked what that was and I told them...FUN! Grab a rod and get after them! They stayed up for 22 minutes and then retreated back to the hump I was graphing. John had to be at work by one, so I took him back and Chad and I came back out for some more action. Great time with two great fishermen.

Eagle Mountain 6-20-11

2011-06-20T20:49:00.014-05:00

Had first time guests Jeanette and her husband out for a windy yet beautiful morning on Eagle Mountain Lake. When I got to the lake the gusts were 42mph out of the SE and the lake was rolling. I picked them up at their dock at 6:00 and they were ready to go. We hugged the south shoreline and marked fish on a hump at 22-25ft deep. The fish were just gill slapping and pecking the lures making hook-ups difficult. We managed 17 in the box before moving on to another hump picking up another dozen there. I decided to hit a point in 7ft of water and it was loaded with 6-8 inch fish...not what we were after so we headed back to the humps and found them in the exact spot I left them on Saturday and this group was willing to bite and we finished out our limits there. All fish caught on Ole Ugly Slabs and flies by Flies By Night. Water temp was 82-84 wind 25-35 SE with gusts to mid 40's.

Eagle Mountain 6-18-11

2011-06-18T21:13:00.009-05:00

Fished with repeat customers Nick and his family today. These guys put the pressure on me before we even got in the boat by telling me Gabe doesn't NOT like fishing. Gabe has never caught a fish and had a few bad experiences while fishing. He said he'd be happy with catching one....after he said that the pressure was off :)
Gabe with his first ever fish!

Here is a pic of the morning scenery

It was a windy day, but with the forecast at 101 we were okay with it. We started the day fishing a ridge that goes from 4-26ft and caught fish on all depths there. They would come up and school for a couple seconds and then go down, but the HB side image told us exactly where they were. We caught the fish on Ole Ugly in white/chartreuse and Flies By Night flies. Also, we tried a new lure from Flies By Night similar to an inline spinner and it did great also. We were able to use it to fish at all levels of the water column and do well.
After two hours of consistent catching we started catching mainly dinks, so I asked them if they wanted to head south and battle the wind in search of larger fish. First stop south I marked a load of fish, but only one taker. Next area, nothing on the big screen and the wind really picked up so we headed to an area that has been holding fish about every third trip. Last week it was loaded but couldn't get any to bite. Today, I marked a little bit on the 2d sonar, but on the left side scan it showed, "Game Time!" Put the trolling motor down and before I could get everyone their poles fish were flying out of the water with an Ole Ugly and Flies By Night fly in their mouth! These guys sure put a hurt on the fish today and battled the high winds. Memories were made and we all had a blast! I think Gabe went from dreading the trip to having a great time, and trips like this is why I love guiding. Thanks guys

Water Temp 84 degrees; wind 25-40 S to SW; Ole Ugly and Flies By Night; 4-26ft with 17-23ft boat depth

Eagle Mountain 6-11-11

2011-06-11T13:34:00.001-05:00

Took first time customers Hector, Javy, and Nathan out this morning. Caught a few on a hump in 21-23ft. Moved to summer deeper water and marked a ton, but no takers. Decided to hit the ridges and that is where we caught most of our fish. Fished in the boat show for some dink surfacing fish for a while also. Water temp was 80-84. Ole Ugly slabs and Flies By Night flies. Chartruese and white colors.

Grapevine 5-22-11

2011-05-22T22:14:00.000-05:00

First time customers Rick and Jacob met me at the ramp to learn how to fish this morning on an instructional trip. We started out with Rick catching 3 dinks right out of the box and then hit a cold spell. Checked the island, meadowmere, rock crusher, murrell....nothing. I did mark some good bait with birds around meadowmere, so I headed back there. This time the birds were there sitting on the bank, a few boats and nothing on the graph. Then I saw two hit on top...graph lit up and before we new it Jacob(first time to fish) had 64 in the boat and was worn out! All fish caught on Ole Ugly, Yarn Flies and Flies-By-Night in 18-26ft on the bottom. It sure was fun teaching this young man how to do some catching!

First Fish

First Double

Father Son Pic

Eagle Mountain 5-21-11

2011-05-21T21:49:00.000-05:00

Took repeat customers, James and his father, to Eagle Mountain to do some sand bass catching. First area I graphed nobody was home, so we went to the next area and marked a little bit on the graph and decided to give it a try. James father caught his first double.

Those little marks grew and the fishing got really good until the fog lifted and then they vanished after two hours of catching. Pulled the trolling motor up and headed to another area and same story, marked a little and after catching a few the graph lit up nicely and it was ON!

Took some video on this trip. Youtube will only allow 15 minutes of run time, so this a little bit of the day.
Eagle Mountain Video: White Bass/Sand Bass Slabbing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5S7Oolnq-4

After that bites slowed, we decided to check out a point and there wasn't much home. Decided to blind cast it out and one fish was caught. We quickly decided to go find another school and headed back to the area we graphed first thing and nobody was home....but this time the graph lit up and it was game time! James and his father are trying to decide when to book there next trip. Thanks guys

Eagle Mountain 5-14-11

2011-05-16T10:39:00.000-05:00

Had repeat customers John, Roe, Whitney, Liz and Graham this morning. The weather was a tad chilly and the north wind was blowing pretty good. Checked a few humps and a point fairly out of the wind and only put 9 fish in the box for the first couple of hours. We decided to hit the main lake and found the fish really stacked up from 20-26ft on a ridge. Caught their limits in a little over an hour there. All fish caught on Ol'Ugly Slabs and yarn flies and flies by Flies-By-Night. Chartreuse and white was the color they wanted today on both. Tried white and it was not nearly as productive. The water had mud streaks from all the wind and rain we have gotten. Water temp was in the low 70's and was much warmer than the air temp. I'll have to post pictures when I get them. My neighbor who is in a high school photography class came along to snap some pics of the sunrise and fishing. Off the water by 11:00 so I don't know how the afternoon bite was today. School is almost out so I'll have weekday openings in June and July.

Eagle Mountain 4-23-11

2011-04-23T23:56:00.001-05:00

Took Jim and Cecil fishing on Eagle Mountain this morning. It was a beautiful morning with good temps and plenty of wind to get a good bite going. We graphed a few on a mid lake slope, but no takers. So we headed to an area I have caught fish this time of year after a shad spawn to see what was going on. Eased up to it and noticed some boils, dropped the trolling motor down, and got to catching. We were fishing in 1-3ft of water using rattle traps, mepps, sassy shad, and curly tail grubs. It sure was fun watching Cecil and Jim catch onto some doubles on the ultra lites.

After that bite died down the fish moved out on the ridge and a group in a pontoon were nailing them, but we decided to head to a different area of the lake and give it a try. We looked at a few humps for a slab bite, but nobody home. Headed to a point, but a guy was already there, so we headed to another point and saw David and his customers out trying to get some little girls on some fish while staying out of the wind that was getting really strong. Checked some more humps with nobody home again, so we headed to battle the wind on another point with the wind blowing in on it. Got there, put the trolling motor down and it didn't take long to start catching some good one's in 1-4ft of water. We were catching some good fish while another boat was on the other side of the point putting a hurt on the little one's. They were catching more than us, but our fish were bigger on that side. After the other boat left I slid over to the other side of the point and started nailing the small one's slabbing straight down in two feet of water, they were thick in there. It took me a few minutes and I got a great idea, cast out off the ledge in deeper water and see if the size picks up...first cast fifteen incher. It was a great time on a shallow water bite today. Water temp was 70.4 starting out and I forgot to look later in the day. We caught fish on grubs, sassy's, Ol'Ugly Slabs, Mepps, and rattle traps. They all worked equally well if fished correctly. Kept 43 for our Easter dinner and let way more than that go. The fish I cleaned were all spawned out and feeding aggressively, however only 3 fish had something in there stomachs.
Here is a pic of the eggs after they spawn.

The females still had a stretched out pregnant belly, but was empty when you pushed on it. Hero time is really going to be here the next couple of weeks as they all start feeding after the spawn.
Here is what they were eating today.

Eagle Mountain 4-16-11

2011-04-16T08:51:00.001-05:00

Had two of the toughest trips since guiding Saturday. Picked up Javier and his threes buddies at 7:00 on a crisp 40 degree morning. Looked at every area fish usually hold this time of year and they were there, however, they would not bite. Found one small school of dinks that would nibble and caught a few of those. The fish were holding from 17-28ft on drop off, but were hugging the bottom and not in the mood this morning. Water temp was 63 degrees but ended up near 70 by the end of the day.

