Tailrace Stripers on a Fly

[terrysmith]

Looking for any info I can find. There's not much on the net.
Here in Texas, we have several tailrace rivers with stripers stocked in the lakes above, so that means there are stripers in the river. I know there are a few guides that work the tailrace, but I've not seen anyone that does it with a flyrod, even though I sometimes hear of someone catching stripers there.
What I'm looking for is:
Are there better times of the year?
Techinques?
And anything anyone has to put in about it.
Stripers are the big game fish down here and I want to be able to consistently fish and catch.
I've been flyfishing for a long time, so I have some ideas how to do it, but I would like some more info.
Thanks
Terry
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[macfly55]

ts,

I hope someone can answer this question for you.. its a good one.. but would also suggest you ask the same question on the Texas forum to see if anyone there can help you out... if you get a definitive answer from that forum Id sure like to see it here.. if you dont mind..

good luck..

MacFly [cool]
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[tubeN2]

Welcome aboard terrysmith and thanks for your question.

As you probably know, Stripers are an anadromous fish by nature. Even if they get planted they still have the same instincts.

Anchovies are one of their favorite food items. The scent is only have of their enticement.

Leech patterns, Zonkers, Clousers and Minnows are the best fly to throw at them. Any thing that you have in a Black over white or Black over silver will surely get them to strike.

I know which areas you are talking about in TX. I have been there on 5 trips over the past year with my team. I was catching some on the bubble fly with spinning gear and some on my 10wt rod with some special fly line that is now on the market.

Let me know if you need anymore information. I would be glad to help out.[cool]
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[terrysmith]

Thanks for getting back to me on this.
I have a ton of questions, but I'll try to hold it down.

So, in the river, are they only below the dam when there is some water being released? In slack water do they go downstream? Or are they at the dam most any time?
Is there a part of the year that is better? Summer, fall, ect?
I've heard that in the lakes,cooler temps in the fall start to turn them on and you see more topwater schools herding the shad. . Has that been your experience? Does it affect them in the river?
I've also been getting some conflicting info about their spawning run. I know they seldom can spawm in fresh water. Texoma is the only lake I know of that has a sustaining population, at least down here. I had always thought they went upstream from the lakes with the white bass(sand bass) in the early spring. But just today I read in a book on Texas fishing that they move up in the fall.
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So I know that this is asking a lot of questions. Like I said, the stripers are the biggest game fish down here unless you want to go into the salt(which I may do).
So I'm trying to decided if there's an opportunity to get serious about river stripers on a fly. If it's only occaisionally that it's possible, then I maight not be so carried away. Right now I have striper fever!!!!

Thanks for your help.
Terry
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[Scruffy_Fly]

There is a fly fishing Club in Sherman Texas that their members fish Lake Texoma and the tail race for the stripers. [url "http://www.rrff.org/"]http://www.rrff.org/[/url] Try contacting them.

I took up fly fishing while I lived on Lake Texoma but there was no fly fishing club at that time. I was concentrating on learning FF for Colorado at the time. Did not have the casting ability required for stripers but I did buy a scott 8 weight rod and an Orvis large arbor reel that has been used once.

Also there is a fly fishing club in the Dallas metro area and some of it's members are familiar with what it takes.
[url "http://www.dallas-flyfishers.org/"]http://www.dallas-flyfishers.org/[/url] Some of them did that kind of thing.

Try asking at some of the fly shops in the Dallas metro area and Austin area. I had run across people that were familar with it.

What little I remember: The strippers are always there in the river. The river is more accessible for fly fishing from shore when the flows are low. I forget what low is. An eight weight rod is sufficient for the stripers. Floating lines with a sink tip would work. Having a boat you can anchor in the river can be adventageous but hardware slingers tend to "park" their boats too close to you.
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[Brook]

Although there are always specific local conditions, there are some general rules of thumb about tailrace stripers.

1. In the south, their primary forage base is small shad that have been swept through the turbines. So streamers, especially when fished in an injured minnow manner, can be very effective.
Flies with a lot of green and/or white in them seem to be the most effective.

2. Water from southern impoundments, most of the time, comes off the bottom of the pile. Which means it is cold, and consistent in temperature---ideal trout water. But it also means the stripers are always in the river, but mostly feed when the water is flowing.

3. Learn the downstream-flow differentials. That is, wyen they open the gates at the dam, it might be three, or five, or seven hours before the rising water reaches a certain downstream spot. That can affect where, in the river, the fish are feeding.

4. Stripers moving upstream out of the lake have different habits than those in the tailwaters. For instance, a problem several years ago in Georgia, was stripers moving up out of West Point Lake and feeding on trout in the Chatahoochie River.

Hope this helps,

Brook
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