tail were the ticket to the ones we got. Big fish topped out at about 8 pounds. 

3/19/06—Jeff, Mike & I rescheduled all of our trips this weekend because of really nasty weather. After being locked up in the house all weekend, Mike & I couldn’t stand it anymore, and hit the water in the driving wind and rain on second shift today. It paid off big time! We got on a big school off the North Island Ledge, and had them all to ourselves. We whacked about 30 of them, most in the 6-8 pound range, on ReAxtion Sassys both ripped and slow-rolled in the TALL waves.

 3/17/06—St. Pat’s Day! - After a pretty slow day yesterday, Jeff & Mike both smoked “em today. Jeff was fishing three folks on a bait trip, all repeat customers, and got onto a huge school of good fish near Oilwell Point again. He stayed on them until about 1:30, and headed in with a full limit and about ten throwbacks. Nothing huge in the mix, but good box fish and overs. Trish Vanderpool had the big fish of the day, a FAT one, pushing 25 inches. She’ll be back in search of a wallhanger a little further into the season. Mike was fishing lures with two adults and two kids aboard, a 7 y/o and an 8 y/o. They started at about 11:30, counting on the second shift bite. It was a little slow out west, so he ran north to some 22-25 ft. flats, and at about 3:00 it just lit up. The fished with nothing but slabs, and put countless 5-8 pound fish in the boat, just about as fast as they could drop ‘em. The bite was strong enough that even the kids were hooking up all by themselves. They headed for the harbor about 5:30, and left ‘em biting. He told me he had one of the better boxes of keepers than he’s had in a while.

3/15/06 — Mike was out with two new customers this morning, and they got pretty good numbers. They started in the mid-lake area, looking for fish schooling with birds on ‘em, and managed about a half-dozen before running west to Big Mineral. He got on shallow structure out there, and whacked some really HUGE sandbass in about 10 feet of water, mixed with keeper sized stripers. They filled a limit of good box fish, threw back another 6-8, and had at least a dozen FAT sandies on the table when all was said and done. All of their action was on Sassys. Jeff was in the same waters all day with three souls aboard, and had the same results except that the sandbass didn’t want their bait. He got some better fish in the deeper water, but nothing pushing double digits, just good fat box fish mixed with a few overs. Two of his riders were kids, and they had a BLAST! He said they hung in extremely well, and that they did a really good job of hooking up and landing their own fish.

3/14/06 — Jeff was out with three new clients today, fishing lures, but with some bait along just in case. It has been pretty unpredictable as the fish move into spawn mode, so he wanted to have all the bases covered. They got in on some early action near Oilwell Point, and boxed about 8 fish before they did a disappearing act. They hunted around a bunch of water, picking up one here and one there at most of their stops. About 1:00pm, they fired up with birds working ‘em, and they slammed them for the next hour and a half. They came in with a full limit of nice fat box fish, and released another 8-10 that were too big to keep. Left ‘em biting when one of the guys set down his rod and said “OK, I’m done”. Even with some shad hanging over the side, nearly all the fish came on ReAxtion Sassys with chartreuse or white heads.

3/12/06 — I was out with first-timers Richard & Jeff McPhearson on first shift. We started on the west side, at all my regular haunts, but despite a great picture on the graph, could not even buy a bump. I knew where we could get some, but the wind was HOWLING, and I knew it would be a l-o-n-g rough ride! They were up for it, so off we went. We found them up in the back of one of the big creeks, and whacked ‘em casting ReAxtion Sassys in water from 3-15 feet deep. They are planning a fishfry, so we kept just the good box fish, and filled a limit at about noon. At one point, we had 6-8 pound fish whacking shad on the surface where the waves were crashing on a shallow sandy point. EXCITING, I’m here to tell ya! It took at least an hour to bust our way through four foot waves to get back to safe harbor. Did I mention it was ROUGH? Jeff was out there with a boatload… two adults and four kids. They were fishing bait up in Big Glasses, and having a ball. They finished up just a little later than we did, and headed in through the mess. He said the kids thought those great big waves were the best part of the day!

