Stocker Trout Fishing News

Warm temps had us setting out the kayaks for a go at the Striped Bass at Lake Texoma. Our Texoma Licences were good till 12/31/21 and the Annual COE Permit was good to go till August 2022. Foggy trip up the road from Allen but things cleared and we put in at East Burns Run with the plan to dead drift flukes and shad for the Striped Bass. Water was chilly, wind was not too bad at all, and waves were not an issue. The only issue we had were no Stripers. Not wanting to closeout 2021 on a strikeout headed to Denison Dam to fish the tailrace. Fishing Buddy hooked up with one Striped Bass and yours truly although did not catch a fish, did get some video footage of what was lurking below. What a difference a day makes,… or in this case months. Earlier in the year, we fished Denison Dam and put in the GoFish Cam. There were fish everywhere… this round, saw two fish only – looked like Carp or Buffalo. Here’s to 2022 and more fishing fun and more “Learn to Fish by our Trials and...

Here are a few things we like to have when fishing the tailrace at our local reservoir – Texoma lake and its tailrace referred to as Denison Dam. See details at COAF Field Team – Denison Dam Tailrace Fishing . As for the casting float we like to use, this is our favorite one. It is made by Flex Coat and when available you can get them at Walmart Online . This float can launch small baits and lures up to 100 yards away. On top of offering extreme distance, the Launcher has a unique flat top design that gives special lure action on the retrieve. Its splashdown and action attracts fish as it resembles the movement of schooling or feeding bait. The Launcher is guaranteed to expand the use of all lightweight baits and lures without needing special skills to do so. Look for it in a variety of sizes to suit all of your fishing needs. Flex Coat

Day after Thanksgiving decided to fish Denison Dam on the Oklahoma side for a go at the Striped Bass that tend to lurk near the drainage pipe that flows even though they are not generating power or releasing water. Brought medium spinning gear and the pier rods with the Penn Squall 15 reels that worked well on our trip to Galveston earlier in the year. Bite was slow but then picked up later once our fishing partner fund them lurking near the far wall. No Bruisers but still had a great time!

Rebroadcast of an impromptu livestream providing fishing updates from the Team. This round -” Denison Dam Fishing | Before You Go Fishing Do This” I provide updates to our archived blog post that details reading the generation release schedule and data, and then offer suggestions before you go to Denison Dam. Check it out! Archived from CityOfAllenFishing.Blogspot.com: https://cityofallenfishing.blogspot.com/2008/03/fyi-denison-dam-real-time-release.html

Made it back for more Denison Dam fishing for striped bass. Used our surfcasting gear to fish the Oklahoma Wall and worked the area using a Float and Jig/Fly Rig. Fishing buddy limited out; yours truly did not. Lots of small stripers but did keep enough for dinner. No catch and cook this round but did get lots of underwater footage with the @GoFish Cam …learned there are lots of small stripers along the Oklahoma Wall which we anticipated given past trips. But, also noticed lots of small catfish, too! Longer than normal video… decided to minimize the edits and post more raw footage from the GoFish Cam in case viewers see something we missed. So far, we noticed Striped Bass, Channel Catfish, Blue Catfish, a glimpse of Buffalo, and a Bluegill. Do comment if you see others we may have missed!

Fished Denison Dam on the Oklahoma side – specifically, the Oklahoma Wall for Striped Bass. Fun time catching them on a beefed up version of the Bubble Fly Rig – a heavy casting float and a clouser style minnow. Plan was to fish the Texas side with the Switch Rod. Had to adjust to the fish and the pattern. No fly fishing from the OK Wall. Luckily, had a back up bait casting rod and Dave’s Ski Tackle was nearby for picking up a heavy casting float and jigs! Do checkout the video! Eight Lessons Learned fishing the OK Wall? 1 Tag your stringer when fishing a tailrace in Oklahoma! 2 Bring a heavy casting float and shad as backup. 3 Keep fishing even after shad is gone, stripers will strike the fishing fly. 4 Fish the current or the bubble line where the fish are lurking. 5 Stop at “Dave’s Ski and Tackle”. 6 Moving lure, fishing fly, or bait was preferred. 7 Stay up to date with fishing regulations. 8 Every cast is a chance to catch a fish.

More fun fishing Denison Dam last Saturday for Striped Bass! Bite was slower than the weekend before but was able to catch a few; ended up keeping three Striped Bass for the Catch and Cook. Brought the Cabelas TLR 6wt Switch Rod with the Echo Ion 6/7 Wt Fly Reel again. And correcting from our last video, the fly line was a Rio InTouch Chucker with integrated running line. Stripers were hitting mainly striking on the Bennet’s Lunch and Craft Fur Clouser Minnows this round. Did catch a couple of White Bass as well, and found an anchor! Overall was a fun time! For ease of reference, here are key places to skip to in the video: Catch Section – 2:41 Cook Section – 9:17 Cleaning – 9:17 Seasoning – 12:52 Cooking – 15:37 Simple Recipe: Clean, scale, and remove head and fins Season liberally with Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, and Paprika Pan fry on high heat for 5-10 minutes each side Do give it a try! Gear Used Echo Ion 6/7wt Fly Reel: https://amzn.to/2WxKnm1 ...

