Fresh Kingston Fishing Reports

Fishing is absolutely on fire

The lake is at flood levels and will continue to rise before it peaks in two days. With so much more surface area on the water the best way to locate fish is to watch for diving birds. When the stripers begin feeding on shad, some of the dead and wounded shad float to the surface. The sea gulls begin diving down to pick up the wounded shad. Following the diving birds is the best way to stay on top of hungry fish. The most productive lures are white slabs, chrome rattle traps, or any 2" - 4" artificial bait that mimicks a shad.

Stripers are hitting top water plugs behind the islands early morning until about 30 minutes after sunrise. Once the sun is higher in the sky, look for schools of stripers along old river beds and the mouths of creeks in 30 to 50 feet of water. They are hitting small size shad like the one in the photo. Larger size shad don't seem to be on the menu and are being passed by for the smaller shad offerings. We are also picking up a number of small blue cats around 1 - 2 lbs on bottom while targeting stripers using small live shad as bait.

Regular "Guided" Striped Bass fishing and "Trophy" Striped Bass fishing are two completely different kinds of fishing and produce vastly different outcomes. Regular striped bass guides use live shad or jigs/spoons, and fish straight down over schools of fish ranging from 8 to 20 inches long. Occasionally, they catch a striper over 30 inches long, but they almost allways catch eight or ten fish per person, and usually you are done fishing, and off the lake in two hours or less because you can only keep ten fish per person. Of the ten fish per person you can keep, 2 of them can be over twenty (20) inches long. Those two fish per person are the ones we are after, but due to the size of our baits, usually 24 or 25 inches is the smallest striper we catch. A thirty (30) inch striped bass is considered "Trophy Class," and those are what we are really after. In the fall and winter, we catch one or two stripers over 30 inches a week. In the Spring its sometimes three or four a week. The point is, we dont catch a trophy every single day. If we did, they wouldn't really be trophies. If you want to come catch a bunch of fish and have a small chance at catching a trophy striper, book a different guide. If you want to catch a wallhanger or a couple of fish over two feet long, we are your guide service. If you notice my reviews, you'll see a few negative ones. These are people who did NOT read the trip description and came out expecting to catch a ten fish limit of little fish, or who did not consider weather, or seasonal timing, or that if you go BIG sometimes you gotta take the miss. And try again another day. It's like hunting deer. Some hunts ate about harvesting does for meat. Those are the limit trips other guides offer. Some hunts are about that prize, and how glorious that buck's rack will look on the wall. On those hunts, you might sight down a few spikes,a 6 pointer, and even pass on that 8. But if you keep trying, you get your shot at that 14-point atypical... Like I said, we catch one or two "Trophy Class" striper a week from October thru January, and then Feb thru July, we catch three or four a week. August and September, the water temp is so warm that the bigs stay deeper and are far harder to catch. It's not easy to catch the bigger fish, to begin with. The baits are huge and expensive, and the terrain we fish over is rocky and hard on gear. When we troll, the motor is always running, burning fuel. So when you want to catch a couple big ass fish, book us. If you want to catch a bunch of fish in a few hours, book someone else. Fishingbooker has plenty of top-notch options. Just dont come fishing with us, and be mad that we didn't catch a bunch of fish. Our company is Big Fish Texoma Our motto is We Don't Fish for Smalls! Hope to see you soon, Captain Mike

As I've said all year, this Summer has been mild, at least on Lake Texoma, and the fish in it. Usually the water surface reaches 90+ degrees and stays well in the 80s even at night, but this year it has been much cooler. Just yesterday, the water temp was 83.5 degrees at mid day. On the lake, even though it was in the 100s last week, and already dropping to the lower 90s for the next ten or so days, we stay cool by constantly moving. Obviously we are moving when we are trolling, but after we find a pile of fish, and make a few passes through them, we have to relocate and let them settle before we can hit them again. My favorite spots are fairly close together, but far enough apart that my Mercury 300hp can put us in the wind to cool off as we change locations. As we roll into Sept, the fishing gets even better, the big striper are all fat on the giant shad they've been feeding on, and they love the cooler weather. The trolling bite stays live deep into December, and even then, if you can dress for it, "Dead Sticking" for monster stripers is amazingly fun and productive in the coldest months. September, October, November, into December is prime TROPHY time. This year, they should be bigger than ever. As you can see in these pictures of fish, all caught by us or our clients, between May 2024 and Aug 22, 2024, we've managed to put more than a few trophies in the boat, during these recent months, when it is boiling outside and the struggle is real. I can only imagine what this fall will bring. Just the other day a client's grandson caught a 39lbs Blue Catfish trolling a massive swim bait we use for striper. Only 3 times in my thirteen years guiding here, has a catfish bitten one of those swim baits. Our gear was tested to its limits, but survived. Except for the net, which folded over from the weight of the fish. Three days before that, we pulled in a four-and-a-half-foot-long spotted gar on a catfish jugline. Not to mention the four striped bass over thirty inches, the longest being thirty four (34") we have sent to the taxidermist in just the last three weeks. And did I say the fishing is getting better as the heat dies away? Look at our calendar and find a spot over the next few months and come treat yourself to amazing trophy striper fishing, on an amazing lake that sits just two hours from DFW and OKC and is surrounded by casino resorts like West Bay, Lakecrest, and Caney Creek. And with 5 star Winstar and Choctaw Casino Resorts only a half hour from my dock... Around here, there isn't much better to do. Book a trip and come see us.

Summer 2024 continues to AMAZE with another 3 trophy class striper caught over the last five evening trips. Two thirty-one inchers and a thirty-three incher. The two trips, which didn't get one over thirty inches in the boat, both loaded up on two footers, and each had the biggest fish of those evenings of 27 and 28 inches, respectively. Not to shabby for any time of the year! This summer, the water temp has been unusually low, and the big stripers just love feeding at dusk. If you are wondering why the evening trip is the cheapest of the selection, it is simply because the evening "hot spots" are very near the marina, and we don't have to run halfway across the lake, burning fuel to find the fish we are after. The World Famous Lake Texoma sunset is included in these trips. We can take a bathroom break if necessary. I clean and bag all the fish. AND I will protect and freeze that prized trophy and help you get it to my favorite Taxedermist or yours. NOW is the time to come get on one of these two and a half to three foot long behemoths, and there are plenty of evening openings still available. Just two hours from DFW and OKC, with major casino hotels, air bnbs, condos, motels, and campgrounds, all within minutes of the marina. Dont jack around and miss the Summer of Trophies... Captain Mike.