Baits for Texoma.

[Darth-Baiter]

This is a tackle question :  

 

I’m going to lake Texoma.  The favorite bait (last year by a mile) is a top water walking bait.  Or a wakebait like the surge Shad.  In BONE color. 

 

I want to try something new.  I think a Skinny Dipper weightless burned back may work. I’m also bring in. a Magdraft Freestyle.   Both white colors.  Anything else?  I’m flying in light so I am minimum luggage.  Trying to make smart choices. 

[WRB]

You may want to consider Blade Runner Duh 1 3/4oz spoon in UV Shad for deeper Stripers. LCGunfish is a staple, IMA 7” Big Stick for Stripers.

Delta Striper lures work everywhere.

Tom

PS, Storm 7 1/2” Big Mac lure, upgrade the hooks is a good Striper lure.

[Bankc]

It's been a while since I fished Texoma.  And when I do go, I mainly target stripers, as that's the main draw of that lake.  But I remembered it being fairly stained, especially by California standards.  And there wasn't much vegetation.  It depends on what time of year you come out, but I'd opt for moving baits like crankbaits and spinnerbaits that make lots of commotion.  It's a big lake and unless you get a guide or someone who knows the lake, you'll want to cover a lot of water and at a lot of depths.  

 

You can try some soft swimbaits.  Sometimes they work.  But I'd typically gravitate towards something a bit more aggressive and noisy.  Or, pitching a jig or T-rig directly on top of cover is always a good option.  They're not loud, but you're putting it right in their face, so they don't need to hear it to hunt it down.  

[steve carpenter]

Been a long time for me too. Did well with crankbaits fished through buck brush shallow and old time bombers in deeper water. deflecting off wood. Good luck

[PBBrandon]

rooster tails are a great lure for catching loads of 1-3lb fish. Can throw it pretty much anywhere and get striper.

Most of the big girls I’ve caught there have been on live shiners. The river side of the Denison dam is usually really great for stripers. I like tossing shiners into eddys close  to the dam. The lake side of the dam is really good along the rip rap for stripers and smallmouth using rooster tails, spoons, and Texas rigs. What part of texoma are you fishing?

[TnRiver46]

Don’t they have smallies ? They love 4 inch worms 

[Big Hands]

Only been there once. We caught well over 100 fish in about six hours in intermittent rain. Mostly largemouth, but several small stripers, hybrids (I think) and crappie. Most were caught on either slabs (**3/8 oz, gold, from Joe Spaits down at Lake Fork) or several on Pop-R's and other topwater baits. If I could only take one bait, it would be one of those jigging slabs. They look like a hopkins spoon. Freaking slabs are super effective in that area. I caught my best Lake Fork bass on one too (8.5 lbs).

 

I'd say to throw what you want, but if I had to catch a fish there, the slab would be my go to.

 

** EDIT: The slabs we used were 1/4 oz rather than 3/8 oz.

[Jrob78]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Don’t they have smallies ? They love 4 inch worms 

Yes they do.

I've bass fished Texoma twice and Stripers with a guide a few times. When we bass fished we were in kayaks both times and launched at Eisenhower State Park on the Texas side to primarily fish for smallmouth. There was a lot of deep and clear water and  docks over deep water and rocky shorelines. We caught a bunch of smallies in the 1lb-2lb range fishing those areas with small poppers, shaky heads, small swimbaits on jigheads, underspins and squarebills. 

[Bankc]

11 hours ago, Big Hands said:

Only been there once. We caught well over 100 fish in about six hours in intermittent rain. Mostly largemouth, but several small stripers, hybrids (I think) and crappie. Most were caught on either slabs (3/8 oz, gold, from Joe Spaits down at Lake Fork) or several on Pop-R's and other topwater baits. If I could only take one bait, it would be one of those jigging slabs. They look like a hopkins spoon. Freaking slabs are super effective in that area. I caught my best Lake Fork bass on one too (8.5 lbs).

 

I'd say to throw what you want, but if I had to catch a fish there, the slab would be my go to.

Slabs and spoons are very popular on that lake.  Probably more so for the stripers and hybrids, but they'll work on largemouth too.  A good choice to hedge your bets if less concerned with largemouth and more concerned about feeling a good tug on your line!