Striper Anyone?

[FlyfishinOK]

Anyone on here doing any Striper catching below Zinc dam? I've fished it on the 24th and managed 2 small striper, 1 hybrid & about 6 gar. There were alot of guys sandbass fishing and it looked like they were doing pretty good. Saw a guy with 3 BIG Striper leaving as I was arriving. That's always my story the bite shuts down about 30 min before I arrive. May go and try this morning for a bit???

[Okieflyfisher53]

Anyone on here doing any Striper catching below Zinc dam? I've fished it on the 24th and managed 2 small striper, 1 hybrid & about 6 gar. There were alot of guys sandbass fishing and it looked like they were doing pretty good. Saw a guy with 3 BIG Striper leaving as I was arriving. That's always my story the bite shuts down about 30 min before I arrive. May go and try this morning for a bit???

Most of the stripers are being caught on live shad right now. I've managed to catch a few on flies, but getting more hybrids and whites. This morning I caught a few whites, a couple of sauger, and about 20 drum. Some of the drum were pretty big. As you know, there are also a lot of gar in there right now. I hooked up with one but he spit the hook out before I got it in.

Steve

[FlyfishinOK]

Top water bite was on this morning big time. I managed 14 all over 10 lbs. Bigest that I weighed was 14.4. Got my hook straightened out on two lures. I had 4 that broke 30 lb line on initial hook up like it was nothing. I'm pretty sure they were way over 20 pounders. landed 3 gar (not my favorite thing to do)

Did run into OKFlyfisher44 and his buddy. Got to watch his buddy catch his first striper on a fly rod. Really cool!

Went back for the evening bite. Only managed 3 striper around 12 lbs and a really big blue.

That's a 6" Storm Kickin Stick hanging out of his mouth. When I lost all of my poppers I thought I'd try it. I worked great for 4 fish...the 5th one is probably still wearing it.

[Quillback]

That's a great pic. nice healthy fish. Is the river fishable pretty much all day now, or do they run water during certain periods and make it unwadeable?

[FlyfishinOK]

On weekdays the water usually drops in the morning around 8:00 am and rises around 3:00 pm

Last weekend they shut Keystone dam off at 9:00 pm Friday and didn't turn it untill around midnight to 1:00 am Monday

Here are a few more pix:

I kept 5 fish for a big fish fry next month, 70 lb stringer

[FlyfishinOK]

That rod in the pix is a 8'6" Lamiglass steelhead rod I just finished wrapping. I call it my ultralight striper rod. It's rated 6 to 12 lb line & 3/8 to 3/4 oz lure. It held up great and I was able to really zing the lures way out. First fish on with it was a 37 lb spoonbill in full river flow. I was a little nervous but it held up fine.

I'm now rigged up on a 8wt fly rod with some big poppers & clousers. I haven't fished it in the river yet. I'm on a mission for a 15 lb striper. Current best fly rod Striper is 10.2 lb on a 6wt.

[Quillback]

Nice fish, I have some steelhead rods myself, I used to live near Seattle and fished steelhead all the time. How long does this striper run last, are they there all summer? Any idea what's the water temp, I'm trying to avoid wearing waders, would rather do the shorts and sneakers thing.

[OKFlyFisher44]

Did you see the pig of a female I caught right after you left?? It put me into the backing twice!! We estimated it to weight 21 pounds going by its measurements...

It was cool meeting you buddy! You caught an awesome mess of fish!!

Can't wait to get back down there!! That f

[FlyfishinOK]

QB, I was wet wading. I would suggest having good boots because of all the big rocks and rebar. They are thick right now because of the spawn. It'll be over pretty quick but you can still catch them throughout the year. Sat evening right at dark we were on the West bank and watched 5 or 6 big striper driving the shad up on the East bank in a feeding frenzy. They were coming out of the water and thrashing like mad. It was a great show. We almost decided to go back to the truck and get some headlamps for a little night fishing.

OK44, It was good to finally meet someone off of this site. I saw your pix of the big female. That's awesome! I came back Sat morning with my fly rod but it was toooo windy and the bite didn't turn on till later in the day. Caught 7 really nice ones Saturday and 3 ones Sunday morning all on top water. (all released)

Saturday evening the wind laid down and the water was like glass for about 30 minutes. You could see the big V on the water as they stalked the poppers. Sometimes they'd swirl it or hit it and sometimes they'd turn at the last minute. I'd hear the jaws theme in my head every time they would go after it. It would definitely get your heart rate up a few clicks!

[tsfinest]

Anyone going out there and willing to show a zink newbie the waters? Ive always wanted to try and get out there but never had any luck. Willing to go spinning or fly rod. School just got out and am itchin to get my lines wet!! Saw someone wet wading over the weekend and made me wonder if it was zink time...hope i didnt miss it.

My cell is 405-626-7932 and Im located near downtown tulsa.

QB, I was wet wading. I would suggest having good boots because of all the big rocks and rebar. They are thick right now because of the spawn. It'll be over pretty quick but you can still catch them throughout the year. Sat evening right at dark we were on the West bank and watched 5 or 6 big striper driving the shad up on the East bank in a feeding frenzy. They were coming out of the water and thrashing like mad. It was a great show. We almost decided to go back to the truck and get some headlamps for a little night fishing.

OK44, It was good to finally meet someone off of this site. I saw your pix of the big female. That's awesome! I came back Sat morning with my fly rod but it was toooo windy and the bite didn't turn on till later in the day. Caught 7 really nice ones Saturday and 3 ones Sunday morning all on top water. (all released)

Saturday evening the wind laid down and the water was like glass for about 30 minutes. You could see the big V on the water as they stalked the poppers. Sometimes they'd swirl it or hit it and sometimes they'd turn at the last minute. I'd hear the jaws theme in my head every time they would go after it. It would definitely get your heart rate up a few clicks!