Oologah 12-26-11

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

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

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

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

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

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

 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.