Lotta fun fishing Denison Dam Saturday for Striped Bass! Brought the Cabelas TLR 6wt Switch Rod with the Echo Ion 6/7 Wt Fly Reel and the OPST Skagit Head. Bite was good on small stripers hitting on the Denison Dam Dawber, Bennet’s Lunch, Bucktail and Craft Fur Clouser Minnows. Fast retrieves using short pulls and fast pulls worked, then they wanted a 10 count delay, later a 5 count delay, and then later no delay in the start of the retrieve. Also, did get better hook up rates by dipping the rod tip in the water while retrieving. And then… later had a high stick, sweep the rod style retrieve that seemed to work well. All of this before the started generating power. After they started generating, then it was cast upriver, let the fly drift downriver and swing the fly, and then twitch the fly as you retrieved in back upriver at an angle. Learned lots while there… bottomline: vary your retrieve, change fishing flies, and adjust to the fish as the pattern changes!

Had a fun time at Denison Dam – tailrace to Texoma, on Saturday June 20! Opted for live bait of Bluegill and Sunfish to try for Striped Bass and Catfish. Turned out only one Striped Bass. It was a nice one that went 19″ in length. Went for a 3″ Bluegill. Did a few more bites but nothing solid. Go to bait for others that were limiting out on small “schoolies” was frozen shad, shrimp, and chicken livers. Next round, will make it a point to bring bait and not go all in on live bait. That said, the Okuma 12′ MH Rockaway Surf Rod and Pflueger Spinning Reel worked well… can cast far with minimal effort. A much lighter combo compared to the 10′ Rodmaster and Penn Battle II 6000. Given only one fish this round, posted a catch and cook showing how we clean and prep and then cook a striped bass. For its size, we opted to steak the striped bass and skillet fry it… tasty! Ingredients: Soy Sauce Tuna Fish Sauce Ginger Garlic Fry 4″ to 5″ each sid...

This round we talk briefly of the run to Denison Dam where we only caught one Striped Bass using live bait – Bluegill! But, it’s enough for a catch and cook… so do stay tuned for more! Of note, the Okuma Rockaway Surf Rod and Pfleuger President Spinning Reel worked well. Can cast a mile and do it all day as it is lightweight and balanced well with the live bait rifg we used today! Lastly, the micro fly rod and micro fishing bug has us on a roll again at our local ponds. Two piece Micro Fly Rod has been a workhorse for the us. Then, a Viewer gives up a tip… use a practice fly rod! Liked the idea,… ordered Redington’s and Orvis’ rods… able to catch a fish or two with the Redington; Orvis one arrived this morning. Not fished it yet but did try the 2wt Echo Ion Fly Reel and WF 2wt line… it works nicely! Do stay tuned for more updates on fishing! Live Update at Denison

Lucked out and was able to fish Denison Dam – tailrace to Lake Texoma, two days in a row. First day, temps were in the 90s and the river was flowing while they were generating power. Next day, cold front rolled in, dropping the temps to the 60s. No power generations, minimal water flow… able to observe what a difference a day makes – specifically, the river and the change in water level. Do listen in on the Podcast, or check out the video version on our YouTube Channel – COAF Field Team! (Podcast has migrated to the iFishNews Fishing Podcast Series - Click Link )

Had a fun but tough time fishing Denison Dam Tuesday morning. Windy conditions and lots of waterflow from the power plant. They were releasing water, but was able to work different areas on the Oklahoma side. No striped bass but did see others catching them. Did catch as well as lose a Buffalo or two… was able to sight cast to schools that were feeding in a protected cove in the shallows. Fun stuff! PS: Fished Denison Dam Wednesday, June 10, 2020… another tough go. But, they were not generating. More video to come… here is the onsite update for now.

Fished Denison Dam early AM Sunday. Was non-Stop action. Lost count of how many were caught and released. Estimated over fifty striped bass after we quit counting! All were caught and released between 6AM to 10AM till alarm sounded warning us power plant would be generating soon. Do join us this round for Denison Dam Fishing – Five Tips for Fly Fishing and learn to fish by our trials and errors! Tip #1. Before you go… determine the Water Flow Pattern Tip #2. Get a OK License and wade the river Tip #3. Wading boots and wading stick! Tip #4. Adjust retrieve… Movement, lots of movement this time! Tip #5. Match the hatch! Size Mattered! Bring 2″-3″ as well as larger 4″+ fishing flies!

