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"TEXOMA ON THE FLY"

JUNE 24, 2006

EISENHOWER STATE PARK

 

TIME	REC HALL	CASTING FIELD	LAKE	"DINING AREA"
6:00 am			*Fishing
7:00 am			*Fishing
8:00 am	Fly Tier Setup		*Fishing
9:00 am	Begin Registration & Tying Demos & Fly-Fishing Ed. Stations	Fly Casting for Stripers
10:00 am	Same	Beginning Fly Casting & Casting Fault Analysis
11:00 am	Same	Intermediate Fly Casting		Free Hot Dogs while they last
NOON	Setup Rec Hall for Speakers			Free Hot Dogs while they last
1:00 pm	Seminar: Mike Woody “Texoma Smallmouth Bass Fishing”			Free Hot Dogs while they last
1:45 pm	Seminar: J.D. Lyle “Texoma Stripers through the Seasons”
2:30 pm	Seminar: Mark McNamara “Structure for Stripers”
3:15 pm	Seminar: Steve Hollensed “Fly Fishing Lake Texoma”
4:00 pm	Cleanup

 

 

* Fishing is essentially "on your own". We will point out areas that the park staff has cleared for fly fishing.  Club members may be able to assist in locating these areas till about 9:00 am. Return to main activities at the time of your choosing. WADE VERY CAREFULLY, IF AT ALL. SHARP DROP OFFS ARE EVERWHERE.     

Fishing Tips for “Texoma on the Fly”

Eisenhower State park is located on Lake Texoma and contains miles of shoreline.  This area of Lake Texoma contains Striped bass, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, catfish, and assorted perch.  Unfortunately, much of the park’s shoreline is difficult to access and fly fish by foot due to very steep slopes. 

Here are some “fly fish friendly” suggestions for anyone planning to fish from the shore of Eisenhower State Park:

          Old boat ramp area – The access to this area is located between campsites #37 and #38.  Parking will be available in this area during Texoma on the Fly.  When you reach the water, you can fish in either direction.  The point to the right faces the main lake.  This point is usually a good Striper area.  Stripers are usually found on the side of a point that the wind is blowing INTO.  So, a north wind improves the Striper fishing in this area.  Bass can also be found in this area.  To the left, can be a good area to find black bass.  The old river bed loops into this cove and there is a very steep drop off, down to ~60 ft, that is about a long fly cast distance from shore throughout most of this area and around the point to the north.  The lake bottom is rock, which is the big chunk of limestone variety.  Wading is not too difficult in this area, but wading boots are recommended due to the rocks.  Warning – the close proximity to the old river bed improves the fishing in this area, but it also means that there are dangerous drop-offs that can be very deep.   Please Wade CAREFULLY!

          Lighted Fishing Pier – This area is located across the cove from the old boat ramp area.  The light on this pier is on all night, so this is a great spot to fish in the dark or very early in the morning.  The pier and most of the area around it has excellent accessibility to the water with minimal walking required.  This area also provides close access to some boat houses, which are good targets for black bass and bluegills. 

          Between Pier’s 31 and 27 is the area used for the monthly kid’s fishing events.  This is an excellent area to catch bluegills and a bass or two.

Other areas – The Park contains multiple fishing docks.  Most of them require some hiking and creativity to fly fish these areas.

License requirements – As part of the “Family Fishing Celebration”, a fishing license is not required to fish from the shore of any Texas State Park during the summer of 2006.  However, if you plan to fish from a boat, you WILL need a fishing license.  Lake Texoma is owned by both Texas and Oklahoma so you either need a Lake Texoma license, $12, or you need both a TX and an OK license to fish from a boat. 

Equipment Suggestions

Rods – bring whatever size rod you are comfortable with.  Everyone has a different opinion of what size rod to recommend for Texoma.  Personally, I fish a 7 wt and 4 wt rods most often on Texoma from a boat.  I use the 4 wt to target bluegills and the occasional bass.  I use the 7 wt to target Stripers from a boat.  I do have an 8 wt that I use when I’m casting a full sinking line, but most of the time the smaller rods work great.  Bottom line, you don’t need a special rod to try fishing Lake Texoma.   The heavy weight rods are more popular because you often have to cast into the wind. 

          Flies – The two most popular colors on Texoma are white and chartreuse.  These colors work for both Stripers and bass.  A Texoma fly box should include some flies that include these colors.  Shad patterns such clouser minnows, Lefty’s deceivers, wooly bugger variations, etc, are good patterns.  On topwater, popper patterns are working very well the week before the event.  For smallmouths, crawdad patterns in rust color is a good starting point.

          Fly lines – For this one, please attend Steve Hollenshed’s presentation in the afternoon.

  This summary focused on fishing from the shore, but Eisenhower does contain a good boat ramp.  Also, in late June the best bet for catching a Striper from shore will be very early in the morning.  The Stripers tend to move to deeper water by mid-morning.  The bass can be caught throughout the day, especially around the boathouses.

Texoma on the Fly - 6/25 Summary

On behalf of the Red River Fly Fishers and Eisenhower State Park, we’d like to thank everyone that came out to Lake Texoma for “Texoma on the Fly”.  We hope you had a good time. 

While planning this event, we had no idea how many people might attend a fly fishing event during the summer in Texas.  Now that it is over, we still don’t know how many people actually attended.  Since admission was free, we were unable to get an accurate count.  The current estimate is at least 200 people attended including the folks that helped staff the event. 

The fishing results were mixed, with Stripers being difficult to find, but both smallmouth bass and bluegills were caught from the shore of the park.  The demonstration fly tiers were outstanding and fascinating to watch.  The response to the casting classes was almost overwhelming.  The last count of the “Beginning Fly Casting” class was 50 and growing as additional people continued showing up.

The seminars were well attended and very informative.  At one point there were 75 people inside listening to the speakers and there were at least another dozen people outside under the shade trees. 

4 or 5 new, still in the box fly fishing outfits were brought to the event by people new to fly fishing for help putting them together.  One of these outfits was brought in by a boy who was about 10 or 11.  Someone helped him assemble his rod and reel, someone else helped him tie a fly, he then took a casting class, and went down to the lake to fish.  He returned for the afternoon’s seminars smiling from ear to ear, he had caught several bluegills on the fly that he had tied himself that morning.  I believe we have a new fly fisher.

Thanks again to everyone that attended and thank you to everyone that helped make the first “Texoma on the Fly” a success. 

For the Red River Fly Fishers,

Rex