3/11/06 — I had two kids out with me this morning… Jack & Bobby Turner from Allen, TX. They brought their dad John along to help out, since they figured they would need a hand with all of their fish. They were right. We fished north, up in Big Glasses, and had a ball drifting bait in about 25 feet of water. It was all catch and release except for the bleeders, and we ended up with 16 of those in the box. I figure we released at least three for every one kept, so it was a busy day. These boys were a HOOT, and we had a whole lot of fun! Jeff, Mike and two other boats fished a bachelor party of 14 guys up here to cut loose a little. We were all in the same areas, and really sacked up some fish! Bait worked much better than lures today, but both put fish in the boat. Jeff’s guys had a fishfry at Highport after the trip, courtesy of Pam and Jeff’s daughters Jenna & Megan. 

3/10/06 — I loaded out of Highport with Larry, Wayne, & Steve, and plans to hammer them on second shift. We were just getting warmed up, drifting deep water just off of Wood Island when the thunder & lightning rolled in. We pulled a few good ones, but ended up running for the harbor just when it was getting good. They had been out earlier in the day in many of the same spots that I showed them yesterday, and had hammered ‘em. They didn’t get any trophys, but pulled more big fat overs than they could count.

3/09/06 — I was out this morning with three new guys that I met at the Arlington Outdoors Show. They brought their own boat, and are going to stick around and fish for a few days, but wanted to kick it off with some big ones. We worked some of my favorite holes, and put some fish in the boat, but nothing real special. It was ROUGH out there, and we fished where we could rather than where we wanted to. The fish we did get were relating to creekbeds and troughs more than points today. We pulled the plug at about 11:30, and are going to hit second shift tomorrow. Jeff hung in with is guys and finished up at about 2:30. No big fish today, but a good mix of fat box fish and a few overs from up north.

3/06/06 — I had first-timer Bob White from Dallas out with me today to learn something about how we fish stripers on Texoma. He’s new to the lake, and to chasing stripers, although he is a very experienced fisherman. His first cast of the day resulted in a nice healthy 23-incher that really impressed him with its spunk. We fished all over the west end on a day that was better suited to golf than fishing. It was in the 80’s with a clear blue sky overhead. All but a couple of our fish came from working secondary points inside of Mill Creek. We fished ReAxtion Sassys in chartreuse, with a four inch body, slow-rolling them in water from 10-22 feet deep. We missed a bunch of hits we should have had, lost two that spit the hook, and put 11 in the boat from 19.5 inches to 10 pounds. We also picked up a few real nice Sandbass on Churchouse Point. 

3/05/06 — Jeff had two new riders from Dallas along with him this morning, and although they fished a lot of the west end, all but a couple of their twenty fish came from the same spot. They made three trips back to Mill Creek to get them, with some extensive hunting in between, but his honey hole paid off each time they pulled in on it. They were fishing chartreuse ReAxtion Sassys in shallow water, just slow rolling them near the bottom. One of the guys was fairly new to this striper business, and was sure he was hung up, despite some action on the rod tip, and the fact he was reeling in line snagged on a “rock”. Turned out to be about an 8-pounder that really surprised him with it’s power!

3/04/06 — Mike & I were out together to do some scouting and bird-dogging for Jeff, who had buddy and TNT Slab maker Bryon Nolan and some family members in from Altus, OK. We got on some early sandbass in the back of Tucker’s Cove, and put a pretty good hurtin’ on them throwing Bryon’s slabs in a white/chartreuse combination, and bouncing them back to the boat. They were all real nice ones, FAT with roe. We also got some small stripers mixed in, and put those back. We made a move toward Buncombe Creek, and picked up some good ones fishing a shallow ledge with our Sassys, then headed west fishing the sloughs and creeks up shallow. Meanwhile JD and his crew were picking up one here, and one there throwing Sassys along the river channel and in the deepwater whenever the LAZY birds got after it. They got some good ones, but the numbers were off for all of us, as it was a pretty odd bite and never did  really turn on.

3/03/06 — Jeff was planning to do some “tune-up” fishing after running to the big city for some parts for his motor when he got a call from Jeff Edelen, one of the Salsa Boys. He and his crew were high & dry with a motor that wouldn’t run, so they all headed for Highport and piled in my boat. The early afternoon was kind of hit & miss, but it got busy about 4:00pm. They ended up with some good fish to about 8 pounds working the deepwater ledges around Mill Creek with ReAxtion Sassys.