Picked up repeat customers Dwight, his wife, two daughters, and son in law. Dwight has been on some very good trips and wanted to share this one with his family. Well, this one wasn't as good. The fish that wouldn't bite this morning weren't there in the afternoon, so we couldn't try and persuade them. Went to a point that is pretty good when boat traffic starts getting crazy and there was already a guy there fishing it catching a few fish. Tried to fish out from him on the ledge, but no takers. Tried another point and nothing. Got a text from Karl that a point I had tried 3 times earlier now had some dinks on it. Tried another are a and nothing home. Decided a few dinks was better than nothing so we went to join Karl and Bama. Caught some dinks and a dozen keepers there. Saw a boat show of trollers south of the island on the way in catching what looked like more dinks.

Today, the wind blew from the north, south, east, west and everywhere in between. I sure hope it picks back up soon. What a difference a week makes. Easy limits last Saturday and couldn't even get a limit out of two trips this Saturday. I hope somebody else did better this weekend. Saw a few good fish caught by guys throwing cranks at rocks.

Eagle Mountain 4-9-11

2011-04-09T14:51:00.001-05:00

Fish with repeat guest John, Roe, Kevin, and Graham. Everytime this group fishes with me they try and pick what time we will have our limits by. Last time we went out was at Grapevine with no wind...we never got our limits that day so the pressure was on today! Picked them up at 7:15 and they had their limits by 8:55. Just one of those good days. I tried to talk them into fishing some more, but John said he really hates releasing fish and was ready to go in. These guys are a hoot to fish with and they are really good fishermen. They had me running all over the boat taking fish off. Every third fish seemed to be a keeper today, either toads or dinks. Fish were caught 12-18ft deep on Ol'Ugly Slabs/flies and Flies-By-Night flies. Color did not seem to matter today. The birds came over to play for a few minutes about halfway through the trip, but they didn't last long nor did we follow them. Only had 2 other boats sharing the fish today because of the wind, Frank and his nephew Mikey, and Trashguy with his wife. After I dropped John and his crew off I went back to do a little playing of myself. Frank put his boat on the trailer and he and Mikey joined me. We went and did some souting to get an idea of all the areas holding fish now. Caught fish in another area of the lake from 20-24ft and another wind blown bank at 12-16ft. It was good to see David and his clients out having a good time today.

Eagle Mountain 3-26-11

2011-03-26T21:36:00.000-05:00

Fished with repeat customers Marcus and family. Started out the morning fishing a slope from 7-24ft and the fish were hanging right at 14-16ft most of the morning while were were on that spot. They wanted a chartreuse and white Ol' Ugly and chrtreuse Flies By Night fly above. The women and kids on my boat catch more fish and today was another perfect example. She put a hurt on those fish and the guys on the boat!

This was Joe's first experience slabbing for sand bass and he got the hang of it really quick.\

We stayed in that area until they had their fill of sand bass and left to hunt a few catfish. We only managed to cats and a gar. The wind changed directions from the south to north and as soon as the shallow cat bite started it died for us. Pulled anchor and decided to catch more sand bass. Looked at a few spots and marked fish, but not active so we headed to a different area of the lake and found them on a slope from 3-17ft deep with the wind going across it. Fished here for a few minutes picking up another twenty fish and decided to call it a day. Had a great time with good people. Thanks guys see you in May

After I dropped them off and cleaned fish, I went to the last spot we fished to play a little myself picking up about 60 more, but they were mainly squirrely little males. Love this time of year.

Eagle Mountain 3-19-11

2011-03-19T20:42:00.000-05:00

Took second time guest Larry out for a sand bass trip this morning. Larry had never been sand bass fishing and I believe he is now ruined on the catching side. We boated well over 200 fish today in two locations. Both spots were in 6-25 ft of water focusing on the drop offs. The fish are really liking the wind blown areas. Larry kept a dozen for his family a dinner and released the rest for next time. Ol' Ugly slabs in both white/chartreuse and my OSU orange/white that Johnny makes for me. Flies By Night flies were the ticket in chartreuse color. Fished 7 til noon with 25-30 mph south wind, 64 degree water temp and high 70's outside. Good times Larry, thanks!

Eagle Mountain 3-17-11

2011-03-17T20:18:00.000-05:00

Took repeat customer Clay out for a catfish and sand bass trip. We started the day fishing in 3 ft of water and got some action quick and boated two blues missing a few also. Then the bite just stopped. Tried another location and gar were biting our floats and taking off. Got to see one up close, but luckily he opened his jaw and let loose before I had to take him off. The wind kept getting stronger so we decided to try some sand bass on a wind blown ridge from 8-26ft. Marked the fish on side image, pulled out into the deeper water, set the I-pilot on anchor mode and tossed our Ol' Ugly slabs with Flies-By-Night flies up on the shallow flat and worked it down the ridge. The fish seemed to want the white and chartreuse slab and chartreuse fly more than others today. We caught 100ish fish, keeping around 20 good one's, and left them biting. It was a good catching trip with great conversation. Looking forward to the next one Clay. Thanks

Ray Roberts 3-16-11

2011-03-16T20:01:00.000-05:00

Took repeat customers Dwight and Tim out today and they brought first time guests Katie and Gary to do a mixed trip sand bass and catfish. First stop was on a hump close to the mouth of a creek in 26-36 ft of water. We caught fish consistently for a couple of hours. The girls always make the guys look bad and Katie was no exception. She caught more and bigger fish.
This was nice surprise and gave Katie a good fight, but she is a good angler and won the battle. This is her biggest fish ever! This fish hit a white and chartreuse Ol' Ugly slab.

Next we went out on some humps in 28-33ft and Tim and Gary finally got woken up and their line began to get tugged on more frequently, but Katie didn't let up either.

I think Dwight was taken it easy eating most of this trip watching everybody else because I didn't have to take too many off his line :)
Next stop we saw Boston Bob and his clients having a good time. We enjoyed watching the kids catch as much or more as catching ourselves.
We ended the day with an ice chest full of sand bass and catfish releasing many also. Looking forward to the next one with this group.

Eagle Mountain 3-15-11

2011-03-15T19:57:00.000-05:00

Catching shad for tomorrows trip was tough today. The bait that was keep was in small balls and was hard to hit with the net and I never found anything but one inch shad in the shallows. Got a call from Johnny that he was having trouble locating some sand bass so I told him I would try an area I was close to. Drove along the ridge on the deep side shooting a side image with the Humminbird at the drop off and found what looked like scattered out sand bass. Tossed a marker out, dropped a slab, and bam, fish on! Called Johnny and told him I was on fish. I caught 42 in about an hour and then had to go throw for some more bait for Wednesdays trip.

Tawakoni Cabelas Tournament 3-5-11

2011-03-06T19:56:00.000-06:00

Ben and I decided to give the Cabelas tournament a try again with 30+ mph winds. We started out up north and only caught on channel in 4 ft of water on our first spot. Next spot in 3 ft we caught a 10 pounder and five other box fish to get our 5 fish weigh in limit, but we didn't have the size of fish we needed. Time to head out in the wind and try some deeper water. Hit the area I caught the 34 pounder the weekend before and caught a handful of good 3-6 pounders...not going to help in this tournament. I looked at Ben and asked him if he was up to going to the opposite end of the lake in the wind and he said, "sure, why not" so off we went. Wasn't a bad drive down riding with the waves, but we knew it was going to be ROUGH on the way back. Started out shallow again and caught a dozen good fish, but not what we were after. Went out to try some deeper water in the mouth of a creek and bam another dozen good fish, but not the big one's. Time was running out so we decided to try a cove and see if a big one was lurking but only caught another handful of eaters. Time to make the trek back north against the 5 to 6 footers. Everything on the boat got wet and I got to test out the new boat in some great waves.
Ben and I had a great time and had a great day of catching, but not the one's we needed to win the tournament. We placed 13th out of 37 teams.

Tawakoni NTTC Tournament 2-26-11

2011-02-27T19:29:00.000-06:00

Fished the NTTC Tournament with Mickey. We started out fishing a series of holes because we marked some great fish, but only caught one keeper. Next we tried a wind blown point with a creek near by and picked up a few more keepers and a 34 pounder. That bite died so we tried some shallow water and had one slam down and run into a stump pulling the hook out and another dink. The wind really started picking up from the south causing us to go back in a creek and try more shallow, nada. Tried the creek on the way out in a little deeper water and caught a couple more fish, but not the big one's we needed.

