Lake Striker Is Working Water With Standing Timber

Lake Striker and its dam sit on Striker Creek in both Cherokee and Rusk counties, about 15 miles northeast of Rusk. The Angelina-Nacogdoches Counties Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 owns the project.

A state permit authorized the dam in January 1956. Construction began that July, deliberate impoundment started on May 1, 1957, and the dam was finished two months later. The district sells reservoir water for industrial use.

The working reservoir has a distinctly wooded fishing face. TPWD lists standing timber, boat docks, and lily pads as habitat. Brush, points, docks, and creek channels give anglers more edges below the waterline.

That is Lake Striker's particular East Texas mix: a creek turned into industrial water supply, with timber and vegetation still shaping the lake people fish. Utility and outdoor identity occupy the same basin.