Following the birds to find fish during

This month the stripers have been transitioning from spawning in the rivers and then going back to the lake. The stripers have been stacked up in river beds and creek beds close to the mouths of the Red and Washita Rivers. There have been some birds working close to the dam in the early afternoon, but the fish are not staying on top very long. Most of our fish have been caught on the edge of old river beds. We have been using live 3"-4" gizzard shad, and dropping them to 30 feet in 40-45 ft of water.

Stripers are hitting top water plugs behind the islands early morning until about 30 minutes after sunrise. Once the sun is higher in the sky, look for schools of stripers along old river beds and the mouths of creeks in 30 to 50 feet of water. They are hitting small size shad like the one in the photo. Larger size shad don't seem to be on the menu and are being passed by for the smaller shad offerings. We are also picking up a number of small blue cats around 1 - 2 lbs on bottom while targeting stripers using small live shad as bait.

The water mid lake is clearing up nicely. Right now the stripers under 20" are schooling up and chasing shad on the surface along sandy shorelines in water 10' to 30'. If you want a little larger fish, but a little slower bite, you can find them in deeper water where the depth drops from 40' to 60'. Top water fish are hitting solid color baits the best in either white, chartruese, or chrome. The deeper fish prefer live shad in the 3" - 4" size. Swap bait out as soon as it stops wiggling, because those deeper stripers like lively shad.