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Striper Fishing on Lake Texhoma

June 6 , 2004

Thanks to the efforts of Big Gary Hale, 5 matches and 5 waiting Littles and 5 volunteers traveled to Lake Texhoma to spend an afternoon striper fishing. If you haven't experienced striper fishing on Lake Texhoma...well, let's just say you haven't been fishing and leave it at that. There is no better striper fishing anywhere.

Gary has been going to Lake Texhoma and fishing with legendary guide Charlie Stowe for over 12 years. When Gary told Charlie about the Pass It On program, Charlie lined up four other guides and told Gary to bring down 10 matches to go fishing. And there would be no charge (normally, the guides charge $110 per fisherman). We had no problem lining up matches and volunteers to drive the 4+ hours from Kansas locales to Lake Texhoma.

I had heard stories from lots of folks who make a regular pilgrimage to go striper fishing on Lake Texhoma. I figured they were mostly fish tales that, like all fish tales, got bigger with each telling. I can now attest that they are probably all TRUE!!!

We arrived at the lake around noon and had lunch and met with the guides who were donating their time and their boats and their fishing gear for our adventure. A little after 2, we headed out on the lake. Once Charlie dropped anchor, I figured we would be settling in for a leisurely afternoon of fishing. Nope. Charlie baited my Little Brothers hook and before he could bait another, Dana had one on his line!

That's when things really kicked into high gear. Charlie was frantic motion from then on, taking the fish off the hooks, baiting another one...time and time again. After 30-40 minutes at this pace, Charlie called a time-out saying he needed to count the number of fish we had caught. The limit is 10 per fisherman. At that point, we had already caught 39 fish. And no sooner had he announced that, than Little Kendra pulled another on board.

And these weren't little fish, as you can see from the photos below. There were several stripers that were 7-9 lbs. And the smiles were even bigger.

And our boat wasn't the only one hauling 'em in. Charlie had radioed the other guides, letting them know that he had found 'em. We had 3 boats tied together, and the fishing was at a frantic pace aboard all three. I was hoping to get some photos of the action, but it all happened so fast that the only action shot is the one of Kendra bringing in that last fish of the afternoon.

The Great Striper Fishing Adventure was enjoyed by 2 matches from Hutchinson, a match and a waiting Little from Wellington, a match and waiting Little from Wichita, and a match and 4 waiting Littles from Arkansas City.

Many thanks go to Big Gary Hale who put the trip together and to guides Charlie Stowe, LC Stowe, Terry Johnson, Larry Williams, and Steve Walker for providing a truly outstanding fishing trip for the Pass It On program!