Lake Texoma Striper Guide and Catfish Guide Home
Capt. Steve Barnes
1-866-PRO-GUIDE
December 31, 2004
Catfished again today and it was real slow. only caught 5 fish to 10 LBS.
December 30,2004
Started out catfishing in the river below the dam with no luck so we decided to
go striper fishing on the lake, when we got up out of the river we noticed the
wind was really bad so we took a chance and headed west for catfish. Ended up
with 8 nice fish , the biggest was a 18 LB Blue and a 25 LB Flathead.

December 29,2004
The Striper fishing was slow in the morning but picked up about noon and
we started catching some nice fish, it was a little rough out there and one of
my crew got sick so they decided to call it quits. Saw a couple of good schools
of fish on the way in but we did not stop, probably would have been another good
afternoon. Only caught 10 fish but customers were happy, 2 were right at 11 LBS
and a couple more were about 8 LBS.


December 28,2004
Fished a group of 6 today for Striper on the lake. Started out about 7:45 AM and
drove all over the lake but did not find any fish so we quit at 10:30 and took a
break for lunch. We headed back out at about 12:15 PM and the fishing was much
better , ended up with 29 real nice fish in the box and released about 12 more
over 20" fish to 12 LBS. All on sassy shad and slabs.

December 27,2004
Did some scouting on the river today, still to much water, caught a 12 and a 20
LB blue.
December 26,2004
Tough conditions today , bright sun and no wind. We got lucky and found some
fish in 35 foot of water and wore them out for about 20 Minutes or so. Caught a
limit and released about 5 or 6 over 20" fish. Slabs worked today.
December 24,2004
Started
the day struggling. Stopped to put gas in the boat and the gas cap was frozen up
(it was only 17 degrees), finally got it lose then headed to the ramp where I
discovered that my boat was frozen to my trailer so bad that the boat would
float the trailer up when I backed it in the water ,it finally popped lose and
slid into the lake without me. Now I was really in a bind so I made a few call
and borrowed a boat to go get my boat, only wasted about 1 hour but it really
did not matter anyways because the fish did not bite very well till about 3,but
then it was on, we caught a few in the morning but they really turned on in the
afternoon. I lost count of how many 5-10 LB fish we threw back but it was non
stop for about 2 hours, biggest fish today was 12 LBS. Caught them on sassy shad
and slabs but the sassy shad worked best.


December 22,2004
I new the fishing would be good today and I did not have customers so I loaded
up and went by myself. The wind was terrible and the waves were huge, temp. was
about 28 and it was snowing, perfect striper weather. I headed out of little
mineral and headed for the flats, real slow, made it across and turned left
towards soldier creek, found a huge school of fish with birds working like
crazy. Caught 2 birds and lost count of the fish, most were 5 to 7 LBS. Fished
that school for about a hour then I had to get in to pick my girlfriend up from
work. Found more fish in a cove on the way in so I stopped and caught a bunch
more till I just had to go because I was already a little late. Fished with
slabs and sassy shad. It was one of those days that most people will never
experience because they would not even consider fishing on a day like today.
December 21,2004
Fished a group of 2 on the lake today for striper. Fishing was slow on the lake
this morning because we had no wind and unseasonably warm temps , also lots of
boats running all over the lake. I guess everyone wanted to get out before the
weather gets bad. We ended up with 8 nice fish and quit early. The wind picked
up a little this afternoon so I bet the afternoon fishing would be better.
Tomorrow would probably be the best day to go since the fish should be biting
and all the sissy's will be indoors, I may have to take myself fishing.
December 20,2004
Fished the lake for striper today. Started out about 8:15 and found a good
school of fish at the mouth of little mineral , caught about 8 fish then they
scattered so we had to head out into the big water where the wind was blowing
about 20-25 and it was very rough but the fish were stacked up. We caught them
on slabs till it just got to rough for my customers. Ended up with 21 fish in
the box and threw back about 15-20 over 20" fish, lots of nice fish to 8 LBS.