Ray Roberts 2-12-11

2011-02-13T15:19:00.000-06:00

Took first time guests Marcus, his wife, and Aaron to Ray Roberts on a blue cat trip. Air Temp was 23 at the ramp and got up to 68 when leaving. Water temp was 39.4 and then got up to 42.8. We started out fishing the drop off of a point from 48-57ft and caught a couple quick fish, but then the bite stopped so we moved on. Next stop was a little deeper on a ledge from 45-62ft and we caught a couple at that spot. Graphed lots of bait and fish in other areas, but the fish were not in feeding mode so off we went in search of deeper water. First area to graph and the bait was there, broken up, and the fish were with them. Anchored up and that was the ticket in 71-82ft of water. There was little to no wind today until the last 15 minutes of fishing...simply a beautiful day on the water, good times, and 3 new personal bests. The fish preferred smaller threadfin heads today over gizzards.

Lake Cooper 1-22-11

2011-01-28T09:25:00.001-06:00

Fished a corporate trip today and my two guys had never caught a catfish. The action was slower than last week, but still produced plenty of eaters and a few trophies today. Our big fish was 28 pounds and made for happy customers! The fish were stacked in the deeper holes, but not actively feeding. Marked a few up on the ledges and on the flat and that is where we caught most of our fish. Fishing 24-30ft near 40+ ft of water. Water temp was 41.2 and the fish were full of threadfin and smaller gizzards. All fish caught on Gizzard shad and Team Catfish double action hooks. Later in the day the fishing picked up if I sprayed the shad with Dead Red Blood Spray.

NTTC Tournament Cooper Lake 1-15-11

2011-01-15T20:21:00.012-06:00

Mickey and I fished the NTTC Tournament on Lake Cooper this morning. It was my first time on the lake and it sure is a good one. First spot produced around 40 fish in the first hour and a half of the tournament! Most of the fish were in the 10-15 pound range. We had more doubles and triples than I've had in a while. It was fun trying to keep the poles in the water and get the fish released. We only managed to fish 3 spots during the entire tournament because the bite was so good. We just couldn't get the really big bite to move us up in the standings. Our 5 biggest weighed 85 pounds and we finished in 5th place. Looking forward to the next tournament at Tawakoni. Had a great time!

Ray Roberts 1-8-11

2011-01-12T20:29:00.000-06:00

Took Dwight and his crew out on the day before the big cold front on Ray Roberts. Dwight took a sand bass trip with me last spring and wanted to tangle with some blues this winter. Today the fish were piled under shad in 50-72ft of water. The fish were active and feeding on the drop offs, but not feeding on the deep flat. They were on the flat but would not touch a bait. Today the fish really seemed to prefer buffalo over gizzard shad and perch. I think they just wanted something different than the threadfin they were eating. One of the 8 pounders we cleaned had about 20 threadfin in it's stomach that were not digested yet. They are definitely eating well this winter. We tried shallow a few times, but the active fish were mainly at the 50ft mark. Water temp was 47-49 degrees and a 5-10mph northeast to east wind. It was a tough day on the water, but we managed 26 nice fish. Had a blast with this group and look forward to our next adventure this Spring.

Texoma 1-1-11

2011-01-03T13:54:00.000-06:00

Fished with buddies Steve and Mickey today on Big Tex. We decided to try dragging today since Steve and I had success in Alabama with this technique.
Started the day marking loads of bait and nice yellow arches on a drop from 60 to 82 ft. Got all the rigs out and it was about an hour before we got the first fish, 25 pounder. From there the bites were few and far between all day long. We caught about 8 nice keeper blues from 4-9 pounds and then Steve locked into a hog in 78 ft of water. Finally, we hooked one of those yellow arches that were showing up on the graph! It was fun videoing Steve play the fish to the surface for our "net man" Mickey to dip her up. Had a great time today with two good friends. Pic of Steve and the 62 pounder

Grand Lake 12-27-10

2010-12-27T18:44:00.000-06:00

I went fishing with Jerry Kropff on Grand Lake in northeaster Oklahoma while up visiting family for the holidays. On the way there the truck said 12 degrees, but it did warm up to the high 30's later in the day. Jerry was very kind to have the bait already caught and ready to go fishing when I got there.
Jerry spent some time graphing a few locations and finally decided an area with a steep drop off into a channel looked good. It wasn't long and we had the first fish....then we missed about 14 bites in a row. We tried rigging the shad different ways and downsizing hooks, but still had trouble. The bite was just not aggressive the day of the cold front. We fished a total of 3 spots and caught 26 blues, most in the 4-8 pound range. I did catch a 16 pounder to end the day. It was great fishing with Jerry and learning from one of the greatest catfisherman. I look forward to the next adventure. Thanks Jerry

Ray Roberts 12-18-10

2010-12-18T22:48:00.001-06:00

Took the Hughes crew out this morning for blues. Started out fishing a drop off from 38 to 72 ft of water. We caught most of the fish on the shallower part of the drop, but they moved deeper as the morning progressed. MG had the hot corner of the boat to start the day.

Then the guys got in on the action.

Water temp was 50-52 and most of the fish were caught between 50 and 72ft of water. They kept 15 good fish under 10 pounds, released around a dozen in the teens and a 20 pounder.

On the way in we decided to try for some sand bass and ended up catching about 90 in an hour. Many of them were good magnum sized fish. We all had on different styles of slabs and chartruese flies from Flies-by-Night. We caught the fish in 40-44ft of water betwen 2 and 3 in the afternoon. It was a blast guys, looking forward to the next trip.

Since the fish are deep this time of year you must burp the fish if you are going to release them to live another day. This is especially true when we are chasing the big blues. Typically, we have used a piece of 1/2 pvc for this, but last weekend I had to burp some smaller fish because my clients did not want to keep more fish than for dinner. If a piece of pvc was put down a 4 pound fish the fish would be damaged and bleed. The purpose of doing this is to relieve their air bladder that becomes bloated and enlarged when brought from deep water. If they are not burped the fish cannot go down and will eventually die. So...I looked around the garage and found some hard plastic tubing about the diameter of a pinky finger. I tried it today on all sizes of fish and it worked great. I just cut a 2 foot piece.

Ray Roberts 12-11-10

2010-12-15T22:07:00.000-06:00

Today I had first guests Steve and family out for blue catfishing. We decided to head out at 6am because the wind was suppose to chance from the south to north and blow in the 30's by mid morning. As soon as we got to our first spot to graph the area bam strong north wind. Oh well, we were already out there and the crew was willing to make the best of the day. They wanted to catch some eaters and also chase a trophy, so we threw out some jugs to start the day. Then we anchored up on an area I marked some good fish on a drop off from 34 to 58 ft of water. About 5 minutes after getting all the poles out the back pole goes down and Steve reels down on it. He boats a personal best 10 pounder....however that fish managed to run up and tangle 3 rods, so we had tangled line everywhere. We threw a different pole out off the drop where the 10 came from and down it goes again...and again...and again. This was not helping get the other rods untangled catching these fish, but it was fun :) The bite was quick for about 45 minutes and then just stopped. We decided to check the jugs since we were getting some good rollers as the wind picked up. I think we only had one jug that didn't have a good fish on it. I had put the jugs out on a gradual point starting at 15 ft and ending in 42ft. As we moved up the slope to shallower water the fish were getting smaller and then wham in 28 ft of water we had a 29 pound blue on. The guys got a kick out of seeing that fish. We put it in the live well to get energy back and then she was released for another day. It took a team effort to pull the jugs and fish in with the wind.
After picking up the jugs, we fished about 6 different areas marking great fish, but the bite just got lighter and lighter as the day wore on. At the end we were catching fish that we didn't even know where on there. We'd go to leave and have a few fish on. The guys were troopers catching a mess of fish in adverse conditions today. We all had a great time with good conversation. The guys learned how to tie knots, different rigs, graph reading, baiting hooks, patterns etc. Look forward to the next trip guys. Thanks I'll post the pics when they send them to me. It was too difficult to use more than one camera today in the wind.

Most of the fish were caught in 44-68ft of water. Very different from 2 weeks ago when they were in 2-15 ft of water. This cold front has moved the bait out in the deeper water.