3/02/05 — Mike has been covered up with work in his construction business, and not fishing much during the typical February lull. He got out today to do some scouting around, and get a little R & R. He got on some birds working one of the rocky shorelines west of Highport, and whacked a half-dozen on his Sassy. He headed into Big Mineral, to his home waters around Church House Point, and pulled another four that were all in the 4-7 pound class. Then he headed further west, and picked up a few off of the Sherwood Ledge. He was meat fishing, and really wanted some sandbass to take home for Kathy, but couldn’t find any. Poor boy had to settle for real nice stripers!

2/25/06 — I had repeat offenders Gary Fischer and son John in the boat with me today, and Jeff had two new riders from the TFF along with him. It started out with pouring rain and thunderstorms, but the light show shut off about 6:30 and left us nothing but the pouring rain. We figured it was perfect conditions for some big fish, and it was, but no one clued the fish in. Jeff’s crew fished until 2:30, and had some good fish, just not a whole lot of them. I fished until 11:30, and took a break until 3:00 with six in the box and one 10 pounder released. We warmed up and dried out then headed west again. It was better, but still not gangbusters. We caught more big fish than we could keep, and finished with 15 on the cleaning table. It was odd… only a few of those 15 had any shad in them, and of those that did, it was only one or two. They were just off their feed today, and we really worked for the ones we got.

2/24/06 — Jeff was out on second shift today with two passengers that wanted to start late, and maybe get in on some after-dark action before they called it a day. They really didn’t get a chance. They got on fish almost immediately along the Oklahoma banks west of Highport, and stayed on ‘em until about 7:00pm. The fish were running west and had a ton of birds working them. They put about 30 in the boat, with the largest at about 11 pounds. Box fish were kind of hard to come by as most were in the 6-8 pound range. It was all on ReAxtion Sassys today.

2/21/06— Well, I was right! Jeff had first-timers Bill Balch and his 14 y/o son Hunter out today, and they SMACKED ‘em! They headed west out of Highport and didn't have to go far when they got on them in the deep water. There were fish runnin’ and birds flyin’… They had steady action from the time they got there until they pulled the plug at about noon. Hunter had a personal best that was right at ten pounds, and Jeff put one in the boat that was 37 inches, about 18 pounds! Most of the fish were overs in the 6-8 pound range with three or four that hit double digits. Great day! Dayglo ReAxtion Sassys were the ticket, fished from two to ten feet deep.

2/20/06 — Jeff got out on second shift to do some scout fishing and to familiarize himself with running my boat. He stayed on the west side despite strong reports from the north, and it really paid off for him. He hit the water about 4:00, and by 5:30 had whacked about 20 fish, all overs in the 6-8 pound range, and FAT, FAT, FAT!. They were all in the deepwater, running hard, and feeding in the top ten feet of the water column. Wildeyes were the go-to bait, and he was working the graph, rather than chasing the birds. I’m thinking the guys fishing with him tomorrow are in for a treat!

2/16/06 — There hasn’t been much fishing going on as the weather has been really uncooperative. I’ve been out once in the past week, and that was for only about an hour, and I never left the harbor because of the 4 foot waves on the main lake. We have canceled a combined six trips this weekend because of the cold front that has 30mph winds and freezing rain predicted. Jeff’s boat is down for an overhaul, and he’ll be fishing out of mine next week, when his will be done. Folks wonder sometimes why it costs what it does to fish with a guide. Ask Jeff this week… $$$$ … Overhauling a 200 Yamaha every couple of years is an expensive proposition! Motors that last the “normal” fisherman 10 or more years, last us about two.