December 18,2004
Fished the river for big cats and it was very slow.
December 17,2004
Fished the lake for striper today. The fishing was off a little this morning but
we still limited out over 20" fish and had to throw a few back. Spent most of
our time looking for fish but it usually is tough when there is no wind. We
ended up with 30 fish in the box.

December 14,2004
Fished the lake this afternoon for striper with some friends of mine. The bite
was real good and we caught about 50 or so fish with most of them being over 20"
fish , two were over 10 LBS and a few more were 6-8 LB fish. All fish were
caught on slabs , this bit should last till the end of the month at least.
December 13,2004
Slow day on the river, no big cats and very few small one to 12 LBS. Lots of
Bald Eagles.
December 12,2004
Fished Red River today for big cats, ended up with a 18,37,and 43 LB cat. Also
caught 8 smaller fish that we kept. The big fish were released.


December 10,2004
Fish were a little tough to stay on but we ended up catching about 35 fish with
lots of over 20" fish. Biggest was a little over 10 LBS and all fish were caught
on slabs and sassy shad.


December 8,2004
Fished a group of 3 today on the lake for Striper. The fishing started off a
little slow but we finally got them real good, had to release a bunch of over
20" fish including this 10.5 LB fish, also released a lot of nice box fish and
kept a limit. All fish were caught on slabs and sassy shad. I will be doing slab
and jig fishing throughout the winter and to make sure I don't lose my focus and
decide to get some bait, I took my bait tank out of the boat till next year.
Slab fishing is great right now but it will not last all winter so get a trip
booked now if you want to try some slabbing.


December 2,2004
Fished a group of 3 on the lake today. Limited out on slabs , kept a limit and
released the rest. Here is a pic of the slabs I am using, this one is a 2 ounce
but I also use the 1.5 oz on calm days.

December 1,2004
The river is still to high to fish for cats so I fished one of the feeder creeks
today and caught a 12,15,and 21 LB catfish.

November 30,2004
Fished a group of 3 today and caught about 50 fish on lures with lots of them
over 20". The lure bite is on so we will not be fishing live bait again till
spring.

November 28,2004
Tough fishing today with lots of wind. We should have just sit in one spot and
picked at them but I never have been to satisfied with that so we moved a lot
but the fish just were not doing it. Ended up with 12 fish and threw back some
small fish. Looks like it is about time to start lure fishing.
November 27,2004
Much better for me today, nobody puked in my boat and I got paid. Fished a group
of 4 and limited out with a very strong north wind today.

November 26,2004
Started out with a group of three and one got sick right off the bat and puked
in my boat not over the side but in my boat, I have had a lot of sick people in
my boat at the gulf but never had anyone puke in my boat till today. Things went
downhill from there and they all 3 left with me holding the bag, man some
people. I had another group of 4 that fished in another boat and they limited
out about noon.
November 24,2004
Fished two groups today and did pretty well on lures.
November 23,2004
Fished a group of 3 this morning. We were catching pretty good till a boat came
out of the fog and made a circle around us and we never got another bite so we
moved and started catching again till a bad storm moved in and we had to make a
run for it. We went in and cleaned 24 fish then the rain quit and I asked my
customers if they wanted to go catch the rest of their fish but they decided not
to go back out. I was headed around to load my boat and found the birds working
so I stopped and caught my limit in a hurry on slabs.
November 22,2004
Fished a group of 3 in the AM and 2 in the PM. Fish bit all day and everyone
limited out on Box and over 20" fish. The weather was not to bad today and it
did not rain much at all, the fishing is really good in the foul weather.
November 21,2004
Fished a group of 3 . Limited out on live shad.

November 20,2004
Fished a group of 5 today. Found the fish in 53 foot water, dropped anchor and
wore them out. Kept a limit.

