The weather last week during the spring break was almost perfect for fishing. If last weekend was not for the Arctic front and snow, a whole week would be perfect.
The bass on the Texoma lake is tuned in the pre-caviar pattern. Meaning: fish are drawn into shallow water from their deep winter habitat at warm surface temperatures. The bass adjusts to four to eight feet of water in areas adjacent to the spawning grounds. As the water temperature of neighbors is between 60 and 65 degrees, the fish will start making beds for their annual caviar. Many fishermen consider the early spring to be the best fishing, because it is the only time in a year when almost all the basses are in the shower water.
During my trips to Lake Texom last week, I watched the morning water temperature soaring around fifty degrees. By the middle of the day, the temperature had risen to fifty-eight degrees in the sun-drenched areas of return water. Usually, the northern streams and bays in any reservoir have the most active fish, because the angle of the sun warms these areas most quickly. At Texoma, these regions include Buncombe Creek, Limestone Creek and Cardinal Cove. Oddly enough, because of the constant north wind last week, warm water was spent on the southern shore.
Most of the bass I caught were taken from red burial traps, shallow crank baits, and black and blue fixtures. The most active fish seemed to be in the Big Mineral arm of the lake. These fish were located on sunny beaches, which had a sufficient amount of stones.
During the launch of the boat, every morning I spoke with some of the strip instructors as they waited for their clients on the ramp of the Highport. Surprisingly, the guides had very limited success in catching a shad for their trips. Alternatively, they bought large minnows from pet stores. Not as productive as shad, small fish caught fish. Most of the boats went west each morning and were installed from the mouth of the Big Mineral to the Willis Bridge.
