Saturday 5/30 was a little slow but steady for me. Went to the ledge where it is pretty consistent right now and it was not happening. Just caught a few fish there in a too long of period of time. Sitting off the river channel in 34 feet of water. Moved over to Table top on the flats in 45 feet of water and started to catch on a steady basis but not real fast. Bait was cranked 3 to 5 turns off the bottom at both spots. Good fishing day but not real fast. Hardly had enough wind to set anchor and bluebird skies. Just what was expected.

Today was exact opposite of yesterday. Bait was the easiest it has been in many days. We caught bait in 70 foot deep water under our lights today. I am taking the weekend off to be with friends and family, but still fishing. I had my sister and brother-in-law out this morning. We pulled up onto a ledge at about 6:30. My brother-in-law was looking at the sonar and I told him not to worry about that and threw a rag over it because there were no fish showing. We were in 33 feet of water off the Red River and cranked up 4 cranks off the bottom. Turned on the trolling motor to beat the water. BOOM! Game on! We had trouble fishing with more than 3 rods in the water because we couldn't keep the fish off of them. We started catching overs immediately and it wasn't long before we were having to throw overs back in the water trying to catch box fish. What a great problem to have. We filled our box in about 45 minutes and that was with throwing bigger fish and smaller fish back. My sister had never been out with me when the fish were like this. What a thrill it was to see her getting them. Out of all of the fish we caught, I only got to catch 4 while they kept me working. Great day on the lake. My brother-in-law even cleaned all of the fish and re-tied my rods for tomorrows trip with friends.

Got to fish with 4 firefighters from Tulsa, OK on the 28th. Bait was tough to come by that morning. High pressure had settled in and bluebirds skies.......just knew it would probably be rough. It was. We fished in many areas of the lake where I had been catching in days past. We fished ledges, drifted flats and through chug bugs at the bank. We boxed 24 fish for the day when our limit was 40. Most all of our fish were very good ones so we still had a lot of filets when we were done. Tough day on the water but they all can't be out of the park. It is called fishing.

What a GREAT day! After catching bait the thunderstorms hit right as it was time to go fishing. We had to wait it out until 8:30. Carl & Ronda sat under cover with me on the boat and we visited while the storm went by.

Got out and the birds were really looking at the water hard from the bank. I told them to watch the shoreline and I would watch the rest of the water. "Tell me if you see any splashes" was the word. Carl saw them come up and it was the first topwater bite of the season for me. Nice fish on topwater and not dinks. We didn't hook up to a lot of them because the wind was working us over pretty good from the storm just passing.

When the fish went down I just threw out the anchor and we were on fish stacked from 20 feet to the bottom at 56 feet. Sometimes my screen would read 11 feet. Fish were hitting us like crazy and it was the ole Chinese fire drill on the boat. What a riot. We were the only boat in sight so we had them all to ourselves. Time to get out the chug bugs and slabs! And no, I am not going to say where we were fishing, but I'll take you there. :-)

Great day to be out and fishing is GOOD!

Today started very tricky. We had a front come through last night and it threw a real curve ball. Bait was not where it had been and it was HARD to get. Also, the fish had left where they had been for several days. After a slow start we were all looking for fish. One of our other guides found them on a spot we had been fishing between Soldier and Rock Creeks. Water was muddy where we had been and cleared up on this spot. We got into them good, but late. After it slowed down we just stayed on anchor in 39 feet of water and finished right there. Almost all fish were caught at 30 feet. Was a very tough day out there for a lot of guys so we were lucky. There were only 3 boats in the area we were fishing and we didn't make a peep. Wonder what tomorrow will bring?

May 23rd and 24th were very similar but very different because of time frames. On Saturday we didn't get on the fish until about 7:30. We were on a ledge just off the Red River near Preston Point in 38 feet of water. We got hit immeadiately when the first bait went down. It took some time to get 6 rods in the water. We caught 13 fish very quickly fishing just above 30 feet with large shad. The bite then began to slow in that area. We spent time searching for fish and catching a few here and there for the rest of our time. We did catch fish up to 7.5 pounds and wound up with a very good box.

Sunday the 24th we got out a good half an hour earlier to the same spot. The fish weren't near as good and were just off the bottom today. We slammed 40 fish in less than an hour before it slowed up. Never left our first anchor today and it was great. Large shad on the ledges early is the ticket right now.