November 14,2004
Another great day on Texoma today. Fished a group of 2 in the AM and we split a
group of 9 into 2 boats in the PM. Easy limits of good size box fish and over
20" fish. Fishing is very good on bait and artificials right now.

November 13,2004
Great day on Texoma today. Fished a morning and a afternoon trip today. Started
off with top water lures and caught about 4 fish with on that went 11 LBS.
Caught most of our fish on bait in deep water. Ended up with two real good boxes
of fish, 50 fish in the AM and 50 fish in the PM, we even had to throw back some
over 20" fish because we limited out on them.
Two trips again tomorrow.


November 12,2004
Fished a group of 5 today. Top water fishing fishing was not as good today,
caught about 10 fish on top,25 on slabs and 15 on bait , biggest fish was caught
on top , 8.5 LBS. Speaking of bait I had a tough time finding bait for tomorrow.
When I was out catching bait I tried a spot that looked good for top water and
caught a 12 LB fish on the first cast then I caught about 6 more nice fish
before I left.

November 11,2004
We fished top water lures today. I had a couple of guys in the boat today that
could cast good, I don't get that very often. We caught a lot of real nice fish,
the two biggest were 9 and 16 LBS. We released the two big fish. The north wind
was blowing hard.

November 10,2004
Fished by myself this afternoon. Started off slow but then I found a spot that
was real good, caught fish on almost every cast for about 30 min. then I left
them biting, most were over 20" fish and some were really nice fish. I caught
them all on top water.
November 8,2004
Slow day on the river but we managed to catch a few nice fish. Caught a 31 LB
Flathead, 26 LB Blue cat , and a couple of paddlefish.




November 7,2004
Started out this morning throwing top waters. The fish would hit the lures but
we never could hook them, they would just come up and swat at them so we decided
to anchor up and use live bait. We caught a limit fast and had to throw back a
few over 20" fish. After we caught them on bait we went to look for some
birds working so we could try some slabs, we found them but only caught a few
small fish before all the boats moved in.

November 3,2004
Fished this afternoon by myself and the fishing was great. Caught a bunch of
nice box fish on slabs then I left them biting to look for bigger fish, found
them on top water lures and caught about 10 big fish up to 14 LBS and missed a
bunch more that would knock my pencil popper out of the water. The cold nasty
weather really had them turned on.
November 1,2004
Fished Red River west of the lake today. Catfishing was slow but we caught
enough 4-8 LB fish for a fish fry and released one cat that was 21 LBS.

October 30,2004
Split a group of 8 into two boats this morning and everyone caught a limit of
box and over 20" fish. Fished a group of Boy Scouts for 3 hours in the evening
and managed to catch them some fish despite the rain and lack of wind. It was
tough to stay on fish because the wind kept changing directions.

October 24,2004
Fishing was much better today. Fished a group of 6 and we limited out on over
20" and box fish by 8:30 AM with 60 fish in the box. Check out these
catfish video clips from last year
Catfish video clips

October 23,2004
Fished a group of 9 this morning and the fishing was slow for us. Ended up with
45 small fish and threw back a bunch that were to small to keep. Fished a group
of 4 in the afternoon and we had the fish going good for about 15 minutes then
they left us , we limited out on 20" fish and ended up with 25 fish in the box.
October 22,2004
Fished a group of 3 today on the Red River in my new air boat. Everyone caught a
trophy size cat and we lost a few really good fish. Landed and released a 30,35
and 42 LB catfish. Sat. Sun. and Monday night the river will be low if anyone
wants to book a really good bowfishing trip.



October 17,2004
Tough fishing again today. Fished a group of 7 and ended up with 44 fish in the
box.

October 16,2004
Tough fishing this morning but we finally caught them good at about 12:30 and
limited out with 40 fish in the box. The afternoon was even tougher but we did
get in on some pretty good top water action right before dark.

October 15,2004
Fished a group of 2 this morning and caught them pretty good. Limited out.

October 13,2004
We fished a group of 10 in two boats this morning and the Striper fishing was
good. Everyone caught a limit.

October 12,2004
Went looking for more Gator gar today but the river was to high so about all we
did was film some shots of the airboat running down the river. Had a bow fishing
trip in the lake after dark and did pretty good.

October 11,2004
Fished in the rain this morning and only caught about 20 striper. Fished in the
afternoon on the river with Doug Stange from In-Fisherman. We were looking to
get some video of a Gator Gar being caught on a rod and reel. We were finally
successful after we lost our first 3 hookups ,ended up landing a 120 LB
Gator Gar. We were using cut shad and Striper carcasses from the morning Striper
trip. The fish was released to fight again. The Gator Gar is a really incredible
fish that few people ever encounter and since these fish grow very slow it
take years for them to get big, some are 50 years old. What this means is nobody
should kill these big fish.
October 10,2004
Much better today. The fish were tough for us to find but we ended up catching
them real good and limited out with 60 fish in the box to 7 LBS. Weather still
bad ,no pic.
October 9,2004
Fished a group of 4 in the AM and 5 in the PM. Slow day for me 25 fish in the
morning and 27 in the afternoon. No pics because the weather was really wet.
October 8,2004
We fished a group of 10 in two boats today. Everyone caught limits easy today
and the fish were a little bigger than what we have been catching.

October 7,2004
Striper fished on Texoma today. Limited out on box fish with live bait.

October 6,2004
Bow fished on the river last night for about 3 hours. River was low and fairly
clear with lots of fish to shoot at.





October 5,2004
I went out and did a little bow fishing last night. Lots of fish to shoot at but
I miss a lot.

October 3,2004
Another group of 4 today and the fish bit a little earlier for us today.
Everyone caught a limit of fish.

October 2,2004
Fished a group of 4 today . Started out slow and we slowly worked our way to
about 30 fish by 11:00 AM then the fish moved in on us and we finished up with a
bang. Everyone caught their limit but the fish were on the small side today.

September 29,2004
Fished a group of 14 today with 2 boats. Everyone limited out by 11:00 AM.

September 26,2004
Fished a group of 20 today. 3 boats came in with limits of fish.

September 25,2004
Fished a group of 2 today on Texoma. Limited out with live bait.

September 22,2004
I finally have my new airboat. I left Orlando at 4:00 PM yesterday and 19 hours
and 1,200 miles later I made it home in one piece. Now I just have to get it
rigged out for fishing. I should be ready to do some river fishing and some
bowfishing next week. The boat turned out real nice. It still amazes me how much
more room you have in a boat that is only 4 FT longer. My last boat was a 16'x
8' with a 350 chevy , this new boat is a 20'x8' with a 496 chevy.




September 18,2004
Fishing was real good this morning for us. We limited out easy on box and over
20" fish. Biggest fish was 10 LBS. I am headed out early in the morning to
go to Florida to pick up my new airboat I will post pics here when I get back on
the 22nd or 23rd.

September 13,2004
Fished Texoma for Striper today and it was about as good as it gets. Started out
catching 17 to 21 inch fish as fast as you could get a bait down then when we
almost had a limit we left them biting in search of some bigger fish, found them
quick and caught about 25 more with a few fish in the 7-8 LB range. We released
all the bigger fish. I guess the mild summer has been good for the fish,
they are in real good shape and very active for this time of year.

September 12,2004
The fish bit good early today but when it was over that was it. Weekend days are
booking up in October. The fall fishing should get good in October.
September 8,2004
My vacation time came to a end today. We fished a group of 8 on lake Texoma for
Striper, 4 in my boat and four in another boat. I found some fish early and we
caught them fast for a while. Limited out easy with a few 20" fish but nothing
big. This cool weather should get the fall bite started early. Here is a pic of
the group with the box of fish from my boat.
