Inks Lake Stripers

Inks Lake Striper Fishing Guide

Inks Lake is located near Burnet, Texas on the Colorado River in the 1,200 acre Inks Lake State Park. The 831 acre lake is 60 feet deep, 4.2 miles long and 3,000 feet wide at its widest point. There are some very good hiking trails, outstanding campsites on the waterfront, and mini cabins available in the state park. This lake offers anglers clear to somewhat stained water with no significant amount of aquatic vegetation present. There is very little fishing pressure on Inks Lake. The striper fishing on this body of water is fair to good with days when the fishing is amazing. Striper fishing on Inks Lake offers many different kinds of structure and cover for fisherman to stalk their prey. There are many chunky rock banks, ledges, and rock piles on the shoreline. In order to attract fish, brush piles and a network of some ten gravel beds have been installed in Inks Lake.

Inks Lake striper fishing has seen its share of large fish. In 1992, a striper was caught on rod and reel that weighed over 37 Lbs. A striper can often be predictable on a hot summer day in Texas, because they prefer cooler water. A striped bass will move to the deeper end of Inks Lake from the shallower end when the water heats up. This is the reason that so many fishermen pay so much money to purchase a fish finder. These days, depth finders are state of the art and will provide fishermen with everything except the first name of the fish. They provide the angler with the water temperature, indicate individual fish, as well as the depth that they are traveling or suspending. Fishermen can cover much of the body of water that they are fishing in a much shorter time with one of these devices.

fish graph

Lots of fish on graph!

In the summer, a striper will fight hard. A striper doesn’t have much fight if the water is too cold, although they like cold water. Fishermen can expect to catch schooling stripers in the range of three pounds to five pounds when the water temperature is in the middle 50 degree range without putting up with much of a fight. However, when the water temperature in the middle 60 degree range and see baitfish over them, they will come to strike, be larger, and put up a much better fight. The artificial baits for a striper in this lake that is recommended by many a fishing guide include soft plastic baits, deep running spinnerbaits, soft jerkbaits, tubebaits, jiggling and trolling spoons, swimming baits, and crankbaits. The absolute best natural bait for a striper is live shad. However, freshly shelled clams, eel, bloodworms, live minnows, mullet, fresh bunker chunks, and live bunker are also very popular.

Although the smart fishermen use an Inks Lake striper fishing guide to catch stripers, they can be caught by the average fisherman. For striper fishing on Inks Lake, anglers should use an appropriate length medium heavy to heavy rod that is matched to a reel. On the reel, spool 15 to 20 pound test of appropriate type of fishing line. In order to handle long runs after hooking the fish and long casts, a minimum of 250 to 300 yards of line should be spooled onto the reel. Approximately three feet of leader should be attached and barrel swivels should be used to tie onto the end of the line. Because snap swivels might bend open as a result of the weight of a large fish, they shouldn’t be used. The leader shouldn’t be any less than 20 pound test line, but can be fluorocarbon or mono-filament. The improved clinch knot should be used to tie the line to the swivel.

Using an improved snell knot or clinch knot, a bait holder or circle should be attached to the end of the leader. During fishing, snelled hooks will greatly decrease the number of breaks in the knot and will provide exceptional strength. Usually the size of the hook shouldn’t be smaller than 4/0, but hook size is also dependent on the kind of bait being used. The kind of bait that will best attract striper depends on the time of the day as well the time of the season or year.

Contact Capt. Jackie Headrick of Empty Pockets Fishing Guide Service now to be your Inks Lake Striper Fishing Guide.