# Texoma Stripers 12/20



## Laguna Freak (Nov 15, 2006)

I fished with Steve Hollensed on Saturday. Within 10 minutes of leaving the dock we were on squawking gulls over a school of what I can only assume were big stripers in 70 feet of water because the first hook up felt like I strip set the hook into a stump. 20 seconds later I got broke off. They were moving fast and I managed one more hook up that also pulled off.

Over the next 5 hours we found a few fish but no takes probably due to the other boats that kept their big motors running. So, Steve took off across the lake to try to find fish nobody else was on. He saw some birds way back in a small cove. When we got there, it was a frenzy of gulls, loons, and cormorants chasing shad that were literally fleeing the water. Steve eased in and we started marking fish on his sonar. He absolutely put me on the mother load! A big school of big fish had cornered the bait in a small cove and we had them all to ourselves for the next 2 hours. I managed to land 5 from 26"+ to 32"+. I had several pull offs and another break off. The 5 fish I landed weighed more than 60 lbs!

It was an epic day with the only full time fly guide on Lake Texoma!

Merry Christmas!!!


----------



## Laguna Freak (Nov 15, 2006)

fly in the bucket


----------



## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Laguna Freak said:


> ...
> Over the next 5 hours we found a few fish but no takes probably due to the other boats that kept their big motors running.
> ...


 LOL. I thought Livingston was the only lake where that was common practice. A long time guide there recommended that practice...completely ignorant.

That's some beautiful stripers. Excellent pictures. Thanks for posting. I wasn't aware of a fly fishing guide there.


----------



## Animal Chris (May 21, 2004)

For those of you in the Houston area that might be interested in a trip like this, Stave Hollensed will be the speaker at the monthly meeting of the Texas FlyFishers on Tuesday, January 27, 2015, 6:30 at the Community Center inside Bayland Park, 6400 Bissonnet St., Houston, TX 77074. Here's the link to the meeting place.

http://www.texasflyfishers.org/meetings.htm

I hope to see some of you there.

AC


----------



## Finn Maccumhail (Feb 16, 2009)

Awesome. I'm assuming you were throwing deep sinking lines, right?


----------



## Boboe (Feb 11, 2009)

You can definitely see a sink tip in one or more of the pictures. It's impossible to tell how many feet and how heavy it is though.


----------



## mikedeleon (Aug 9, 2010)

Those are some nice fish, well done. Ain't nothing wrong with a striper on the dinner plate as well.


----------



## Laguna Freak (Nov 15, 2006)

Finn Maccumhail said:


> Awesome. I'm assuming you were throwing deep sinking lines, right?


 Yes. I had a truck full of Christmas presents so I left my gear at home and used Steve's. He had his 9 wt Hydros rigged with Orvis' 350 grain Depth Charge, I think is what he said. It took a little while to get used to his rod as it is much slower action than what I normally cast but with a little coaching from Steve, I was casting pretty much the full 105 feet of line. I did have the advantage of getting an advanced casting lesson from him in Austin last summer. He's really good at fine tuning your transfer of energy.

I highly recommend him for Texoma or casting lessons.


----------



## Laguna Freak (Nov 15, 2006)

*C&R*



mikedeleon said:


> Those are some nice fish, well done. Ain't nothing wrong with a striper on the dinner plate as well.


 Agreed but Steve only does catch and release trips. Besides, I have plenty of fish in the freezer anyway...


----------



## FXSTB (Apr 23, 2008)

WOW! That looks fun! Must put on my Bucket List immediately!


----------