I’ve been spending quite a bit of my downtime heading up this year’s Six Old Geezer fundraising efforts. We’ve been getting leadership teams together and getting organized to put on a couple of big Garage Sales and a couple of Family Fun Tournaments for our annual donation to Paul Mauck’s team at Oklahoma DWC. They do great things for Texoma, and will get our support as long as we can give it. Last year our efforts resulted in an additional $20,000 to their annual operating budget, which was used to purchase a brand new Yamaha 225hp four-stroke motor for their research boat. Watch the Geezer site and here for updates and schedules of events leading up to this year’s 6th Annual Six Old Geezer’s Fishfry! We would appreciate any help you can give us, and any assistance you may want to lend to our events. We’ve also got T-shirt sales happening, and the “Prunepicker Salsa” sales that were so successful last year. A HUGE thanks to Ken, Jeff, & Aaron Edelen, the “Salsa Guys” that make it all possible only with their generous help!

2/08/06 / Second Shift — Mike called me with a late report… He’d been out on second shift with one of his client’s and absolutely SMACKED ‘EM!! They got 20 huge Sandbass in the box on small slabs when some bird action fired up in one of the creeks. He eased in on them with his Sassys, and they caught and released about 25 stripers from 19 inches to over 12 pounds. He had quite a few that were in the 8-10 pound range. It was late afternoon, from about 3:00-5:00pm.

2/08/06 — Jeff’s been really busy going about whacking them night and day. He’s fished four trips in the past few days, a couple of them day trips, a couple of them his “Midnight Express” trips. There’s been a real good, but fairly short early morning bite in the deep water up north from Tabletop to the Railroad Bridge. They’re running in big schools under birds, and really on the move. The second shift bite has been even better, with the whole lake, from Big Mineral to TI Point lighting up with big schools thrashing shad, and the birds going crazy on top of them. The pattern we’ve got going right now is our typical Nov - Dec type fishing, and not the usual winter pattern we should have. It’s all about big Sassys and Wildeyes, run pretty quickly in the top 15 feet of the water column. The Midnight Run has continued to be productive, but is slowing down a little. He’s been putting customers on 12-20 fish a night, almost all in the 24 to 27 inch range, which right now means fish from 5 to about 8 pounds. Lots of real good fish being caught right now, along with more double digits showing up.

2/04/06 — The entire crew was out today with a dozen customers of Jeff’s from Nebraska & Kansas. Jeff & Jimmy hauled bait, and Mike & I threw lures all day. It was definitely a bait fishing day. They got on fish in three different deepwater spots off the North Island, off TI Point, and in Big Mineral, and whacked ‘em pretty hard. Mike & I ran nearly the entire lake, and sat on good fish most of the way, but never really got them going. The fish were off the shallow structure, and just didn’t much want our Sassys, jigs, or slabs in the deepwater. It was chilly and windy, but everybody had a good time. Jeff fished one of his “Midnight Express” trips after our group outing with Geezer fans Rod & Jeanine Naker. They were at it from about 7:00pm until 10:30 or so. They boated about a dozen good ones, but the bite wasn’t as aggressive as it has been. Most came on Wildeyes, fished just below the surface.

2/02/06 — Jeff & I hooked up with Lynn Burkhead to do some rather unusual striper fishing last night. We left the dock at about 8:30pm and fished ‘em until 12:30am. We’ve come across huge concentrations of bait, and the stripers are feeding wherever there’s enough light to see well enough to eat them. Jeff got on them two nights ago, and put about 20 in the boat just checking it out. Last night the three of us got about 16, most in the 24-26 inch range. We really wanted to get Lynn on them with his flyrod, and he hooked up a couple of times, but was not able to get them into the boat. Conventional gear did the trick however, running Wildeyes and yellow Roadrunners about four feet deep. It was a beautiful night to be out! Jeff & I will be running a few of these trips at night as long as the pattern holds. If you’re interested, act fast. We’re offering four-hour trips (8:00– Midnight)… $200 for two, $250 for three. Lures only.

1/29/06 — I wasn’t really planning to fish today because I was pretty whupped from two long days back-to-back, but I was awake real early, and thoroughly bored by 7:30, so away I went.  I was slow-rolling my yellow Roadrunner in about 16 ft. of water in the back of Buzzard Bay when I got hooked up with a REALLY strong fish. It took me 20 minutes to land it with my 12-pound test line. Not a huge striper I’m sorry to say, but a big Blue Cat that would have weighed in between 40 and 45 pounds if I had a scale that could handle that much. What a HOOT!

