After four weeks of polar bear friendly weather here in Texomaland, most fishing action in the two-state region is...well, it's a bit on the S-L-O-W side.
What else do you expect after four snow/ice events, a collection of Arctic fronts that would make Jack Frost shiver and actual air temperatures that bottomed out last week in the single digits locally and minus 31 in northern Oklahoma?
Such cold has sent area lake temperatures plummeting, chilly readings in the upper 30s and lower 40s that are finally starting to rebound a bit thanks to this week's milder weather.
Still, most fish are giving local anglers the cold shoulder.
Case in point was a Lake Texoma outing on Thursday where the only fish I found were on the lunch menu at Pelican's Landing.
So does that mean that you should sip coffee, oil reels, sharpen hooks, replace line and wait for better conditions next month?
Hardly.
Especially since late winter is the best time of the year to chase the chain pickerel, or "jackfish" as some East Texas anglers know the species.
"(This is) their spawning time," said Rob Woodruff, a guide who specializes in catching the northern pike look-alikes at this time of the year. "(Right now) they are up in (a water body's) grass-beds in shallow water."
Woodruff, a Quitman-based Orvis-endorsed fly-fishing guide (www.flyfishingfork.com, 903-967-2665), had set up this outing along with Hollensed, the Orvis-endorsed striped-bass fly fishing guide who normally prowls the waters of Lake Texoma (www.flywaterangling.com, 903-546-6237).
Trading in the two guides' high powered fiberglass rigs, we spent the day on an oar-powered rubber drift boat instead.
The small lake's spawning chain pickerel were the perfect quarry to target from such a craft as we used five-weight fly rods to tempt these toothy critters.
While we didn't land any huge pickerel -- the Texas state record is a 4.75-pound specimen that was caught in Feb. 1996 at Lake Pat Mayse -- we did catch a fair number of one to two-pound fish.
Just about every one caught put a serious bend in our fly rods and gave us some serious light tackle fishing thrills.
In the dead of winter, mind you.
Interested in giving chain pickerel fishing a try?
First, you'll need to be sure that you are fishing in waters that actually contain the freshwater species.
In East Texas, Daingerfield State Park Lake (currently closed for repairs), Lake Hawkins, Caddo Lake, Little Cypress Creek/Bayou, and Lake Tyler are the best bets.
So too are nearby East Texas tributaries. The biggest pickerel I've ever landed was just over three pounds and was caught on chartreuse spinnerbait in a creek leading into one of those water bodies mentioned above.
Wherever you actually choose to fish for chain pickerel, be on the look out for aquatic vegetation in shallow water.
Why? First, because TPWD reports that the species' strings of sticky eggs are actually deposited on such aquatic vegetation.
And second, because adult chain pickerel in the spawning mode are a lot like largemouth bass - they will lie in wait in such vegetation, looking for an opportune time to ambush a minnow-based sushi meal.
What lures should you use?
For conventional tackle enthusiasts, use lightweight spinning gear, small Beetle Spins, spinnerbaits, and small crankbaits.
For fly-fishing anglers, use five-weight fly rods like the new Orvis Access series.
To that rod, add a weight forward floating line and a 7 1/2 foot leader tapered down to 1X, 2X or 3X.
Then throw a black crystal flash Wooly Bugger with an orange conehead; a small Clouser minnow; or a small, flashy streamer with gold, pearl, or chartreuse colorations.
While East Texas' chain pickerel don't get exceptionally big like their northern pike cousins do, they are still loads of fun to catch.
Especially at a time of the year when little else is up shallow and biting.
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