Did anybody fish the wall at the Denison Dam back in the 80's?

[kurt68]

Anybody catch anything?

[Bish]

In my late teens and early 20's, use to go with my Uncle. It was a sight seeing folks try and get fish up the wall.

God Bless
Bish

[Roger]

Mid to late 80's, I fished it a lot. "Coming over!" Anyone that fished then knows that yell. Also fished the OK side a lot. I've caught three big striper in my life. All came on the same night from Ok side. 21lb, 23lb, and 25lb. Couldn't get one of them all the way in my big cooler. I was in college and broke. I ate them.[emoji31] Would give anything now to have those three fish mounted together.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[kurt68]

Mid to late 80's, I fished it a lot. "Coming over!" Anyone that fished then knows that yell. Also fished the OK side a lot. I've caught three big striper in my life. All came on the same night from Ok side. 21lb, 23lb, and 25lb. Couldn't get one of them all the way in my big cooler. I was in college and broke. I ate them.[emoji31] Would give anything now to have those three fish mounted together.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Lol, slide right and coming over. My biggest was 29 lbs. me and a buddy had a bet who could catch the first 30 pounder, that was our goal for a mount. He has one, I don’t. Two to three rows deep at the top. That was the funnest fishing I ever done. I would drill the pencil poppers and fill full of bb’s just till the almost would sink. Get extra yards throwing to the wall. Twenty pound fish all day long blowing up on top waters. I just wished we had picture phones back then.

[Smart]

I didn't do the mid 80s but I did the early 90s through mid 90s ......
Longcast 9-11' spinning rods, light line and big pencil poppers....or a weighted cork and jig.

"Coming over" or "Coming on down"!! Caught a lot of good stripers out there back in the day. We even put in on the Oklahoma side and would tie to the cable...and used regular casting rods/reels and tackle. ABU 5500Cs and 7' rods. It would be close to every cast at times and trying to coordinate with the guys on the back was a challenge.

[captainsling]

Man I had a ton of those pencil poppers. Biggest lures I have ever used in freshwater. Caught a lot of stripers of that thing. It was like dancing. Pretty cool to watch and be a part of.

[BO-N-ARO]

SLIDE RIGHT!!! Coming in!! FISH ON!!
Heck ya, the regulars there had there own language! We would spray WD 40 on our spools to help get the distance.
I saw more than one fight there when guys didn’t see eye to eye.
Crazy times for sure.

[Man]

Man yall peaked my interest..had to youtube it. Not the **** situation i pictuted ..but makes sense now. My question is why the reference to the 80's? There are still people posting that are fishing it today..what changed?

[The Gipper]

Use to go there a lot late 80's early 90's. Lots of good memories catching stripers below the Dam. Actually had a large small mouth probably 5+lbs hooked off the wall got it half way up and it came off. Good times

[kurt68]

Man yall peaked my interest..had to youtube it. Not the **** situation i pictuted ..but makes sense now. My question is why the reference to the 80's? There are still people posting that are fishing it today..what changed?

Back then every fish was over 20 lbs. as a 16 year old kid I would throw 20 lb fish on the shore and watch grown men fight for them. Many times I would have all my line stripped out of the reel when you would catch a big one and couldn’t turn it and get it out of the white water. It was unreal how many fish and fishermen were there. And of course game warden Sammy Brown was there to check us.

[Cantcatch5]

I haven’t thought about it in a long time but when I was in college my dad, sister and I took a trip down there with a guide...Tinkers Guide Service. I guess it would have been about 1993 I Think his name was Tinker Tooney. We launched an airboat off of the bank and fished the river. He had lots of stories about how good it used to be and it was a great trip! Dad and I took lots of fishing and hunting trips but that was the only one my sister went along on.

[Smart]

I didn't do the mid 80s but I did the early 90s through mid 90s ......
Longcast 9-11' spinning rods, light line and big pencil poppers....or a weighted cork and jig.

"Coming over" or "Coming on down"!! Caught a lot of good stripers out there back in the day. We even put in on the Oklahoma side and would tie to the cable...and used regular casting rods/reels and tackle. ABU 5500Cs and 7' rods. It would be close to every cast at times and trying to coordinate with the guys on the BANK was a challenge.

That should have been BANK not back... We didn't do the boat (old deep V aluminum) deal until later because we weren't sure it was legal. The GW said it was legal but we needed an OK fishing license at the time to put in on the smooth bank side. Water was rough and that deep V sure helped but dang, did we catch a bunch of fish tied up to the cable. Spent a lot of time on that Texas side slingin' pencil poppers though. On a college students hourly wage, those pencil poppers were pricey and that infamous loud pop/snap when you flicked it so hard you broke your line at the bait was sickening. All you could do was watch it disappear into the foam or slap against the wall. If you ran out of baits, you had to pay a premium at the little tackle shop in the parking lot......but it was worth it. Always wondered if anybody would drive downstream restocking their tackle boxes with lost pencil poppers We didn't use WD-40 on ours like mentioned above but we did use 100% silicone and then eventually, a commercial fishing line spray called Reel Magic that I still use today on my mono for crappie and sandbass fishing.. Good times. Thanks OP for the post and the walk down memory lane.

[youngbuck1]

I fished with Tinkers but on the lake when I was a kid. First striper trip I ever went on. Hit the lake at 6:30 limited out by 7:30. Hooked me for life lol he was a great guide.

[Whale]

Good fishing back then and a great time.

That cable, razor wire, and tin took many of dollars off of anglers.

Completely different now compared to those days.

[Roger]

I fished it a ton, but never had those every fish is a 20 days, except the one of course. Most fish I caught were 5-15 lbs. But a lot of them. I drilled poppers and added bb's also because I preferred the smaller size popper. Smashed more than one of those expensive suckers on the wall when my line snapped on the cast. I don't fish there at all anymore. Just a very different experience than it was back then. We also would put my dads lake boat in the river when the flood gates would be open big. Net some shad downstream then run up till the prop almost wouldn't move you due to foamy water, drop a big shad over the side and drift. Fish on every drift. Good times, but sure making me realize how many years have went by since then.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk