Going Savage on Arkansas Stripers at Lake Ouachita (continued)

Stripers will feed at night and last year Mike landed multiple fish over 30lbs. at night on Ouachita. We hit the lake with a combination of swimbaits casting against the shoreline and once again mixing up our retrieves. Every few casts we would slather on some Pro Cure on our swimbaits making sure to drop a scent trail. Once our vision adjusted to the dark it was relatively easy to position our baits and every cast seemed like an opportunity to land a big fish. “Someone is going to get their lure crushed tonight,” Mike stated.

Launching the flat bottom boat at night

It is funny how your other senses really take over when you don’t get all that visual stimulation when fishing. It was then that we really had to rely on the feel of the rods and could observes exactly what those Citrix and Komodo reels felt like under the pressure of a swimbait being towed through the water on the end of the line. The Komodo is noticeably smoother than the Citrix, but both reels delivered plenty of torque with each crank of the handle.

Brandon and Cal work swimbaits, and try to stay warm

Brandon, Cal and I all cast for three hours waiting for that splash hit, but unfortunately it never came. We were cold, our muscles were sore from casting big baits all day and the lack of sleep was starting to add up but Cal and I were determined to catch a big fish. We would get one more shot the next day and while Brandon and Mike went to work filming videos for the latest Okuma and Savage Gear products Ron took Cal and I back on the water to once again throw swimbaits, it was time to go big or go home! We hit the lake one more time armed with our complete arsenal of swimbaits. We were convinced that the Savage Gear Line Thru was the ticket as the side to side motion puts out a much more aggressive motion than the Real Trout. It was clear that at this time of year the fish wanted something more antagonistic, something they could really chase.

The Savage Gear 3d Line Thru swimbait kicks aggressively even at low speeds

Like on the first day we almost immediately started to get followers but no matter if we jerked the bait or paused it the fish just wouldn’t take it. The fish were absolutely massive and at one point a giant that had to be over 40lbs. waddled out after my bait from a submerged treetop. Right as it was about to surge it stopped and slowly sank away into the darkness. At that moment I had a gut feeling that that was my last shot and unfortunately I was right, it was the last follower that I would personally get on this trip to Ouachita. 

The Okuma Citrix 350 reel provides plenty of torque to retrieve these big baits

The stripers were definitely in the timber and as we were nearing our last few casts Cal dropped the Line Thru right in the middle of branches on a lay down. The strike was viscous and Cal worked quickly to keep the fish from hanging up in the tree. He cranked aggressively on the Citrix and the fish took plenty of drag as it fought its way away from the boat, only to tire out even more quickly. Cal won that tug of war and the fish weighed in just shy of 20lbs., which was not the huge fish we were hoping for but a great way to finish out our time on Lake Ouachita.

Cal looks to finish the trip with a big fish

Brandon and Mike were gracious hosts and we had every chance to boat a monster on this trip but only Mike got it done. That’s fishing, and not every story ends with a giant but for us the time on the water was equally as valuable. The stress on the tackle was substantial on this trip and the countless casts were a good testament to just how well these new Okuma reels and rods hold up to serious pressure on the end of line, and further proof is the fact that Ron and Phil use the very same Okuma reels and rods 365 days a year.

Cal and Ron with a Striper just shy of 20lbs

Cal liked the Okuma Muskie rod so much that he took it home to spend more time tossing swimbaits on the Delta and it is on the shortlist of rods that he plans on bringing to the Amazon this year. We were also very excited about this latest generation of Savage Gear swimbaits, especially the Line Thru which delivers an incredible slinking action and the internal mesh design proved that it can stand up to double digit Stripers without damage to the joints.

It is easy to see why Lake Ouachita is such a popular trophy striper destination

Ron and Phill definitely put us on the fish and day or night they were up working to get us fish, including a dedicated four hour run just to get quality Gizzard Shad.

Thanks to Okuma for showing us the great Lake Ouachita fishery and the company's latest reels and swimbaits, we will definitely be back

Just seeing those monsters come up behind our swimbaits was enough to get our hearts to skip a beat, and the vision of that giant fish coming up behind my bait only to sink back down into the darkness continues to haunt me but has also inspired me to one day return to this striper paradise and try once again to get “Savage” on these legendary Ouachita Stripers.

You can find the latest Okuma reels and rods and Savage Gear lures at Tackle Warehouse

To find out more about fishing with Captain Ron visit this website