Had fun fly fishing for little Stripers at the local dam. Denison Dam serves as the tailrace to Lake Texoma. When generating power the Stripers show and lots of action can be had for both fly fishermen and surf casters!
But, don't forget to fish when the current is slack. You may be surprised how many fish lurk in the area.
Answering the mail on the retrieve I used when fishing Denison Dam, tailrace to Texoma! I was using a fast retrieve with short pulls of the fly line, setting the hook when I felt resistance. At the end of the retrieve, I would keep the fly moving by sweeping my rod from left to right. Often getting strikes while sweeping the rod.
Warm temps had us setting out the kayaks for a go at the Striped Bass at Lake Texoma. Our Texoma Licences were good till 12/31/21 and the Annual COE Permit was good to go till August 2022.
Foggy trip up the road from Allen but things cleared and we put in at East Burns Run with the plan to dead drift flukes and shad for the Striped Bass.
Water was chilly, wind was not too bad at all, and waves were not an issue. The only issue we had were no Stripers.
Not wanting to closeout 2021 on a strikeout headed to Denison Dam to fish the tailrace. Fishing Buddy hooked up with one Striped Bass and yours truly although did not catch a fish, did get some video footage of what was lurking below.
What a difference a day makes,… or in this case months. Earlier in the year, we fished Denison Dam and put in the GoFish Cam. There were fish everywhere… this round, saw two fish only – looked like Carp or Buffalo.
Here’s to 2022 and more fishing fun and more “Learn to Fish by our Trials and Errors”!
Happy New Year to you and yours!
Day after Thanksgiving decided to fish Denison Dam on the Oklahoma side for a go at the Striped Bass that tend to lurk near the drainage pipe that flows even though they are not generating power or releasing water.
Brought medium spinning gear and the pier rods with the Penn Squall 15 reels that worked well on our trip to Galveston earlier in the year.
Bite was slow but then picked up later once our fishing partner fund them lurking near the far wall. No Bruisers but still had a great time!
YouTube Shorts video of yours truly kayak fishing for Striped Bass on Lake Texoma – large reservoir that borders Texas and Oklahoma.
Putting in at Highpoint Marina on the Texas side, I managed to get a strike or two but never landed a fish.
Luckily, I had the old Water Wolf Camera – since lost in the waters of Lake Lavon our local lake! Trolling jigs and crankbaits, several fish had struck the lures.
And, this short video, you clearly see in the murkiness a nice sized Gar!
Check out more videos Kayak Fishing Lake Texoma: YouTube Playlist
Full video of the YouTube Shorts: Struck Out at Texoma
Rebroadcast of an impromptu livestream providing fishing updates from the Team. This round -” Denison Dam Fishing | Before You Go Fishing Do This” I provide updates to our archived blog post that details reading the generation release schedule and data, and then offer suggestions before you go to Denison Dam. Check it out!
Archived from CityOfAllenFishing.Blogspot.com: https://cityofallenfishing.blogspot.com/2008/03/fyi-denison-dam-real-time-release.html
Made it back for more Denison Dam fishing for striped bass. Used our surfcasting gear to fish the Oklahoma Wall and worked the area using a Float and Jig/Fly Rig. Fishing buddy limited out; yours truly did not.
Lots of small stripers but did keep enough for dinner. No catch and cook this round but did get lots of underwater footage with the @GoFish Cam …learned there are lots of small stripers along the Oklahoma Wall which we anticipated given past trips. But, also noticed lots of small catfish, too!
Longer than normal video… decided to minimize the edits and post more raw footage from the GoFish Cam in case viewers see something we missed.
So far, we noticed Striped Bass, Channel Catfish, Blue Catfish, a glimpse of Buffalo, and a Bluegill. Do comment if you see others we may have missed!
Fished Denison Dam on the Oklahoma side – specifically, the Oklahoma Wall for Striped Bass. Fun time catching them on a beefed up version of the Bubble Fly Rig – a heavy casting float and a clouser style minnow.
Plan was to fish the Texas side with the Switch Rod. Had to adjust to the fish and the pattern. No fly fishing from the OK Wall. Luckily, had a back up bait casting rod and Dave’s Ski Tackle was nearby for picking up a heavy casting float and jigs!
Do checkout the video!
Eight Lessons Learned fishing the OK Wall?