Galveston 12-3-10

2010-12-15T21:47:00.000-06:00

Todd and I went to Galveston for the annual PE convention and decided to try out luck fishing off a pier. Neither one of us have ever fished from the shore in saltwater, but thought we'd give it a try. We bought some frozen shrimp from Academy(mistatke), but it would just crumble off the hook. A guy next to us told me where a place down the row sold shrimp for fishing so I went and bought a few pounds. Instantly, after throwing in the fresh shrimp it was fish on. We had a good relaxing time fishing for a couple hours then it was time to get cleaned up for a nice seafood dinner. We probably caught around 40 fish.

Ray Roberts 11-27-10

2010-11-27T21:23:00.000-06:00

Decided to take Larry and John today to do some scouting for new areas on Ray Roberts. It took way to long to catch bait this morning in an area of the lake I had never been to, but after about 80 throws we had enough to fish. One was a 17inch gizzard....more on that later.
Marked a few fish on a deep channel and got set up. Threw most of the poles out in the channel and a few up on the flat. A few minutes later John got the first blue of the day on the shallow flat. Rebaited threw it out and bam Larry got this one of the shallow flat. Baited up and down it goes again. We decided to move out in the shallow flat, but after moving we didn't get another bite in the area.
We decided to try another area where two creeks join with a shallow flat nearby.....nada.
Decided to go with the shallow bite and fish a windblown point with the creek nearby. I decided to put the head of that 17 inch Gizzard on a pole and throw it off the end of the point just as it tapers off before heading into the creek. John and Larry asked what in the world we were fishing for that could eat a bait that size. We sat there for about 10 minutes and the pole with the head on it goes down. Larry reels down on it and has a 17 pounder work him over. Judging by the bait size and fight of that fish I would have thought it to be at least a 30 pounder. Larry was all smiles. We decided to call it a day and get home to our families. Had a great time guys and found a few more areas to fish. Good times!

Ray Roberts 11-22-10

2010-11-22T21:12:00.028-06:00

Took James and his father to Ray Roberts this morning. Last time James went on a trip with me it was an electrifying experience and we had to run for cover. Luckily, this time we had clear skies and a 10-15mph wind. The water temp was around 58 today and the sand bass were biting light with many gill slaps. They didn't want it deadsticked, but also didn't want it moving much. More of a slow up and down making the slab spiral instead of flutter. The birds helped a little early, but they quickly gave it up and took a rest. The bite was consistent, but not on fire this morning. If I remember correctly, James caught 6 fish snagged in the back. We decided anyone can hook them in the mouth, but it takes great skill to snag them in the back.

James and his father also wanted to catch a few blues for the fun of it.

We had a blast this morning and I look forward to having these two again.

Ray Roberts 11-13-10

2010-11-14T20:50:00.000-06:00

Todd and I went to Ray Roberts this morning to try some new techniques and locations for blues. Got to the lake to find the area we were going to fish had some serious white caps and rollers. So, we decided to stay out of the wind a little and fish areas I was more familiar with. First spot, we marked good fish, but after 20 minutes no takers. Decided to get out in the wind and look at some other areas. Next stop was covered with bait and active fish around. The screen had bait balls getting busted with sand bass and catfish suspended around it picking of shad getting busted up by the sand bass. We put out rods for cats and tossed some slabs for sand bass. Caught about a dozen of each in quick fashion and left to check other areas.
Arrived at our next area to graph and found same scenario with bait, sand bass, and blues so we fished for both catching both. Largest blue was still only 11 pounds, so we moved out to 60+ feet of water and caught a good blue, but then nothing. The birds started working a hundred yards from us, so we headed over to catch some sand bass and that we did. The wind even changed direction from the NW to the SW and that didn't stop the action. Tim Wike from ReelinRayRoberts showed up with clients and they looked like they were having a blast too.

Total we probably had in the 80 range for sand bass and around 40 catfish for the day. A beautiful day on Lake Ray Roberts!

Ray Roberts 11-6-10

2010-11-10T08:52:00.000-06:00

Took Frank and Johnny to Ray Roberts this afternoon on mixed white bass/catfish trip. With this recent cold front the water temp was down to 64.6 and the fish were working humps/drop offs and points from 18-35ft. Some birds would point you in the right direction, but were not a consistent helper today. Electronics were the key. I can't say enough about the game change experience of having and learning how to use side image. Today the white bass wanted the slab on a much slower raise and drop. Some bites felt like a little tick on the line and some others hammered it. All fish were caught on Ol'Uglies and yarn flies. Johnny tried his new white and gold slab, I had on white and silver and Frank had on white and chartruese. All produced well.
After catching a good mess of whites and about an hour left we decided to try for some blue cats. Frank had never fished for them and was eager to see a pull down. We started out drifting a ridge with one old green shirt, a large stick, and a tree caught. Not really what we were after, so we headed to a point they have been good on the past couple Novembers to graph it and see what was there. On a drop from 12 to 20 ft I spotted a pack of 4 catfish. We anchored up above them and tossed the baits back towards them. It wasn't 5 minutes and the back pole went down. Frank was busy casting out catching whites and didn't see it, so I reeled down on it and handed him the pole. A solid in the box. This continued and Frank managed to put four fish between 6 and 9 pounds in the box and one teenager to be released for another day. With the sun setting on a beautiful fall day and great fishing we decided to head in and clean our catch.

Grapevine 10-15-10

2010-10-17T11:34:00.000-05:00

Took John and his crew of 7 out for a quick morning trip on the Vine this morning. Started out a little before sunrise with the preacher getting cold. He knew something was wrong when he stepped out of his truck and all the "wiser men" had on pants and coats....he had shorts and a fleece on. The guys had a good time with him all morning!
This was the first trip in a while that Roe didn't bring his lucky girlfriend and I don't think we'll let him on the boat without her anymore because the bite was SLOW today. We found fish every stop we made, but they were scattered fish on a no wind, blue bird day making the bites few and far between.
Tip of the day: Burn 3 cranks, quarter second pause, burn 3 cranks, quarter second pause etc.
The fish did not want the typical up down of slabbing or hopped back from a cast. We ended up finding the pattern and caught fish, but just not what this crew is use too. We all had a great time and lots of ribbin' going on this morning. John was confused on the Vine and was wondering why the sun was rising in the West :) This group usually fishes at EM with me, but it's turning over right now.
John was joking about taking a pic for the blog so I took this when with a dink double :) In his right hand is another one the same size as the one on the fly!

Had a great time guys and look forward to our trips in March. Roe, bring Whitney so she can fill the cooler for you guys.

Grapevine 10-9-10

2010-10-13T15:37:00.000-05:00

Took out Nick and his father Constentine for his 50th birthday. We wanted to go to EM, but the lake is turning over and the fishing stinks. We headed out towards Meadowmere and marked fish, but only had a few dinks after an hour of fishing. Decided to go try some humps that I had caught fish on this time 2 years ago. Graphed about 6 areas before I found a good school on the side image. Tossed the marker out, told the guys to fish on one side of the marker and it was FISH ON! Managed to catch a dozen quickly so I called Omar from Luck of the Irish to tell him we were on fish. He came and marked fish on a hump about 75 yards away. It was no time and his customers were wearing them out too. Our bite slowed and theirs heated up. Then we started catching again and theirs slowed down. The fish were just moving from one hump to the other. We managed to keep moving marking fish using side image, catch 20 or so and they'd vanish and we'd hunt them down again. We caught a good mess of fish and had a great time. These guys are originally from the Ukraine and it was fun listening to them. Had a great time guys.

Hanging with SandJohnny 10-2-10

2010-10-13T10:25:00.000-05:00

Johnny and Terry had caught some bait for the winter a couple days before, so Johnny and I head out to catch some gizzards and working on my transducer placement. Threw the net for several hours filling up an ice chest three-quarters up with only 4-8 inch gizzards. That was a good workout.

Decided to mess with my transducer trying to get the perfect side image on the HB 1197. Thanks Johnny, it is perfect now! Amazing picture now!

Ben's Bachelor Party 9-25-10

2010-10-13T10:20:00.000-05:00

Headed to Oklahom to see my buddy Ben for his bachelor party at Lake Keystone. We had some good grilled steaks, potatoe, and a killer key lime pie. After stuffing our bellies we headed below the dam for some evening fishing with friends. Some of the other guys threw spinners for whatever would bite and Ben and I baited up with shad for catfish. The guys caught some 4-6inch crappie and sand bass while Ben and I patiently waited having some good conversation. We continued waiting....Ben finally got a good bite and hook up. Not a big one, but it was a fish.