Fished Lavon last Friday and struck out, then Denison Dam last Saturday and struck out, too! Went to Texoma last Sunday, and struck out again! No chance to fish until this Saturday… finally broke the streak by fishing Stoney Hollow Park Pond using the TFO 6wt Fly Rod and Echo Iion 6/7wt reel. OPST Commando Head did well casting into the wind! Managed a Bass, a fingerling Bass, and little Bluegill as well as a nice sized Bluegill. Used a Tube Fly Popper to take the Bass, a Foam Damsel Variant for the fingering Bass, and then a Red Marabou Damsel Fly and a Guadalupana for the Bluegill! Lots of fun! Feel much better having broken the streak!

Answering the mail from a Reader’s question concerning Denison Dam Tailrace and Lake Texoma. Do check it out and do stay till the end for a bonus tip! Also, here is an outline of the info provided in the video for reference. Question 1: Daily limits for Texoma vs. Denison Dam (tailrace) Answer: TPWD 2019 Regulations and ODWC 2019 Regulations Texoma Striped Bass and Hybrid Striped Bass – No Minimum Length – 10 per day per person – Of which two can be 20″ or greater – Culling is not permitted White Bass – No Minimum Length – 25 per day per person Yellow Bass – No Minimum Length – No daily limit Denison Striped Bass and Hybrid Striped Bass – No Minimum Length – 5 per day per person – Culling is not permitted White Bass – 10″ Minimum Length – 25 per day per person Yellow Bass – No Minimum Length – No daily limit Question 2: Suggested Fishing Gear Answer: Varies based on water fl...

Made the run up the road on Hwy 75 to Denison to fish Waterloo Park Pond for Rainbow Trout. Restocked last weekend, plan was to limit out, and then run further up the road to Denison Dam tailrace to fish for Striped Bass. Cold temps that stayed in the 30s all day put a slowdown on the bite. Ended up striking out at both Waterloo and Denison Dam. No worries… had a great time at “casting practice” with the new TFO 6wt Fly Rod and the Cabelas TLR 6wt Switch Rod.

Has been a busy work week but we did make it to Denison Dam Saturday for another round of fishing. Brought the 6-weight Switch Rod, lots of Clouser Minnows, and the dip net to catch Shad. Last time we were here, the fish were only taking Shad and did not want our Clouser Minnows. So, just in case, brought the dip net! As it turned out, this round was another tough go. Caught one little Striped Bass on an Olive Near Deere and had something really nice strike the Clouser Minnow but it threw the hook without us getting a glimpse of it. All we had was video of something putting a nice bend in the rod. Switching to Shad was tough as well. After several unsuccessful attempts, finally figured out how to catch Shad with the dip net: Toss the dip net out about 6 feet from us. Then, scrape the algae off the rock we are standing on. Shortly after, the Shad would start feeding on the algae as it drifted in the current. Soon as they hover over the net, we pull up and catch 2 to 4 Shad. Not...

We hosted another Live Stream Q&A Session on YouTube this evening. Below is the archived episode. Lesson learned from last Q&A is the down time or lag while waiting for questions leads to long pauses in the session. Thos round, we used yesterday’s trip to Denison Dam to keep things more lively. We did have a couple of viewers watch the live session, and we did have one viewer ask a couple of questions. So far, the second beta test appears to be a success. We do need to work on the video sound; lots of background noise from the river and what we think is the power lines. Will see what we can do to improve on it next round!

One Keeper…. This round we went back to Denison Dam Saturday morning for another go at Striped Bass. The generation schedule showed no planned generations until around 12:45PM. So, by the time we started fishing, we had at least three solid hours to fish the pools and runs! InTouch Switch Chucker Last week we picked up a Lamson Waterworks Liquid 4 reel from Cabelas. After a little research on which fly line to use, we went with Rio’s InTouch Switch Chucker line in a 5wt per Rio’s line selection app! Had to order online and wait about a week. While we waited for the fly line to arrive, we fished the 8wt Switch Rod on local ponds to practice casting. Even better, we caught a few fish while practicing… then, Friday the new fly line arrived, and in no time, we had it spooled on to the fly reel. The bite was steady but the Striped Bass were little. Also, we did catch a few Longear when we changed from a Clouser Minnow to a Near Deere. We had caught one little Stripe...

Road is open again! This round we do a quick recap of the local ponds fished this past week – Bethany Lakes, Sonic Pond, Eagles Nest aka “Pond Behind In-N-Out Burger”.  And then, we go into Saturday’s trip to Denison Dam. Was a tough go but did catch and release a couple of Carp as well as hook into two nice Striped Bass! Bethany Lakes was a quick trip where we fished  a Foam Grasshopper and caught Bluegill and one Bass. Sonic Pond had us missing strikes but did land a little Bass on a Neare Deere. Eagles Nest was interesting as we had not fished it a while; no Bruiser Bass but did get a nice Bruiser Bluegill! Saturday’s Pattern! As for the fishing trip to Denison Dam, on a whim decided to make the run to the Tailrace as we noted the Realtime Release and Generation Schedule showed no water flow and no scheduled generation, respectively. With those conditions, the pools and runs would be ideal for wet wading and fly fishing! (see our archived post for more o...