Well, I have been way too busy to post a report. Just finished fishing for 7 straight and am spending today doing paperwork, paying bills, getting supplies and finding out if my wife still knows me.

Thanks to all of those that went out with me this past week. Everybody's picture is up except for the Frank Sumner bunch. We didn't get any pics taken, but I think Anita is going to send me some to post.

Fishing has been very good. Bait has gotten easier so I will be making a 6:30 start tomorrow. Fish are just about everywhere on the drops. We have been catching fish on bait from 54' to 35'. Some days they come through in droves and shut down and some days they keep coming. We have caught some nice size fish and had LOTS of fish break off. One guy on the boat was eating his rod when the fish ran behind the boat and broke off. He literally had the rod across his face. Drop bait and they will come!

Looks like slabs would work on some of these schools and some fish are starting to surface. They should be going strong on topwater by now but the flood has them messed up a little in my opinion. You see a few here and there splashing so the big schools should come up any day!

I will post when I am not dead tired.

Tuesday 5/12 Was a real special trip for me. I had the privilege to get a call from Ruby and Charlie Jones from Colorado. They booked a trip at the last minute and I was open. Their son, K.C., is a professional steer wrestler and his wife, Gayle, is a professional barrel racer and flight attendant. Rodeo has been in my background since I was 9 years old up to about 12 years ago, but that is another story. We knew so many people in common that are in the sport of rodeo I had a blast visiting. K.C. has made the NFR on numerous occasions so that should tell you the caliber of cowboy he is. This was just FUN for me.

Our fishing started an hour late so I was a bit concerned about getting them caught. We were able to set an anchor here and there and catch fish. We got into a lot of smaller fish off and on and had to send them back home, but it was fun to catch them. We bait fished on the ledges except for inside one creek on the East side of the lake. Our depths ranged from 37' to 45' catching them mostly at 4 to 5 cranks off the bottom. You can see in the "Photos" area that we caught some really nice overs. We missed way more fish than we caught but that was from having a good time and visiting or watching somebody pull one in the boat. You have to find the clear water to get it done.

The lake is still rising and it gets harder to put the boat in every day, but we will keep the trips going. Doors are still closing around the lake as the water comes up. I hope the rains can stop just as much as I was hoping we would get some.

Thanks to the Jones family for such a great time

Sorry that I haven't been posting reports for a week. We have been really busy fishing and trying to get our lodging ready for our first customers which was this past Friday. We got good feed back from our renter and so we feel good about what we are doing.

The lake level has now reached 625.95 which is 10 feet above the normal level. Many more areas of the lake are inaccessible as it come up. We are still in good shape here but it does require some wading for me to put my boat in by myself and beach it to pull the trailer in and out. It won't be long before we are picking customers up on the shoreline if it continues raining.

Fishing is really good with the rising water when you get into clear water. That is becoming scarce as the lake rises. The bite has been good on almost every trip sitting near the river ledges in water usually 45 feet deep. The fish have been coming through at different levels so I just watch the sonar and move bait to the level the fish are at. Have not done any lure fishing. Bait continues to be tough to find and I have still been purchasing some shiners to use as backup. When the fish are as hungry as they are right now it doesn't matter what bait you have.

Remember that no matter what you hear.......Lake Texoma does NOT close and it never has. We can go fishing with the water level up and it is usually well worth it.

Go to the "photos" page for pictures of the last trips on film.

Lake is till rising but slowing down. We are at a little over 624 right now which is a good 8 feet above where we should be. Not easy to put the boat in the water and many places are inaccessible to the public. My customers have still been able to walk onto the marina because of an extension placed there. Most boathouses are only accessible by boat.

Monday trip was started by looking for lure fish that had been in the are on Sat. They were not there for us. The mud lines are really taking over the entire lake where I have been. We did go to an area in the clear that I have been fishing at 32 to 36 feet deep. We stopped in the same area but it was not 40 feet and on the ledge. Fish were biting good with our bait cranked 7 turns off the bottom. We were catching at around 32 feet. Fish are really biting good and don't let the high water reports bother you. We can always put on the water where I am at and the fishing is good!