A cold front hit just after Ben caught the fish and shut down the bite, but we stayed just for the fun of it. We weren't really paying attention when Ben got another bite. It fought pretty good and then started running straight at us. I told Ben to just keep cranking and see if you can drag him up on the bank before he turns....it jumped about 3 feet from us onto the bank. Nothing like a long nose gar with teeth jumping at you to get the blood pumping! We all had a good laugh.

Shortly after this, we decided to call it an evening. Had a great time with a great group of guys and I'm glad Ben caught something on his night. Good times

Bass Pro Championship - Wheeler/Wilson Lakes

2010-10-13T10:12:00.000-05:00

Steve Nelson and I made the adventure to fish the Bass Pro Championship on Wilson and Wheeler Lakes in Alabama. We prefished and caught bait for 3 days. In prefishing we decided to focus on Wheeler Lake because on the final day of competition everyone has to fish Wheeler.
Practice at Wheeler - Steve and I looked at the map on the graph and marked areas we thought would hold fish on the entire lake. You never really know how big a lake is until you get on it and let me tell you Wheeler is a a very, VERY long lake. We would go to a spot, mark it, and then if it had something worth fishing we would fish it. FYI, the lower half of the lake was holding all the bait and fish that we found. The first day of practice we ran my 50 gallon tank dry about 10 miles from the boat ramp. I did find out that when my gauge is on half....it's really not half but more of a quarter or less. We totaled it up and we ran the boat about 90 miles that day. Sure am glad we decided not to head farther north than we did.
The second day of practice we decided to stay on the lower half since that is where we found all the bait and fish. Let's just say we found one spot that we caught fish on and that was it! Not at all what we expected from a lake known for it's blue catfish population.
Day 3 of practice we made the decision to try our luck at Wilson since we had fished it the following year in the Cabelas Classic. We started out fishing several areas Steve thought would hold fish....nada. Fished other areas that looked great and showed fish....nada. So now we are really not feeling good about this tournament, but decided to head to different area and try drifting/toodlywhooing/spider rigging etc. Fifteen minutes into fishing like this on a deep flat and my pole gets a small tap. Waited and tap again, then the rod tip bent 2 inches down and just sat there.....another inch and I reeled down on that sucker and it was a 34 pounder. Another ten minutes goes by and one slams Steve's pole and twists the rod holder around the rail....42 pounder. Okay, now we are on to something! We caught a total that would have been 109 for our 5 fish and decided to spend the rest of the day catching bait getting ready for Day 1 of the tournament.

Day 1 Tournament:
Head to our area on Wilson that is producing and wait for time to fish. Poles in and 5 minutes into it Steve's pole slams down to the water, Steve reels down and the reel handle shaft snaps off! I quickly take the handle off the rod next to it and slide it on the other one, but it was too late. We just looked at each other in disbelief.....and.....the rod I took the handle off of went down! Put the handle back on it and managed to get a 8 pounder in the boat. Not what we were looking for, but get's us on the board. Fill up the 100 gallon live well and catch a couple others in the 5-9 pound range to have 3 unders. Now we really need to catch our overs to get our numbers up there.
We decided to go fish a couple different areas and scratched out 42 pounds on the first day to finish the day around 32nd place. Not where we want to be, but still in the running to make the cut for the top 25.
Day 2 Tournament:
Made a decision that would make or break us and fish Wheeler instead of Wilson. We didn't do well there in practice, but did find several promising areas and we didn't feel like the area on Wilson was going to get us to the top 25. Started out the morning on a did depth drop off and put about 30 pounds in the boat by 7:30, but the bite stopped so we moved down the along the dropoff about 200 yards. We continued to catch fish and get our weight up. Later in the morning we decided to go to another flat across from the ridge and finished out the day there. We were nervous at the weigh in, all we needed to do was get in the top 25 to fish the final day. On the final day everyone's score goes back to zero, so we have a chance to win it all if we can get to the final day. We weighed in 101.8 pounds on Day 2 to bring our two day total to 149 pounds......we made it to 21st place and would be fishing the final day!
Day 3 Tournament
Started out fishing a lower lake deep hump and get getting small bites, but nothing in the boat. Moved to a deep ridge.....nothing! It's now ten o'clock and we started feeling the crunch time setting in. Decided to make the 45 minute boat ride to the dropoff we fished the day before but knew with the wind we had today it would be tough to anchor. This dropoff is nothing but really slick rock and not much to grab on. We tried to hold, but couldn't with 3 anchors. Decided to fish an adjacent dropoff and got an anchor to hold. The wind picked up more and started drifting us a little. One of my poles tightens up and I think its the boat drifting....nope hung. Pulled on it and pulled on it, but it wouldn't break...come's loose and has an 8 pounder on it. Guess we are finally on the board.
Made a move to a flat and set there for about 20 minutes without a bite. Decided to move and Steve pulled the front anchor up while I reeled poles in....back rod slams to the water! Steve hauls in a 32 pounder. Get the hook out and the pole next to it slams down 26 pounder! Okay, we decided to reanchor and try this again.
Waited for 30 minutes no bites. Started pulling rods in and a pole slams down, 19 pounder. All these fish came on Steve's rods that were in one particular area. We decided the fish were traveling that spot and we'd move a little closer.
Anchored up and caught another 5 pounder to get us a limit. Decided to wait it out until time to go in to see if we could get a big one. My front pole slams down and the drag starts singing! Fish on! Get it in the net to measure....34.75 inches long :( We already had our two over 34 inches that were bigger, so we had to let it go. Caught one more small fish and had to head in.
We were the last boat in line and it seemed like an eternity. We weighed in 101 pounds and got 16th in the nation this year. Steve and I had a blast, learned a ton, and were only a couple of pounds from a top 10 finish. Looking forward to next year.
Below are the pics from Day 2 of practice at Wilson.

Eagle Mountain 8-14-10

2010-08-14T20:31:00.000-05:00

Took Lance and Brad's families out this morning to do some catching. It didn't take long to get into some action. The fish were in the same pattern as yesterday on a ledge in 20-25 ft of water. Today they never did school up. The wind and boat traffic kept them down, but not from biting. This little guy caught his first fish today and many more! Love those moments and smiles!

This little guy brought his pole with him and it lit up when you reel it! It was a riot watching him catch fish on old Mr. Toy Story pole.

It was a great time fishing with this group and look forward to many more as they grow up.

Eagle Mountain 8-13-10

2010-08-14T20:10:00.000-05:00

Took Dave out with some of his buddies earlier this spring and he decided to bring his family along and leave his buddies at work this time. Sorry Dwight and Sam, you missed some great fishing! Caught all the fish in one general area on a drop off in 22-25 ft of water. Caught a few on topwater, but most were caught on Ol'Ugly and a fly...well except Dave who couldn't resist his perch/trout rod and a Little Cleo he brought along. He tried it in the spring, but the first big sand bass snapped him off and he didn't have another Little Cleo, so today he came prepared with new line and 5 Little Cleo's. Had a great time and the boy was the sneaky double man today. He was silent and I'd turn around to see a double coming in the boat numerous times. Water temp is up in the low 90's and the shad are getting bigger.

