Fresh Kingston Fishing Reports

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.

Lots of people come to this massive lake, not knowing what to expect. Most guides here can put you on a ten fish limit in a couple hours, but that is NOT what we do. Of the ten fish you can keep each day, only two of them can be over twenty inches long. Those are the fish we are after, at least where they start. I want a thirty incher or two even a thirty six incher, in the boat. Thirty inches is a Trophy Class fish, and if we could catch one that size every single day, they wouldn't be trophies, thay'd be daily average size fish. Im a serious trophy fisherman, our motto is: "We dont fish for smalls." When you go trophy fishing with huge baits, you either catch or you dont. There isn't much middle ground. Hunters get it. You sit in your stand, pass on does, and six pointers because you are after that TROPHY. Hunting huge striped bass isn't much different, other than you dont get to choose which ones to harvest. The fish either eat the bait or they don't. It may take two or three trips, to get your thirty plus inch trophy on the line, but we put two or three a week in the boat, and in the Summer, successful timing boils down to sheer luck. And the angler paying attention to our reports. In July and August, the evening trip is better for bigger striper. The mornings trips are fun, but the big ones are less likely to bite. And since we dont fish for smalls, Summer mornings are sometimes unproductive. We have been consistent for over a decade, and we can back it up with our own trophy mounts and tournament wins. If you are serious about catching a trophy, plan a trip that gives you the most opportunity for success. Holiday weekends, Saturdays and Sundays in the warmer months, the lake is crowded. It is harder to find big fish. That doesn't mean we don't catch them every now and then, but it means we don't have to troll around SeaDoos, Tubers, wake boarders, and speed boaters, etc... to do it. We troll 4 lines at a time. It doesn't matter if there are 2 people in the boat or 7 people. The 4 lines will catch the same amount of fish, no matter how many people are in the boat. There are 300+ other striper guides on Lake Texoma, most of them will put you on a ten fish limit in a few hours. If you are not interested in catching quality over quantity, call them. If you look at the few negative reviews we have gotten, they are all because the angler didn't read that we wull go after bigs, the full duration of the trip, mainly because the latter part of the trip is when the big fish are MOST LIKELY to bite! Seriously, We are called Big Fish Texoma And our motto is: We dont fish for smalls. Thanks, Captain Mike

We had a 7 man limit of stripers in the cooler by 9:30 this morning!

The water mid lake is clearing up nicely. Right now the stripers under 20" are schooling up and chasing shad on the surface along sandy shorelines in water 10' to 30'. If you want a little larger fish, but a little slower bite, you can find them in deeper water where the depth drops from 40' to 60'. Top water fish are hitting solid color baits the best in either white, chartruese, or chrome. The deeper fish prefer live shad in the 3" - 4" size. Swap bait out as soon as it stops wiggling, because those deeper stripers like lively shad.

The water on Texoma is starting to clear up after the flood a few weeks ago, and the stripers are taking full advantage of it. Right at day break we found some big stripers in 60 feet of water and dropped live shad down on them. No takers After that we ran further down the lake, and saw birds working. The stripers started blowing up the surface about 10 minutes before official sunrise. We chased them nonstop until 10:00am. Today they liked a solid white slab, solid color chartreuse slab, and 1/2 oz chrome Kastmaster spoon. They didn't care for swim baits or jigs. Everything my crew caught was in water 10ft - 20ft deep and fairly close to sandy shorelines.