Oologah Archives

Kevin's post on the Summer Patterns thread was very helpful. I do think I should use minnows more often between 10am and 5pm. I haven't used many minnows lately.

I thought Zeke and I resolved your jig fixation last week when our clicker caught fire as yours grew cold. Kyle- it's summer on oologah and it's time to go one rod in hand with Arkansas Jigs so the hitchhikers and jigglers don't get away with it. Don't make me come back out in this heat and teach you again.(-;

KC I agree with Josh that's a ton of shad on your screen, this time of year we don't tend to catch big numbers because we are competing with all the hatch and fry in the lake and the fish can feed very easily on them. Now I'm not saying someone won't go catch 100 but it's harder to do this time of year. EB

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KCMasterpiece

I don't know how the rest of you are faring out there in the crazy heat, but I am really struggling to get fish to bite (especially fish over 11"). I feel like I've tried everything in my boat to get them to bite. I even trolled a crankbait a little today. I have had no problem finding fish (see attachments). I didn't catch a single fish on either of those piles! I've tried minnows, big jigs, micro jigs, and everything in between. I've cast and dragged and vertical jigged. What's the secret to getting these fish to bite lately? What am I not doing that I should be (other than wait until Fall fishing)? I did catch 45 yesterday (Zeke Anderson helped with the first 15 or so that morning), but they really didn't bite well until 5-7pm. Thoughts? Suggestions?Attachment 245505Attachment 245506

---

I saw the same thing on my Lowrance last week at Oologah, turned out to be small crappie, mostly 6-8". Was able to catch them at a few of the piles but in most they weren't biting well. Sometimes I have noticed that there is more than one size of shad around that hang out in different schools and I have been fooled into thinking the bigger shad were crappie before. If you cant catch them, the only way I know of to find out for sure is to throw a cast net. I did that a couple of years ago at Hugo in the river section, cause I HAD to know if it was crappie that I was seeing on standing timber that weren't biting, turned out to be channel cats--knowing stopped the frustration and waste of time trying to catch them.

Man, I wish I could catch 15, let alone 75. Tried several different brush pikes and bridge pilings with very little success. How deep of water are the bush piles when it's 90 degree water temp?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KCMasterpiece

I did catch 45 yesterday, but they really didn't bite well until 5-7pm.

---

I think you found your answer right there, Oklahoma has been under a High Pressure Heat Dome for all of July and still going now into August until it lifts or we get some kind of significant change in the weather pattern the early morning and late evening bite is going to be the key imo.

We went Saturday and didn't do well at all, except, we did survive the storm. Fishing stunk before and especially after. Hope it gets better soon. Shad and sand bass are plentiful and even tiny blues. We did see a guy with a decent basket, so I know there are always fish to be caught, just not from us.

Thanks for all the replies. I mean it. I'm still learning. I love the challenge.

Just remember KC. Gizzard shad can grow up to 2 lbs and can give the appearance of a decent size crappie.

Don't fish below the thermocline this time of year. Just above it.