Eagle Mountain 8-9-10

2010-08-12T20:33:00.000-05:00

Today's trip was a teaching trip with Clay on techniques, patterns, locations, presentations, knot tying, graph/map reading, cast net throwing, etc. We started out the morning learning how to catch bait and keep it alive. Once he got the hang of throwing the net we headed out to learn how to slab, work a school, read a graph and go over patterns for sand bass. We caught 30-40 while going over everything and headed out once the boat show started running their engines into the schools scattering them out. Next we focused on seasonal locations, techniques, and graph reading. Once we went over everything for sand bass we switched gears and went for summertime channel cat. Caught a nice male channel in 2ft of water and moved on to other patterns. After going over channel cat we went over the seasonal patterns and techniques for blue cat. Still never found the blues, but we weren't really focusing on catching them today. It was a learning trip and I think Clay's mind and note pad are full for now. Had a good time and look forward to seeing him on the water displaying what he learned. Thanks Clay

Eagle Mountain 8-8-10

2010-08-12T20:26:00.000-05:00

Took first time guests, Jason, Bree, Sarah, and Hector out for a Bree's birthday this morning. We got started a little later today, but started catching fish at first drop at 7am. They flat wore out the sandies and got to see how one boat, "pontoon man", can mess the fishing up for everyone. Luckily, we were able to find other fish that would cooperate today. After the boat show left the fish scattered, but they weren't ready to call it a day, so we took out the HellPets and caught another 30-40 fish. Once the sun got up and really cooking we finished off the day with a little tubing fun. I do believe they had a blast and were ready for a nap after wearing their arms out catching and then tubing! Good times with good people. Thanks and Happy Birthday

Eagle Mountain 8-7-10

2010-08-12T20:20:00.000-05:00

First time guest, Brett, came from Houston to fish for schooling sand bass. He grew up fishing Texoma before it had stripers, chasing summertime sandies. We got started early slabbing some on a ledge that I marked fishing on before the sun got up. Once the sun broke the horizon they started out on top. Brett brought a double jig rig that he use to use and caught them on that. We also caught them on Pop R's and slabs. All fish caught on the flats and drop offs. Temps were in the high 80's and 91 when I headed in.

Eagle Mountain 8-3-10

2010-08-12T20:14:00.000-05:00

Took first time guests Sylvan and his son Jake out this morning for some summer time sand bassin'! These guys have stayed on the lake for vacation for a week every year and not really done much fishing. I'm glad they decided to come to the dark side and catch some. It was a blast watching their faces as they pulled in doubles on the slab and fly combo and then catching some on a Pop-R for topwater action. All fish caught on flats 7-23ft. We decided to see if we could catch a nice blue or two, but decided after a very short while to head in due to the heat. Sylvan took his other son and Jake back out a few days later and put a hurting on those fish again. Good times! Water temp 88-90

Eagle Mountain 8-1-10

2010-08-01T21:51:00.000-05:00

Took Burton and his 4 sons out this morning to do a catching trip early and then teaching trip after the morning bite died off. Watching those 4 boys catching fish and keeping me busy was a blast! Boats were flying around everywhere on the flat and shut the fish off before they really got going good, but we still caught enough for them a nice mess and they had a great time. Ended the day showing Burton the areas fish hold and seasonal patterns to locate the fish on a consistent basis. Burton grew up fishing the coast, so he is seasoned just needed a few ideas on the freshwater side of things. Had a great time guys!

Forgot to take pics, they were keeping me so busy...sorry.

Eagle Mountain 7-31-10

2010-08-01T21:45:00.002-05:00

Took return guests, John, Roe, Graham, Whitney, and Liz for some sand bass fishing this morning. Started out great catching double on Ol'Ugly and flies, but quickly the boat show grew exponentially with boats running the big motor scattering the fish. Marked a large school with the SI and started whacking them good and they just had to blow up and here came the birds with every boat following them. We had a great time and even got a friendly check from the game warden to make sure everything was legit. It was good to see them out there two weekends in a row. The numbers were a little down today with 87 on the clicker at 8:30 keeping the 50 biggest for a family fry. We took a little boat ride and headed in at 9:30. John and his group like to get out early, catch, and beat the heat in for their family picnic at the ramp. Good times with great people.

Eagle Mountain 7-30-10

2010-07-30T16:22:00.000-05:00

Took today off to fish with my dad. Started out the morning being the only boat we could see slabbing up some sandies for about 30 minutes and then the fish started blowing up. Caught them great on slabs and topwaters until about 9:30. Had a couple of boats running their big motors and that sent the fish down and scattered. Had a great time and headed in before the heat. All fish caught in 8-32ft on the flat and drop off.

Eagle Mountain 7-29-10

2010-07-30T16:19:00.000-05:00

Fished with first time guests Ed and his two boys. It was their first time on a boat and man did they want to go fast! These guys were a ton of fun and full of excitement. Ed took one boy and I took the other to get them to catching fish. We would cast out, hook the fish, and the boys would crank them in! Most of the fish were caught on a pop R, but we did use a slab and fly when the fish would go down. Most of the fish were caught in 8-12ft of water. Caught around a 100 keeping enough for them a meal or two. Water temp is 85-87 degrees. Look forward to our next trip.

Eagle Mountain 7-28-10

2010-07-30T16:11:00.000-05:00

Fished with the Mason family for the second time this summer and had a blast again! They wanted to catch whatever was biting and enjoy a morning on the lake. We started out catching sand bass and wore them out for about 3 hours on a main lake flat on slabs and topwater. All fish caught in 8-22ft. Not sure how many we caught, but it was consistent action and a great time. Finished the day doing a little catfishing catching a about 20, but the size was not there. Look forward to doing it again soon! Had such a good time I only remembered to take one pic.

Eagle Mountain 7-27-10

2010-07-30T16:05:00.000-05:00

Took my second trip in a row with a Dustin and Jacob. It was Dustin's second trip, but Chad is a green horn that became seasoned very quickly today! Started out learning how to graph and Chad was asking what we were looking for when a few football fields of fish blew up around the boat. I said that would work and we started catching. The weather today was PERFECT...5-10 south wind, cloudy, misty, and 80's temp wise!!! The fish stayed up for 5 hours and we flat wore them out on a slab and fly, and then a pop-R. Caught fish in 8-38ft of water and totaled over 200 fish. The bite slowed a bit, so they wanted to try a little catfishing. We caught around 50, but only 9 were keepers. Plenty of 10 inch channels today. Had a great time with these two guys and look forward to doing it again.

Eagle Mountain 7-24-10

2010-07-30T15:55:00.000-05:00

Fished with first time guests Dustin and Chad today. They wanted a trip to learn the ins and outs of white bass and catfish. Started the morning out learning a little channel cattin', but all that were interested were dinks. We decided to go learn a little slab fishing and it was on for about an hour having a good time.

When the bite slowed we headed to do some blue catfishing, but the gar would not leave our baits alone. Dustin did catch a largemouth on stink bait! Went back and caught a few more channels and sandies to end the trip. Had a great time with these guys while filling their brain with information I hope they put to good use and have some good reports in the near future.

Lewisville 7-21-10

2010-07-21T22:55:00.000-05:00

Took Jacob (the famous fish biologist from TCU) and Tyler out to Lewisville this morning. Started out by Lake Park catching a few schoolies in 2-4ft of water. Saw some nice hybrids bust up, but couldn't get a bite. Moved out by the middle of the dam in 40-50ft of water and the sand bass were busting up small shad everywhere. About 20 boats were out playing nice enjoying the action. You had to match the hatch today to get a consistent bite. They were feeding on shad 1-2" long. Best lures were small Assassins on jig heads and a small Pop-R. After most of the boats left the schools made their way over to the 121 cut and stayed there until we left at 1:00. We caught around the 200 mark and left the fish biting. Great day on the water!

Eagle Mountain 7-16-10

2010-07-20T10:46:00.000-05:00

I called Todd to see if he wanted to go fishing, so we met up at 6:30 and decided to hit the channel cat for the morning bite. It started off a little slow and then really picked up. We ended up with around 40 caught by 9, so we decided to venture out to a nearby flat and see what the sand bass were doing. Got there and saw a boat show and a few being caught, so I blind casted out and started getting slammed on my Ol' Ugly. We moved closer to where I was catching fish and it was on for about an hour. The fish were not blowing up on top much, but you would just see a few tiny shad fly out of the water for their life and that would be the spot. Had a great time and it was nice to get out and fish for the fun of it. We decided to go back and catch another fifteen or so channels before it got really hot and called it a day. All fish caught on stink bait in 2-4ft of water and sand bass on Ol' Ugly in 8-12ft on the flat and then on the drop off after they stopped schooling on the flat in 20-24ft of water. Wind SW 5-10, hot and sunny. Water temp is anywhere from 84-91.

Eagle Mountain 7/10/10

2010-07-11T15:39:00.001-05:00

Took John and Jacob out today to find some blues. Started out catching bait at 6:30 and then headed north. Tried several spots, but only caught gar. It was fun seeing them tail walk, but that's not what we were after today. Since the blues weren't cooperating for us, they decided we should go after channels instead. We caught around 40-50 and kept 19 of the largest for John's family some dinner. It was a great morning weather wise, light south wind, cloudy, low 80's, and rained a little. Then about 11:30 the clouds moved out and it got hot, humid, and no wind. North end of the lake had water temps as low as 78 degrees and marked 86 degrees down south.

