Originally Posted by
Spoonminnow
Man, Arrowhead brings back memories - none good. I was stationed at Shepard AFB for 4 years and fished small and large waters never catching fish in Arrowhead except below the dam when water was being let out to fix it. There was no sonar back in 1971 and fishing blind was pretty much it from my small row boat. I tried fishing the derricks with live bait not knowing the value of lures or how to use them. Even fished at night with my boss using those same minnows and nothing. Texoma wasn't much better.
It is a deep lake - at least according to the length of anchor rope I let out, and even now I don't know if I could do much better - except. Finding fish is first and foremost no matter what lake you fish, but I gather you already figured that out. Locating those in the know is the first step to finding fish if you can spot their locations.
Wind is a big deterrent on Arrowhead for feeling light strikes regardless the water. Never was on the lake with wind less than 15 mph. Good luck with wind and feeling light strikes on light lures. But if you are able to find fish - especially fish in less than 10' near weeds, you have a good chance along with fishing the docks you mentioned. But as everyone knows me on this forum, I usually use light jig heads with soft plastics or hair. The heaviest ball head jig I use is 1/16 oz. / the lightest 1/32 oz. Rod length 6' light action; braid line 8# test; spincast and spinning reels.
Lure design - shape, size, action, color - can make all the difference along with type of retrieve. Curl tail I use mostly trolled; every other tail design horizontal or vertical either mid depth or off the bottom near weeds or docks. Twitch & pause I use 95 % of the time. Strikes can feel like a sudden drag on the line or the feeling of nothing on the retrieve. In both cases raising the rod up or to the side starts the hook set, the rest accomplished by the fish hooking itself deeper. Pan fishing isn't like bass fishing or similar to the way I caught gar and carp from shore where you cross-their-eyes with the reel letting the drag allow line to be pulled out.
I liked living in Wichita Falls even after seeing two tornadoes close up and getting caught in dust and ice storms. Luckily I found small lakes and ponds near the city and caught bass. Wish I had a camera back then to bring back memories that might have been of help. But 49 years ago is a long time to remember much except the highlights. Good luck. Sorry I couldn't have been more help especially on Arrowhead which I gave up on after six outings.
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