1 Tag your stringer when fishing a tailrace in Oklahoma!
2 Bring a heavy casting float and shad as backup.
3 Keep fishing even after shad is gone, stripers will strike the fishing fly.
4 Fish the current or the bubble line where the fish are lurking.
5 Stop at “Dave’s Ski and Tackle”.
6 Moving lure, fishing fly, or bait was preferred.
7 Stay up to date with fishing regulations.
8 Every cast is a chance to catch a fish.
More fun fishing Denison Dam last Saturday for Striped Bass! Bite was slower than the weekend before but was able to catch a few; ended up keeping three Striped Bass for the Catch and Cook.
Brought the Cabelas TLR 6wt Switch Rod with the Echo Ion 6/7 Wt Fly Reel again. And correcting from our last video, the fly line was a Rio InTouch Chucker with integrated running line.
Stripers were hitting mainly striking on the Bennet’s Lunch and Craft Fur Clouser Minnows this round. Did catch a couple of White Bass as well, and found an anchor! Overall was a fun time!
For ease of reference, here are key places to skip to in the video:
Simple Recipe:
Do give it a try!
Gear Used
Lotta fun fishing Denison Dam Saturday for Striped Bass! Brought the Cabelas TLR 6wt Switch Rod with the Echo Ion 6/7 Wt Fly Reel and the OPST Skagit Head.
Bite was good on small stripers hitting on the Denison Dam Dawber, Bennet’s Lunch, Bucktail and Craft Fur Clouser Minnows.
Fast retrieves using short pulls and fast pulls worked, then they wanted a 10 count delay, later a 5 count delay, and then later no delay in the start of the retrieve.
Also, did get better hook up rates by dipping the rod tip in the water while retrieving. And then… later had a high stick, sweep the rod style retrieve that seemed to work well.
All of this before the started generating power.
After they started generating, then it was cast upriver, let the fly drift downriver and swing the fly, and then twitch the fly as you retrieved in back upriver at an angle.
Learned lots while there… bottomline: vary your retrieve, change fishing flies, and adjust to the fish as the pattern changes!
More beat the heat with TBT to Denison. See full video at Denison Dam Fly Fishing on YouTube!
Got lucky… plan was to fish the Blue River but recent rain diverted us to the Red River – specifically, the tailrace to Lake Texoma at Denison Dam!
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Had a fun time at Denison Dam – tailrace to Texoma, on Saturday June 20! Opted for live bait of Bluegill and Sunfish to try for Striped Bass and Catfish.
Turned out only one Striped Bass. It was a nice one that went 19″ in length. Went for a 3″ Bluegill. Did a few more bites but nothing solid.
Go to bait for others that were limiting out on small “schoolies” was frozen shad, shrimp, and chicken livers. Next round, will make it a point to bring bait and not go all in on live bait.
That said, the Okuma 12′ MH Rockaway Surf Rod and Pflueger Spinning Reel worked well… can cast far with minimal effort. A much lighter combo compared to the 10′ Rodmaster and Penn Battle II 6000.
Given only one fish this round, posted a catch and cook showing how we clean and prep and then cook a striped bass. For its size, we opted to steak the striped bass and skillet fry it… tasty!
Ingredients:
Fry 4″ to 5″ each side
Gear Used:
Lucked out and was able to fish Denison Dam – tailrace to Lake Texoma, two days in a row. First day, temps were in the 90s and the river was flowing while they were generating power. Next day, cold front rolled in, dropping the temps to the 60s. No power generations, minimal water flow… able to observe what a difference a day makes – specifically, the river and the change in water level. Do listen in on the Podcast, or check out the video version on our YouTube Channel – COAF Field Team!
(Podcast has migrated to the iFishNews Fishing Podcast Series - Click Link)
Made the run up to Denison Dam Wednesday morning. Fished the day before when they were generating power. Wednesday morning, they were not generating power… river was low and waterflow was minimal.
Planned to fished with bait – frozen shad and live shad to be caught with the cast net. But, bait store was out of shad, and no success at catching any with the cast net.
After trying a Jig and Fluke under a float, Bomber Crankbaits, and a Rattle Trap on the Oklahoma side, went to the Texas side and started wading river and fishing pocket, runs, and pools with the Discount Switch Rod – Maxcatch 2wt 10′ Fly Rod and Orvis SL1 Fly Reel.
Caught one White Bass on a Chartreuse and White Craft Fur Clouser, had another strike but lost it. No sure what it was… and then had several Gar look and chase the Bass on Bed Fly.
Overall, good to get out on the river and work the areas normally underwater. Plan to get another video to show differences when they generate power and when they are not… More to come!