Eagle Mountain 7/7/10

2010-07-08T20:15:00.000-05:00

I took a two week vacation and just got back from Oklahoma having a great time visiting family. Time to go back to work now :)

Fished with first time guest Marlin and his family. Started the day at 6:30 and enjoyed a cool overcast morning with light southeast/east wind. I wanted the kids to get some fish early to wake them up, so we got to HP rigs out and started catching. Around 8:15 we decided to check out the slab bite where I marked some good fish on a ridge. It wasn't long and fish on! Shortly after the slab bite took off baby fry threadfin started soaring through the air for their lives. We caught fish on small plastics, slabs/flies, and quasimodo. They stayed up boiling the water for about 30 minutes and then we had to return to electronics to stay on them. I had a great time watching the two kids battle it out for the most fish caught. We ended the day with a swim and lunch while I cleaned the fish. Fish caught in 9-23 ft of water. They are still chasing small bait so downsizing is a must. We tried throwing a 3.5" sassy and they would hit but not take, but they would take a 2" fluke. Ended up cleaning 64 and released quite of few unders. Water temp 84-86.5

Eagle Mountain 6/20/10

2010-06-21T22:31:00.000-05:00

Had new clients Christine and her family, and part of her family was in town visiting from Iceland. Johnny helped me with this trip and he took 3 of the guys to do some serious fishing. I took 3 lovely ladies and their parents. We started out trolling the HellPet and we caught 21 sand bass, tangles, and plenty of laughs and good times before the girls just had to get in the water. We went to a nearby beach and they swam and played in the sand for several hours. It was a great day on the water with a fun family.

Eagle Mountain 6/19/10

2010-06-21T22:23:00.000-05:00

Took my buddy Ben out this morning to catch some catfish and a sand bass. We don't get to fish very often, but have a great time when we do. Started the morning fishing flooded trees with stink bait under a bobber catching channels consistently. Ben told me the line we were using didn't need to be that heavy that 6 pound test would be plenty for the eaters we were catching and it wasn't 30 seconds later his bobber disappeared. Snap was all I heard and him saying now I get it! We had a great time catching around 40 when it started getting hot, so we headed out to catch some sand bass in the breeze. Found large schools and caught about 35 before deciding to head in. Our ladies had some nice pork bbq waiting for us when we got home! Great day on the water and a fabulous meal afterwords. Thanks for coming down Ben.

Eagle Mountain 6/13/10

2010-06-13T22:38:00.000-05:00

Frank, Debbie and Justin joined me for a morning trip for catfish and white bass. Frank wanted to get his family hooked on fishing and learn a little bit while doing it. Started the day catching channels in 2ft of water by flooded trees on stink bait. They kept 16 eaters for dinner.
After the bite slowed they decided it was time for white bass. Found huge schools stacked in 12-17ft today up on a flat and the edge of the drop off. Earlier in the week most the fish were traveling on the middle of the drop off. The thermocline has moved up from 34ft to around 30ft at mid lake. Never saw them surface, but some of the schools for 10 ft thick. They kept 34 for dinner. The water temp was 82-84 degrees and wind 20-30mph south.

Eagle Mountain 6/11/10

2010-06-11T23:08:00.000-05:00

Took Todd out today for a mixed trip of channels and sand bass. Started the morning out chasing the channels in 2-3ft of water around flooded trees using the stinky stuff. We did well and caught around 30 or so eaters from 2 spots. Had trouble holding in the wind today and spent way to much time re-anchoring to stay in the best position. Lots of good areas that were unfishable due to the wind.
Decided to check some areas for sand bass and see if the wind had them more stacked up than they have been. It did and the screen was beautiful with many colors today ;) in 15-22 ft of water. Caught some and then decided to go dial in the SI and down image features of my new graph. Very cool to see what some structures actually look like vs what I thought they looked like. Ended the day with a burger from Augies. Had a great time out on the water and the wind made a hot day feel pretty good.

Grapevine 6/9/10

2010-06-11T22:56:00.001-05:00

Took Jacob from TCU out today to catch some fish for a school project testing the mercury content. Caught fish at all the normal places, but only a few from each spot. The fish were suspended and moving fast and eating really small shad fry about a half inch long or smaller. Noticed the same thing on Eagle Mountain Monday. No schooling today and caught fish from 12-34 ft of water. There is a nice thermocline on some areas of the lake at 34ft and water temp was 80-83. I did see a striper floating down by the bubbles and the shad population is very little there for this time of year. I wonder what is going on Just a little observation. It was good to get out on the vine. The water was much clearer than a couple of weeks ago. I love weekday boat traffic...or lack there of.

Eagle Mountain 6/7/10

2010-06-09T22:28:00.001-05:00

Took Dan and his crew of boys out this morning. It was a cloudy calm morning and the channel cat were hitting good. Fished in flooded grass/trees/reeds and the action was great. It was all I could do to keep those boys poles in the water. I undid more hang ups and line tangles than I have in a really long time. It was a blast watching those boys haul in the fish. After the bite slowed at 10:30 or so we decided to give the sand bass a try. Started out trolling the HP to keep their interest and some breeze blowing. Caught a few and then the fish decided to surface in 38 ft of water eating shad fry about a half inch long or shorter. All in all the boys kept 20 channels and 13 sand bass for a friendly fish fry. The picture only has 19 channels because Hayden let one flop off the dock! Water temp was 80-86 and a definite thermocline at 32ft. Great day on the water with great customers!

Eagle Mountain 5/30/10

2010-05-30T23:12:00.000-05:00

Fished with first time guests Frank and Debbie today. Marked the fish on the hump I caught them at yesterday, but only managed to catch 7 fish. Checked almost every hide out for this time of year and marked fish, but could not buy a decent bite today. I would mark fish, toss the marker, and then they would disappear. Man they are moving fast right now. Tried to do the sand bass boogie, but it didn't work either. Finally got out the dreaded Hell Pet and caught 3 more to end the day at a disappointing 10 fish. Worked hard, burned fuel looking, and did everything to get some bites, but they kept their lips sealed today. Saw lots of boats looking for schoolies, but never saw another fish caught all day. I think the no wind, holiday boat traffic, full moon, and hot temps have caused a transition into summer patterns faster than normal. Hopefully, catching will get back to normal in a couple of days. Look forward to making up the trip with Frank and Debbie soon. I knew it was going to happen eventually and today was the day for a trip that needed to be made up. We'll get them next time.

Eagle Mountain 5/29/10

2010-05-30T22:41:00.000-05:00

Got the new boat and electronics all installed Saturday, so I decided to hit EM and test everything out. Picked Johnny up at the dock and went for a boat ride. The lake was crowded and the boat traffic waves were bad, but the new boat really handles them well. That extra 7ft in length makes a huge difference!
We decided to check out a few spots to dial in the graph. Found fish on a hump and nailed 50-60 having a great time. Johnathon and his crew pulled up and caught a bunch also. It was a beautiful evening on the lake and I really like the new boat.

Eagle Mountain 5/16

2010-05-17T15:07:00.000-05:00

Had first time guest Kevin and his two son's for a teaching trip this morning. I picked them up at 6:30 on a beautiful morning on Eagle Mountain. This weekend was some awesome weather that I did not expect by the recent thunderstorm forecast.
Decided to head to the shallows where I caught fish the morning before and wait for them to get active while I showed them techniques and how to tie knots. It wasn't a few minutes later the water started boiling and it was game time. The boys had a blast reeling in two at at time. We played with those fish for about an hour until the boat traffic got crazy chasing the birds, so we headed to some other areas to continue our learning process. We decided to focus on some deeper bites to learn how they look on the electronics and how the bite is a little different. They caught another 40 or so and decided to call it a morning at about 11:00. Had a great time with this group of guys and look forward to fishing with them again sometime. Thanks Kevin

I forgot to take pics today, maybe Kevin will send me one.

Eagle Mountain 5-15-10

2010-05-17T14:51:00.000-05:00

Morning Trip

Fished repeat customers John, Roe, and Whitney this morning. Started out at 6:30 and it was really slow. Checked all the usual hide outs for this time of year and nothing was there. Decided to check and see if they were after the threadfin spawning and it was game on! Caught there limits in a little over an hour and decided to do some catch and release for another 30 fish or so. Action died down about 10:30, with empty stomachs from all the action they decided to call it a day and have a picnic at the marina. Was a great time fishing with this group one again. BTW, Whitney caught about half of those fish and stuck it to her boyfriend Roe! Good times and look forward to the next adventure with this crew. All fish caught in less than 6 ft of water. Ol'Ugly and yarn flies.

