Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Ice formed in my rod’s eyelets as the bitter January chill permeated my bones. Some of my fellow Oklahomans would probably think I was crazy for going striper fishing on such a day, but after spending nearly two months at goose hunting, my psyche ached for a change.

I was bundled up in the warmest gear I owned as we trolled lively baits nearly 60 yards behind the boat. Without warning, my rod was almost ripped from my frigid grip; the fight was on. The graphite shaft nearly bent double as the hefty striper headed downstream with the bait. My drag sang as I reeled feverishly, making little headway against the tenacious fish. After a 10-minute tussle, my guide netted the 15-pound striper.

“You caught a small one, huh?” he quipped.

A sly grin on his face, the guide baited my hook with a lively 9-inch shad, and soon had it secure in the rod holder. Before long the rod tips iced over again as my rod awaited the next big hit.

Ah, yes -- January fishing is brisk! Temperatures are usually frigid, but some real rewards await anglers willing to bundle up and go catch a few stripes. Following is a review of some hotspots for Oklahoma’s cold-weather stripers that you’ll surely want to hit this month.

LAKE TEXOMA
Lake Texoma is an awesome striper fishery; catching a limit of linesides there is generally easy. However, the winter months can be especially worthwhile, owing to the stripers’ preference for cool water.

According to Paul Mauck, south-central fisheries supervisor for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, January is a superb month for catching a wallhanger. “Stripers like cold water and windy weather,” he said. “They don’t seem to acclimate themselves as well to warm water.”

According to Mauck, January anglers should look for huge schools of shad that hole up in many of the lake’s coves. “The shad are fat and lethargic in preparation for spawning later,” he noted, “an easy target for the lake’s stripers.”

Several factors put the odds in the angler’s favor. First off, fewer boats are on the lake to spook the stripers. Because the fish are less skittish, they can be found in shallower water, where they’re easier to target.

“Traditionally on Lake Texoma, some of the top spots in January are Soldier Creek, Caney Creek, Alberta Creek, and the east end of Rock Creek,” Mauck reported. Smart bait choices are live shad, and -- according to striper expert Ron Ludwig -- Prune Picker slabs.

For up-to-the-minute Lake Texoma striper reports, log on to the Web site SixOldGeezers.com.

LAKE KEYSTONE
One of the first lakes in the state to be stocked with stripers in the 1960s, Keystone, west of Tulsa near Sand Springs, hosts a prominent striper fishery. It peaked in the late 1980s, but still yields quite decent catches of stripers from time to time. Catching big numbers of fish there can be tough, though.

Guide John Harless reports that the average catch will be 4 to 6 pounds, and that morning fishing is the way to go for results.