Blue Cat Fishing Report – Lake Texoma, TX

Wow! Can a fishing trip turn around!

How was a guy to know that the exact dates of the fishing trip would fall the same day that a hurricane decides to beat up Galveston?

That is exactly what happened to Realtor Ron (the most famous Ido Member that never posted). We flew into Dallas on Thursday to fish the Gulf on Friday. We changed our plans on Wednesday night to go North, to Lake Texoma and get into the striper bite. This is the lake that Splash, the 123 pound Blue Cat came from.

It sounded like Ike was going to mess with our Saturday and Sunday plans too. I found a Texas fishing forum (Texas Fishing Online) and told my story. I was looking for a blue cat guide that could fish Sunday that was out of Ikes path. After a number of dead ends mostly because of the short notice, I got a hold of Tommy from www.TrophyCatFishingAdventures.com . This is kind of ironic since I wanted to use that url for my website a few years ago and visited their site then. Little did I know at the time I would be fishing with them.

Thanks to the folks at Texas Fishing Forums, we “Yankees” went from a day of sitting in a motel room watching Ike head inland to getting out on beautiful Lake Texoma for the second time…but this time for the non “scaly fish” as they call them!

My partner in crime Ron Robinson and I hooked up with Tommy from Trophy Catfishing Adventures Sunday morning at 7 am. Kinda windy Tommy said but no rain like we thought. Just clear skies and some left over wind…a start of a beautiful day.

I’m going to jump ahead of the outing for just a moment. After the trip Ron and I were talking about the days events on the 2 hour drive to our next motel. If we hadn’t caught a fish…not one, Tommy’s guide trip was excellent. He was truly concerned about our comfort in the waves (three footers) and since Ron and I are Channel and Flathead guys, taught us a lot of tricks for Blues, some that we can use on our home waters in Minnesota on our favorite fish. As a guide myself, I feel qualified to say Tommy is a true professional guide. I could tell that he was watching for our every need, from having the boat ready to go, to having a towel ready when I would take off my own fish.

Tommy, Thank you so much for our short notice trip. We had a blast!!

Back in the boat, we started the first drift on Texoma. I’ve heard of Team Catfish products, in fact one of our sponsors of our sponsors (Moore’s Bait and Tackle) started handling Team Catfish products in his bait shop this last spring. After using far too many products to remember, I’ll be stopping in to pick up some of the hooks and other terminal tackle…including the catfish holders…they are great for keeping your fingers from being gnawed on!

We were using cut shad…I think Tommy and I hit it off right away when we found out we both like using the head. The only difference is I like squeezing the shad head before tossing it out…he just tosses out the head whole. You say tomato….

In just a few moments of starting the drift we had a few bumps to the rods and then a solid hit. A two pound, darn near white colored blue cat. Nice way to start off the morning. Then another and another.

Both Ron and I know fishing is fishing. All we wanted was a chance to catch a big…Trophy size blue. We knew we could be skunked on a big fish this time of year…or anytime for that matter…but we just wanted a chance. With the wind around 25 mph and waves in the 2 to 3 foot range…well, we would need some luck and guiding experience.

We move to the other side of the lake and started the drift again using the two drift socks, Tommy kept the drift under 1 mph. We were fishing mostly flats, but hit some ledges as the day progress. In the second drift on a flat…the rod in front of me, just bent over and shook…a sign of a biggun! I had my hand ready to grab the rod in case Ron tripped over my extended foot forcing me to take over bringing in the fish…but no luck. He was over in a flash…or should I say “splash” and the battle was on. Later Ron said she came in fairly easy with just a little of the 50 pound PowerPro running out the drag. But when she was under the boat…he had all he could do to hang on! I had more fun watching Ron work on a big fish than if I would have caught one myself…it’s a HOOT!

After about 15 minutes Tommy netted and lifted the big girl (I have no idea if it was a girl or not) in to the boat. It was at that time Ron and I realized what he had just caught…

His first Blue Cat coming in at 72 pounds! WOO HOO!!

At the days end, we had about 10 fish ranging from 2 to 8 pounds and then Ron’s personal best…and first.

All in all it was a great time and I would recommend Tommy to anyone looking for a good time on trophy water. Knowing that there is a chance to catch a trophy fish is about all a person can ask for. Having a little luck and a good guide just slants the odds to your side.

More to come on a new hook that is a cross between a circle hook and a J hook in the catfish forums.