Light Boater Traffic Makes Cooper Excellent For Fishing
(Staff Photo By Steve Knight)
LAKE OF OPPORTUNITY: Guide Tony Parker lands a hybrid-striper bass on Cooper Lake. The 19,000-acre lake gets little traffic and is producing good fish 3 to 8 pounds.
TIRA - When most fishermen find a honey hole they go out of their way to keep it a secret. Guide Tony Parker of Sulphur Springs is just the opposite.
Parker has spent more than 20 years guiding mostly for stripers, hybrids and white bass on Lake Tawakoni. Last summer, a friend pointed him toward Cooper Reservoir, the 19,000-acre Corps of Engineers lake on the Sulphur River.
What he discovered was a lake full of open-water structure, calmer than Tawakoni on a windy day, and full of hybrid-striped bass, but void of fishermen.
"There is more underwater structure, huge humps and ridges, on this lake than any I have ever seen," Parker said, while following a short run to the first fishing spot. It was from a pier located alongside the dam.
Steve Knight
Using a GPS/fish locator he bought specifically for Cooper, he pointed out the hump he was seeking. It was one of many located north of the east-west running river between the river and the dam. Most of the structure is in 8 to 18 feet of water. During the summer months the fish relate to the structure, putting in prey for schools of shad.
During the cooler months they only have to slide into the nearby river channel for deeper water.
Built by the Corps as a flood-control reservoir in what had been blackland farming country, the lake never had much of a chance as a largemouth bass fishery. All but a few thousand acres of timber in the river bottom were cleared during construction. In the open water, the Corps pushed much of the timber up into brush piles and created the humps. And while the lake has produced a 15.17-pound largemouth bass record, it has always been better suited to hybrids and white bass, more open water species.
Recognizing that, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department started stocking the lake with hybrids irregularly in 1996. In 2002, it became an annual release, with the lake getting between 150,000 and 200,000 white bass/striped bass crosses. The lake is now a regular in TPWD's stocking rotation and should receive hybrids annually depending on availability.
About 30 miles north of Lake Fork, it remains a lower choice when it comes to fishing popularity. Most of the lake traffic consists of local fishermen from nearby Cooper, Commerce or maybe Sulphur Springs.
"The most boats I have seen out here is five, and they don't know how to fish for hybrids. They are using crankbaits or something," Parker said.
With the exception of spoons and slabs - two lures he has yet to use on Cooper - Parker imported the same fishing techniques to Cooper that have been successful on Tawakoni.
"What I really like is that four-inch Sassy Shad and the six-inch Storm Wild Eye Shad," said Parker. He said the two mimic the size of gizzard shad the fish have been chasing. Since he is targeting the hybrids, using the big lures also cuts down on the number of white bass caught.
Using chartreuse lures, Parker lets them drift to the bottom and with a steady, but slow retrieve works them back to the bottom.
"I like to make as long a cast as possible because it helps keep it down in the water column," he explained.
Although the two baits look and act similarly, the hook set is different. Parker recommends setting the hook immediately on the first bump with the Sassy Shad and stopping the retrieve and letting the fish run with the Storm shad.
It was the second cast of the day with a Sassy Shad when Parker snapped the rod back, and then held tightly as it bent almost in half. In a couple of minutes Parker boated the 4-pound fish, one of about 30 between 3 and 6 pounds that would be caught in the next two hours. Two days earlier, with a lighter wind blowing, Parker and a client boated 80 of the fish.
"We had a school probably five acres in size blow up around us," the guide recalled.
And that wasn't his best day. Last summer Parker's boat had a 150-fish day, but he admits his average is probably 30 in an afternoon above the 18-inch legal minimum length limit.
His biggest fish have been a couple of 10 pounders, not far off the lake record of 11.22 caught in 2004. Parker doesn't believe that record will stand long based on the quality of fish he is catching and the number of small fish he is seeing. The lake was scheduled to receive a stocking of 190,000 hybrids last week.
Just because of bookings Parker has been on the lake primarily in the afternoon, but he suspects the feeding pattern would be just as good in the morning. During the midday, fishing usually slows.
He suspects the pattern will hold well into the fall when water temperatures really take a dip.
Hybrids and stripers are still the hardest-fighting game fish Texas freshwater anglers will cross. That alone makes them attractive to sportfishermen, including fly anglers.
Along with the fish quality and lack of fishing pressure, Parker sees another positive side to Cooper over Tawakoni. It is gas friendly. Most of the fish he is finding are located within view of the dam, cutting down on runs around the lake.
With excellent ramps located at state parks on the north and south sides of the lake and three other state maintained launches, the fish are easily accessible despite the wind direction.
Because the ramps are state facilities, visitors will have to pay a park entrance fee at some or a minimal launch fee at others.
For more information on fishing Cooper, contact Parker at 903-348-1619 or by e-mail at tawakonifishing-@yahoo.com.
FAQ
Search Forums
Log in
Register