Afternoon Trip

Since my morning group called it a day early I called my afternoon trip to see if they wanted to get going a little early and they did so I picked them up arond 11:30. The fish we were on in the morning had left and all the other spots only produced 3 fish, so the grandma wanted to head in to take a nap. Dropped her off and decided to hit a point that I had caught fish on a couple of weeks ago and it was fish on! Caught around a 100 before the sun came out and the wind went from very slight breeze to nothing. At 2:00 Lucy said she was tired and caught all the fish in the lake and was ready to head in. It was a blast watching this girl reel in all the fish. All fish caught in 12-32 ft of water. Ol'Ugly and yarn flies were the ticket, color did not matter.

Eagle Mountain 5/7/10

2010-05-09T20:37:00.000-05:00

Fished with first time guests Dwight, David and Sam this morning on Eagle Mountain. The bite was odd and the weather was even more strange to start the day with the wind changing a dozen times from the north to the south over and over and a crazy dark clouded fog rolled over. The fish were just gill slapping the bait and not eating well until the wind finally made it's mind up and stayed from the NW. We had 50 fish on the clicker at 10am and decided to try a spot out of the gusting wind, but didn't find any fish. So, we decided to head for a ridge and battle the wind and we were all glad we did. It took 20 minutes to complete their limits and then we started fun fishing. Had a little competition going and ended the day with a little over 200 fish caught. The last hour of the trip was the fastest bite of the year. Man, I am tired from running the trolling motor in that wind. Great day on the water and had an absolute blast fishing with these guys. Hope to do it again soon.

Grapevine 5-4-10

2010-05-09T20:29:00.000-05:00

Fished a corporate trip today on Grapevine. Had to guys from China who had never been fishing before and had no idea what to expect. They were a riot to have on the boat. One of them caught 3 doubles in a row and did a nice dance and kissed his fish. Caught them in 20-24 ft on windblown rocky shoreline. Found them on the graph and they stayed put all day long. We left when the bite slowed at one point, but after not finding more fish came back. It was fish on again! Had a great time watching these two guys catch their first fish ever. They kept taking pics with their phone and sending them to all their friends. They said this was their best afternoon in years.

Eagle Mountain 5/1/10

2010-05-01T19:59:00.000-05:00

Today was supposedly going to be stormy and it ended up being very nice on the lake. The morning started out really slow and it took a couple hours to get bit. I think the lightening storm that came through gave them lock jaw. Once they started biting it was on! Caught fish all over from the island to the dam. The birds gave us a few tips, but for the most part you had to rely on your graph to find them. The morning trip fish were caught between 14-26 ft. The two guys on board broke their curse of fishing and boated many more than they had previously ever caught. Only stopped to take a few pics. They decided to keep a few for a family fry.

The afternoon trip was a teaching trip that turned into a catching/teaching trip! The fish were very active and willing to bite during the afternoon until the wind picked up around 4:30. The guys had their first double, most fish caught in a trip, largest, learned alot, and we had a blast! They didn't want to keep fish, so we just had fun catching.

The fish in the afternoon were relating to drop offs from 22-27 ft. Caught fish every spot we tried.

4-25-10 Eagle Mountain

2010-04-26T21:29:00.001-05:00

Started the morning off with a photo shoot for Blitz Weekly Magazine from 7-7:45. Picked up Mary Ann and her family at Harbor One around 8am. Only 3 of the 4 had ever fished before, so we did a quick lesson on how a reel works and presentation. Got out of the marina and we the wind had picked way up and coming directly out of the west, which is the worst on EM. Decided to hit a main lake point and it was on for about an hour... battling the wind, fish, tangles, and the trolling motor! The young lady that did not want to go on the trip caught about half of the fish today and I think she decided fishing was okay at least. After the bite died down we battled the wind to a main lake hump and caught a few more before they decided a nice lunch out of the wind sounded good. Had a great time and hope to take them out again in the future.

4-24-10 Grapevine

2010-04-26T21:17:00.000-05:00

Took my father and Ben to Grapevine today for a relaxing morning on the lake. Checked a few spots not marking much, so we headed to the island and found a few birds working. Caught about 30 the drop off from 18-26ft of water on Ol' Uglies and Yarn Flies. Saw Omar Cotter from Luck of the Irish Guide service with some happy customers. It was a very windy morning so we only fished for a couple of hours and called it a day. It was nice to hang out with my dad and good friend Ben. Today was more about the company than the fishing.

Eagle Mountain 4/17/10

2010-04-17T21:49:00.000-05:00

Took 3 guests today on a teaching trip for sand bass. Started the day going over all the basics on patterns and techniques. Decided to catch a few fish on a ridge in 24ft of water. Caught about 40 and they vanished. Tried to relocate them, but the one's we found down a ways wouldn't open their mouths. Oh did I mention it was pouring the entire time!
We next went to some humps and once again they liked it at 24ft and caught some more fish there. Decided to show them some other areas and found fish a little deeper at 29ft. Ended the day somewhere around the 80 to 90 range. Water temp was around 67 and did I mentioned it poured all day! The fish did seem to like the radiator slab the most. I didn't take too many pics because of the rain and no video today. Had a blast with these guys and look forward to fishing with them again.

Eagle Mountain 4-16-10

2010-04-16T14:55:00.000-05:00

Fished 4 new guests today starting at 8:00. Before I picked them up I decided to play a little and caught some fish blowing up shad just outside of Lakeview. After picking them up we headed south skipping the boat shows and birds to look for fish on some other areas. Marked lots of fish, but couldn't buy a bite so we headed back to the schooling fish and picked up around 50 there. Then we headed to some humps and nailed them there until they vanished. Headed back to our first spot where I marked the fish and a boat show was there and a few fish. The big key for the day was 24 ft of water. We caught almost every fish out of the100ish fish at that exact depth. A few fish are still spawning, but most are feeding heavy. Water temp was 66-68. The fish scattered at 10:00 and we had to work for bites. A beautiful day on the water with temps in the 70's, SE wind 5-10 and cloudy with sprinkles off and on.

Eagle Mountain 4/10/10

2010-04-10T22:30:00.000-05:00

Had the pleasure of fishing with Todd, Scotty, Daron, and MG. They boated around 150 this morning. The fish are done spawning and gorging themselves with small threads. Caught fish in 10-32ft of water on the drop off from mid-lake flats. Saw a lot of boats out today and most were catching fish. Nice windy morning on the water.

Eagle Mountain Double Duty 4-3-10

2010-04-04T00:00:00.001-05:00

The fish are back finally! Mark, Ricky, and Devin joined me on a beautiful spring morning for his late Christmas present. Started out the day with a sextuple and it was fish on for the rest of the morning.

The fish were not grouped tightly this morning but were active and consistent. Caught fish in 22-36ft of water all on the old man's slabs (Ol' Ugly) and flies. Color did matter this morning and they wanted white or chartrues. The 3 of them ended the day around 120 and Devin with a nice flathead.

Everyone in the mini boat show played nice this morning and the fish bit well until the wind changed from the NW to the South. Luckily it waited until the guys were tired of catching and were ready for lunch.

2nd Shift:
Gene, Hayden, and Hannah joined me for the afternoon trip starting at 2:00 and the wind was blowing pretty good. Got out to the area I had left them in the morning and the sailboats and tubers were all out enjoying the spring weather. I threw a marker and got a rod to demonstrate and it was fish on from there. They caught 90+ fish in three hours and decided to call it a day so they could watch some basketball. The fish were much more stacked up in 30-38ft of water. Cleaned some for them and they had already spawned.

The fishing will be like this for the next several months...FINALLY! Water temp was 58-63 degrees today.

Eagle Mountain 7/30/09

2009-07-31T14:42:00.000-05:00

Fished with Sandjohnny and Bro. Terry this morning. Checked the mud flats and party cove driving by and no activity so we headed south of the island. Blind cast out on flat and found a few then they busted up all around us. Caught fish from 7:00 to 8:30 and stopped with 120 on the clicker. All fish caught on Ol' Uglies and Yarn Flies by Sandjohnny himself. A few boats were with us in the action today and they all played nice. Beautiful morning on Eagle Mountain and the fishing was excellent.