How to Live Bait Fish Lake Texoma-Striper Guide Justin Parker will break down the basics, and give anglers the 411!  Want to know why Lake Texoma Fishing Guides are great live bait anglers?  How to Lake Texoma Fishing find shad?

How to Live Bait Fish Lake Texoma-Striper Guide Justin Parker

We always are quick to break down all the tactics and guide tricks to catch Striper on Lake Texoma, but here is the most important tip:

Lake Texoma Fishing Guide Justin Parker-Most Important Striper Tip:  LOCATE FISH!  You can own the best boat, best fishing rods and reels, and the best bait tank, but if you can not locate Striper on Lake Texoma you will NOT have success!

Sounds easy? At times Texoma Striper Fishing is easy, then again it can be very tough!  So what are the steps or tactics to catching Striper on Lake Texoma with live threadfin or gizzard shad!

Quality Shad Tank-How to Live Bait Fish Lake Texoma-Striper Guide Justin Parker

Don’t use a foam bucket with an air bubble blower?  The old five-gallon plastic bucket will not work either!  Spend some money on a quality bait tank that will keep your threadfin shad alive all day.  Here are our top 3 shad tank manufacturers we recommend:

1. Sunshine Bait Tanks 

2. Shad Shack Bait Tanks

3. Moeller Bait Tanks

We always try to buy local and sure do recommend Sunshine Bait Tanks!

Cast Nets-How to Live Bait Fish Lake Texoma-Striper Guide Justin Parker

There is one thing I tell weekend warriors about cast nets, always carry a spare!  Buy a net you are comfortable throwing and carry 3 of them on your boat!  Every Guide has their favorite, so try them all and find one you like.  Here is a very interesting article on Texoma and Cast Nets for Shad!  Please make sure you follow all the rules and regulations for cast nets on Lake Texoma!

Finding Threadfin Shad on Lake Texoma

Here are the basics of catching threadfin shad on Lake Texoma.  If you are fishing in the winter you will have to throw a cast net in deep water.  Try a net with a bigger mesh-1/2″ and a 1.5lb weight per foot.  Summer cast nets can be 3/8″ mesh and 0.75lb weight per foot.  Look at the following spots for threadfin shad on Lake Texoma:

Marina Lights:  Marina Lights attract shad during the night and those fish will stay close to the light until the sun gets up.  A great way to not find threadfin shad on Lake Texoma, wake up at 10 AM!  Go to bed early and get up early to find shad!  Yes, 3 AM early!

Aeration: Can be man-made or a creek dumping water into the lake.  Some lakes have man-made aeration, Texoma does not, but look for creeks,

Warmer Water:  Rocks and concrete warm up in the sun and shad love the warmer water.  Concrete pipes and boulders will hold shad.

Lake Texoma Striper Fishing Gear

Medium Action rods are our preference for live bait fishing Lake Texoma.  A heavy rod can pull the bait out of the Striper’s mouth and a softer action rod the fish kind of hook themselves.  Eagle Claw and Shakesphere made nice live bait rods at great prices.  We go through a bunch each year.  When we have rookie anglers on the boat a medium action rod helps anglers hook more fish.  We tend to keep rods in rod holders and tell clients when the tip of rod hits the water, pick it up!

We like live bait reels with clickers.  This helps anglers see and hear a fish when they eat our live bait.  Ambassadeur Reels are hard to beat.  We have our reels cleaned and serviced twice a year to make sure we never miss a Striper on Lake Texoma.

Our live bait fishing line is always monofilament.  Lake Texoma does not get clear enough to use fluorocarbon line, but at times we will use a fluorocarbon leader if Striper get line shy.  14-20 pound test is pretty common for Striped Bass on Lake Texoma!  Fishing  Line is a preference, but we like Berkley Big Game!

Terminal Tackle often gets overlooked, but please not a quality swivel will eliminate line twists and keep your rig running smoothly.  We also use a bead under our egg sinker too.  This plastic bead adds a clacking sound and keeps the lead sinker from breaking your knot to the swivel.  Make sure you are using an egg sinker that will keep your bait in the strike zone and still look natural.  Too much or too little weight will NOT put Striper in the net!

We saved hooks for last.  Please use circle hooks when live bait fishing on Lake Texoma.  Octopus Hooks end up in the gut of Striper and gut hooked fish won’t survive if released.  Circle Hooks help clients catch more fish and make for a better survival rate when released.

Thanks for taking the time to read our blog post.  For more information follow Lake Texoma Fishing Guide Justin Parker.