J.B. Webb — Winter is coming and Lake Texoma is on fire

Now I know you all know water don’t burn unless you are in the shower and turn the wrong knob. I’m talking about the striper and sandbass that are being caught.

If you have never gone fishing, now is the time to break out the rod and reel. Just a tip if you don’t have any fishing gear — get another novice or three or four who might be friends of yours who haven’t been fishing, maybe your children or wife.

You can hire a guide by splitting the cost of the trip and will get to catch fish and not have to buy something you won’t likely use again. A good guide furnishes everything you will need to catch the silver fish and most of them give you another trip if you don’t catch a fish.

All you have to do is listen to him and leave finding the fish to him. I have talked to many people out with our guides when they come in and they will tell you how many fish they caught, how they pulled and the upcoming fish fry.

They also talk about how many of nature's fish finders that were on the job. The gulls are here and you find them, you find fish. Just ride around and see the white birds hitting the water. Generally, there will already be boats there. Idle in and keep some distance away from the other boats and get in on the fun.

Now while this is true, there are also those things that happen when you don’t expect it. Last Monday Ginger and I went to our ramp for the usual queen and servant act; she sees that I pick up after her.

When we got there that morning a lot of gulls were right at the mouth of our cove working over shad in the water. This time I hurried the Queen up. She didn’t like it much but we got everything done and I high-tailed the golf cart to the house. I hustled her inside for her breakfast and I hightailed it out the back door, hooked up to Tombstone and was on my way to the water.

From the time I hit the door, hooked up and was at the ramp all in the space of 20 minute or so, the gulls were still there but had moved out in the lake further away from our cove. Launching and parking, I ran, not walked, back to the boat. I idled out and went to where the birds had been working but most of them had left, there were still some diving and now and then you would see a fish hit a shad on top of the water.

Casting to these swirls with my weighted cork and trailer I got a nice box fish. The action slowed and I switched to my biggest War Eagle Slab. I was in 25-30 feet of water. It took a while for the slab to get to the bottom. I tried jigging it a round but nothing seemed to want it.

I was reeling up fast when a fish near jerked the rod out of my hand. After two more fast cranks with no luck, I looked around. Gulls were working the mouth of our cove again. From there to the Lighthouse there were different flocks all working.

It was Top-water time as no matter where I threw winding in would get a fish or hits. I was using a 3/ 4 Oz. Weighted Cork with a homemade 2-inch White Deer hair Streamer. It cast like a bullet.

I was using a barb-less hook. I just as soon shake the fish off as grab it. After 45 minutes or more after I started at our cove, I ended up at the Lighthouse Boat Ramp. Fish were still on top everywhere I went and gulls were going crazy. I only had one other guide boat around me till I left.

I caught a hefty bass on a Cotton Cordell Blue Chrome Super Spot. I left around 10 a.m. I didn’t count how many I hooked to go along with the ones I caught because I lost a lot on my Barb-less hook. It was fun and I got to play them for a while.

It was a great morning and I had a blast catching. Goober says he don’t like to catch those trash fish but he would have been right there beside me reeling them in. I don’t usually get that tangled up in catching sliver fish but when they find me and are busting the water all around you while gulls are chasing your lure. I like them.

The Old Predictor is faced with another game. I have not missed a score yet. This week Gunter plays the the Dublin High School Lions. Maybe of interest, and I didn’t know till Goober told me, you older folks remember when a Dr Pepper was the real deal. Sugar only, no diet or multi flavor or artificial sweetener back then.

Dublin, up until a few years ago, was still making the original Dr. Pepper the old way. Gunter gives its coach a lion skin for his office as his Tigers win another catfight 50 to 7. The playoff game is Friday afternoon at Pennington Field starting at 2 p.m. See you there.

This article originally appeared on Herald Democrat: JB Webb Winter is coming and Lake Texoma is on fire