As soon as the first of the river ledges began to be plotted on the sonar unit, Tyus turned off the big engine, lowered the trolling motor and buried his face in the screen. "We've been finding the hybrids stacked near the top of the ledges of both rivers," he noted. "It's not hard to find hybrids here -- but it's feeding fish holding around pods of baitfish that will eat our baits."

Soon a big school of shad, the shape of its echo signature resembling an inverted Christmas tree, appeared on the display. Some large "hooks" were showing up on the side and under the pod of shad. "That's what we're looking for!" exclaimed an exuberant Tyus.

We soon had the frisky gizzard shad 22 feet below the boat, just a foot or two above the heaviest concentration of hybrids. A couple of the rod tips begin to dance wildly, indicating that the big shad baits below were getting very nervous; an instant later, we learned why: Two hybrids, having apparently decided that it was feeding time, slammed the baits, their power causing the rods to bow heavily and setting the reel drags to singing.

During the course of that afternoon trip, we sampled the fishing at many of Tyus' favorite hybrid hotspots, and found active fish at most of them.

TPWD biologist Spencer Dumont, stationed at the Abilene district office, says that Proctor has been yielding up dependable catches of hybrids in the 4- to 7-pound range, and some red-hot white-bass action as well. "The white bass migrated down the Leon River from Lake Leon," he said, "which has long been a top white-bass fishery. With a very healthy forage base in the form of huge numbers of threadfin and gizzard shad, this should be a very good summer for catching everything from hybrids to catfish at Proctor; the fish should be in excellent shape."

STRIPERS OUT WEST
TPWD biologist Brian VanZee, stationed in the San Angelo District, reports that after having been hit hard in recent years by golden alga, E.V. Spence is in a rebuilding stage. "TPWD has stocked 27,000 fingerling hybrids the past two seasons and 38,000 are scheduled to be stocked this summer," he said. "The stocking from 2003 should be just over 18 inches (the legal limit) by next summer."

The best bets for catching "keeper" hybrids out west this summer are lakes Nasworthy, in San Angelo, and Fort Phantom Hill, about 10 miles north of Abilene. With plenty of open water over submerged ridges and humps, Fort Phantom Hill is ideal for downrigging or using planer boards with bucktail jigs. The almost 140,000 fingerling hybrids stocked there in the past couple of years will help ensure that the fishing continues to meet solid standards of quality.

At Lake Nasworthy, VanZee says, the stockers of 2002 should be approaching "legal" length this summer; big-fish potential here is based on hybrids stocked in previous years. The lake-record fish, a 17.76-pounder, was landed back in '91 and it's a good bet that specimens of this caliber still swim the reservoir.

According to VanZee, fishing from the bank with large spinning reels and 8-foot rods baited up with live or fresh-cut shad is a favorite method of catching hybrids at Nasworthy. Downrigging with soft-plastic shad imitations or jigs just out from the columns under the Nicknerbocker Bridge is another pattern that often works during midsummer.

Regardless of which part of the state you choose to fish, this is inarguably prime time, as stripers cruise the open waters in pursuit of shad, for getting in on the big-fish action. Pick a lake, rig up with the baits and employ the tactics that our pros suggest, and get out there. You're just a cast away from the fight of a lifetime!

FOR YOUR INFORMATION
For more information on fishing these lakes, contact the following: Lake Texoma -- Tinker's Guide Service, 1-888-846-5377; Lake Tawakoni -- Joe Read, (903) 896-1380; Richland-Chambers -- Bob Holmes, (972) 617-5972; Lake Proctor -- Billy Tyus, (254) 445-2147; Lake Bridgeport -- Dennis Bolton (254) 834-3486. For info on West Texas lakes, contact the TPWD's regional office in Abilene, (325) 692-0921.