1/28/06 — Jeff called after scout fishing all week, and said, “What do you think about fishing this tournament?” Trent was looking for a partner, so Jeff & I decided to dust off our Team Mercenary uniforms, pull out our weapons of war, and re-string them with new line. We knew we didn’t want to go north, and that the fish Jeff & Trent were on a couple of days ago wouldn’t win a tournament, so we had to come up with a new plan… quick! We elected to drift bait and throw lead starting in the back Mill Creek, and working our way out to the main lake, and deeper water, as the day passed. The day started with pouring rain and the wind kept getting stronger and stronger. It was MISERABLE. We sat on tons of fish in Mill Creek, and couldn’t get anything going. We finally ended up on some fish running the river channel near Treasure Island, and put some good solid 5-pounders in the boat. We moved north and found some better ones on the ledge off the North Island, where we boated quite a few. Our big fish was a little over 8.5 pounds, and we weighed a two fish total of just under 14 pounds for fifth place. All of them came on Sassys, as we became real frustrated messing with bait while the fish were on the move, and the wind was too strong to drift with them. The event was won by a buddy, and local wannabe Joebear McDaniel, who brought in two totaling right at 17 pounds. There were lots of fish caught in the 26 boats entered, but big fish eluded everybody today, and most were in the 4-5 pound range. Both Jeff & I now remember why we hung it up on the tournament circuit… it’s a lot of WORK, and very often, not very satisfying. Mike had agreed to cover a party of four for me this morning, but when the rain started, they had a change of heart. He went out alone, and got a few good ones to about 7 pounds working the island points and cuts with Redfins.

1/27/06 — Jeff & I fished together this morning, scouting the north end of the lake. There have been some real nice fish reported to have come from the deep water near Alberta Creek, so we went a-looking for some. We didn’t find ‘em. In fact, we didn’t find much of anything up that way after working creeks and points from Alberta to Catfish Bay to Little Glasses and beyond, pulling one here and two there. We started fishing our way back south along the east side, and got on a real aggressive school near Platter. We stayed on them about an hour and pulled a number of double-digit fish to about 13 pounds on our 5” Sassys. They started feeding in the deep water, and ran to the southwest toward Tabletop. Axman & Fuzzy got in on some of the action, and picked up one just shy of 11 pounds.

1/26/06 — Jeff has been out most of the week scouting for a couple of teams that are fishing the upcoming TSA / NSBA Tournament on Texoma. We’ve got some good friends that are planning to fish it, so have been keeping current with the action, and providing some consultation to them. Today he had Trent Barnes with him, and they fished the west side. It started a little slow, banging the rocks with Sassys and jigs, but at about noon it really turned on over at Big Mineral. They hammered them from Rocky Point to the Sherwood Ledge, drifting northwest through the deep water. Most came on Sassys, but the fish were blasting shad on top, and they picked up some on Redfins too. Nothing huge, but nice fat fish to about 7 pounds.

1/23/06 — I took our little one Dillon to my folks place in northern Minnesota to play in the snow for a few days. We did some ice fishing, some snowmobiling, and Dillon did a whole lot of sledding. He’s been up there a number of times in the summer, but this was his first time to experience a real winter. We had a ball!

1/18/06 — Jeff had ESPN Outdoor Editor Lynn Burkhead out for a ride today. I met Lynn a couple of weeks ago while doing a seminar for the Red River Fly Fishers, where he is a member. He’s got an article coming up, and wanted some fresh info and pictures, so we decided to hook him up. I ended up covered up in my office, so Jeff go to go play while I was WORKING!!! That ain’t right! They threw jigs and Sassys all day, working shallow rocky structure from Highport west to PawPaw Creek, and smacked ‘em. They didn’t have any huge fish, but good fat overs that were, for the most part, too big to keep. Lynn got some real good pictures before he joined the action, and ended up taking four fish and a great experience home with him.

1/15/06 — I had repeat offender David Baker and his buddy Jack Schwade in the boat with me this morning. The wind was howling again, although it was a lot warmer than the mid-20’s we had yesterday morning. It was one of those days we fished where we could, rather than where I wanted to. It was pretty hit & miss until we got on some that ran a bunch of shad up into one of the creeks. We pulled a number of real nice ones, and lost a few in there. David had an excellent fish hooked up that broke him off after a pretty good wrestling match, and Jack hooked and released a real nice Black in the mix. We pecked away at them, mostly hiding from the wind, then got on some working rocky points, where we could drift slow enough to present the lures. We boxed a couple more, and I broke off a good one. I ended up cleaning three FAT overs to about 6 pounds and six good box fish. Most came on the Chartreuse Sassy, but the best ones hit a yellow bucktail jig. THANKS guys, it was a good time. I enjoyed the company!

1/14/06 — Jeff tried to get out with first-timer Ray Endicott on Thursday, then again on Friday, but the winds have been way too strong to do any lure fishing. This morning, they finally laid down. Ray is a very experienced fisherman, and was here to learn some of the tactics and lures that we use on Texoma. It must have worked. He & JD put about 25 in the boat throwing Sassys and jigs on the rocky structure. Lots of overs, including Ray’s personal best, a nice FAT 11.5 pounder caught and released. I started out solo, and got two quick ones in the back of Tucker’s Cove under some working birds. The fish were hitting big shad on top in about four feet of water. Both hit my 5” Sassy, retrieved real fast, just under the surface. One was about 9 pounds, one about 11 pounds. Both are still swimming. Chris Dennis, fellow Geezer fan, and our cameraman from a few weeks ago, hailed me on the radio from his live-aboard cruiser over on the other side of the lake. A few minutes later he was headed to the dock for a ride. We fished Chartreuse Sassys on Axman’s ReAxtion heads, and put 20 in the boat between 9:30 and 3:00pm. Most came off of secondary points in water 10-15 feet deep, and hit the lure slow-rolled right near the bottom. We cleaned 15 real nice fat ones, and Chris took ’em home for some lessons in Cajun style blackening. 

1/11/06 — Jeff was out scout fishing today since neither one of us has been on the water in a couple of weeks with the holidays and the show crowding things out. He fished north, and after a relatively slow start, really smacked ‘em in Newberry Creek. He was drifting from the primary points into the mouth of the creek, and getting whacked as he fell off into deeper water. The best bite by far, was on a Silk-Chartreuse Sassy rigged on one of Axman’s ReAxtion heads in a custom color. Lots of overs and big fat box fish, all released to get even fatter. He’ll be out tomorrow with a new client, and we’re both out over the weekend. Stand by.

1/09/06 — Jeff & I got back home last night after four pretty l-o-n-g days in our booth at the Texas Fishing, Hunting, & Outdoors Show in Arlington. Despite the work, it was a great experience, and really nice to see so many familiar faces as well as to meet a bunch of new ones. The Six Old Geezer group was well represented, as was the Texas Fishing Forum membership. Thanks for stopping by everybody!

1/03/06 — I had the opportunity this evening to speak to a group of very impressive sportsmen and sportswomen. They are the Red River Fly Fishers, based here in the Texoma area. They’re a very active club with about 35 members, and they host events open to guests and other interested folks three or four times a month. They have informative seminars, fly tying classes, casting instruction and practice, and outings to different streams and lakes in the area to fish. They have a growing interest in fishing stripers and smallmouths on Texoma, and I was invited to come in and share some of my knowledge about the game. It was great meeting with these folks. Check out their website at www.rrff.org

1/02/06 — I was all hooked up, loaded up, and fired up to fish first shift this morning when I thought to myself “self, that new lower unit has two trips on it, you better check it out”. When I pulled the drainplug, I got an ugly soup of oil & water, so there was no fishing for me! I ran into Jeff at the local gas station, fueling up for a last-minute trip he got called on last night. They fished way north, slow rolling Sassys and jigs on structure. It wasn’t gangbusters, but they got fish. Only one or two overs, and nothing huge, with the rest good box fish. My lower unit will be in the shop this week getting the offending seal replaced. Good thing I don’t need it. We’ll be at the Texas Fishing, Hunting & Outdoor Show at the Arlington Convention Center this coming weekend, so again, no fishing for me for a while. Drop by the booth and talk some fishing!