[PiePuncher]

Left out of Highport Early Saturday morning and headed to main lake. The waves were huge, the wind was blowing and it was freezing cold out. Waves were running about 3ft or so...HUGE... we had water breaking over the bow at times. Anyways, We started out fishing the southside of North Island and the fishing was slow. We had quite a few short strikes on 1 oz Traps and Lucky strike pointers. I eventually picked up a few overs and that was it, in about three hours of fishing. WEAK!!! Well, we were tired of roughing it in the cold and rough water, so we decide to head west and see whats going on. We knew things couldnt be any worse and also knew that we would have a little wind break along the way.
We arrive at the 377 bridge and birds are all over. We first attempt to slab and nothing. We were marking tons of fish but still nothing. Oh well, we moved to another bunch of birds outside a cove and start marking again. This time I hook up with a nice stripe on first cast using a trap. From here on out, we found schools of fish at every cove on the west side of the lake. The west side of the lake is holding good numbers of fish. We have been hearing good reports of people doing well at little mineral but I was glad we stayed away and fished the opposite end of the lake. The fish were hitting anything that moved from 8 inch rapala X-raps, pencile poppers, Traps, Pointers, slabs, you name it. We caught quite a few stripes with many of them being fat box fish with a few overs. ALso caught quite a few GIANT sandbass.
If heading to Texoma anytime soon, check out the west side of the lake and make sure to check out all the coves and points. I am not sure of our total number caught on the day but we finished well and had more fish than I wanted to clean. (I ended up not having to clean any, Jason took them all....lol) The pattern has changed over the past few weeks. Seems fish are staying in a little deeper water. We did catch quite a few in 6ft of water but most were caught on drops going from 18-39 or so. Good luck to you guys and I will post another report next week. It is nice to be able to fish the west side of the lake, its much closer to home. Cuts our drive down by 30 minutes.

Keith

 

[Pope]

Sounds like a great day. I used to fish those coves too when I lived in Denton. Been a long time. Where does the time go?

 

[PiePuncher]

We get old fast. When you are young, the time goes sooooo slow but once you hit about 23, the years just fly by. I miss those years but am happy where I stand. I plan on heading back this weekend, assuming I can get a babysitter.

 

[Ross]

Keith, the fish were still there yesterday. They just weren't very cooperative! Birds weren't working at all, except for 2 times when they went nuts for about 1 minute.

We ended up with about 20 fish mostly on Prune Picker slabs. The traps didn't work and we only picked up a fish here and there with sassy's or wildeyes.

Thanks for the information, though. I just picked the wrong day to fish! Weather was too dang nice.

 

[PiePuncher]

At least you caught something. I have another awesome hole I was going to tell you about had you called back. It is west of the bridge and has tons of fish holding on the drop. The slab bite has been good. I went out yesterday and picked up some gulp shaky shad and a bunch of spro jigs from 1 oz- 2oz. My slab stock is already insane, maybe over 200!!!!!!! lol
Another thing to keep in mind or to try would be the cabelas slabs. The prunes are a generic mold with a generic paint job. I would deff. try the cabelas slabs if you come across any. They will outfish the prunes, TNT's, Smoothies, bombers and just about any out there. It has to do with the holographic flash and the way the slabs fall. I wouldnt advertise this on other fishing sites but this one is slow enough that it doesnt matter. We have gone out and done the comparison and there is none. Needless to say, I now have about 30+ TNT slabs I will not use unless I run out of Cabelas slabs and about 10 PP that I will not be using anytime soon. Sounds like I have some christmas presents I can give away to fellow fisherman...lol
One more thing, were you fishing in close to the shore while near the bridge and at the other spot out of highport? The spot out of highport, you have to be within casting distance of the shore. The shoreline has a str8 drop from 3ft-9 in some parts and around 12 in others. Some of it only goes to 6ft but the fish are still there. Takes a little work and polarized glasses help to see the edge of the drops. We have picked up nice fish on every trip in that spot. Jason got spanked in the honey hole last time but I put two overs in the box right off the back and missed one monster on a lucky craft popper. The fish are holding very tight to the angles of the drops chasing shad. The other spot, the cove, you would be best anchoring up and waiting for the fish to come to you. We work the traps along the shorelines very very slow and the same goes for the wildeyes.
Keep going out there and you will find the pattern. Glad you had a good time. The fish should be in the same spots for a while. I will be out this saturday and next monday to put another hurting on them.

 

[tntslabman]

Keith, glad those Cabelas baits are working out for ya. If you decide you have no use for those TNT's let me know. I bet I can get ya a refund, and send them to someone who will use them. Not trying to be a bonehead, just trying to satisfy all. Dont know if you ever got any of my new baits. I dont think you did, my 180's. I knew I was lacking in action on baits. I rectified that problem. I came up with the best slab an American slabmaker can make. I dont know that I would ever compete with the foreigners cheap labor but quality tackle, but never would want too. Maybe one day you might be interested in trying them out. Let me know, as I know with any Cabelas, Academy, Wal-mart you will always find something you just fall in love with, when all the sudden you cant find them there anymore. Go figure. Life is good since I have slowed down on the bait making, and will get back to the good life of fishing more. I always enjoy reading your posts and your experiences at Texoma. Keep knocking them out, I hope that you and your family have a Merry Christmas.

 

[Pope]

I love your slabs. Great finish and action!

 

[SkeeterRonnie]

we need to get all the local metromess guys together and do a Fork crappie trip!!! We could find a good deep point and all tie up together, drink a little hooch, and catch some slabs!!! Maybe January 6th???

 

[PiePuncher]

Hey Bryon, you are deff. not a bonehead and its been great doing business with ya. I do prefer the cabelas slabs but am willing to try anything as you know. There is no need for me to give up any of my slabs, you can never have enough and I am sure there will be a day when there is some guy that is slabless and needs a few, I will deff. hook him up with a gift!! You have done a great job, the quality is excellent and so is the service. Good to see you have found this site. Its a good site with a bunch of nice people. Its also nice to hear that you finally have some time for yourself. Who knows, maybe a TNT slab will win me my next tourney!!! lol Good to hear from ya and keep up the good work.

Keith

 

[Pope]

I have a smallmouth trip scheduled for the 6th, but if it falls through I would defintely be up to a Fork trip. I will know something about whether I will fish smallies by Christmas. Sounds fun!

 

[tntslabman]

Thanks Pope, hey piepuncher I will send you a pvt message. I just noticed I had a message from you. Sorry I didnt respond earlier.