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 OKLAHOMA
BASS TOURNAMENTS 2001 ANNUAL REPORT
by Gene Gilliland, Oklahoma Dept. Wildlife Conservation Senior Fishery
Biologist
INTRODUCTION
The
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) used postage-paid
Tournament Report cards for the eighth year to gather data on
competitive bass fishing in Oklahoma. These cards were supplied to
organizations that applied for tournament permits on lakes controlled by
various agencies and cities throughout the state; or they were provided
directly to clubs that fish on lakes that do not require permits.
We thank the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Tulsa District Project Offices; Oklahoma Department of Tourism and
Recreation, State Park Offices; the Grand River Dam Authority, Lake Patrol
Office; and the many city offices that helped distribute Tournament Report
cards in 2001.
We especially want to thank the many tournament
organizations that voluntarily returned these cards following their events.
Look for an on-line reporting system to be set up in 2002 that will allow
Tournament Directors to submit reports via the Internet.
We want this report to be as useful to bass
anglers and tournament directors as possible. If you have suggestions on how
to make this report better, what to include or what to leave out, let us know
and we will incorporate those ideas in future reports.
SUMMARY OF
2001 RESULTS
Controlling
authorities permitted 1,297 bass tournaments on Oklahoma lakes in 2001.
This does not include tournaments that did not know to get, or avoided
getting permits, groups that got season-long permits, or events on lakes
where permits were not required. We added 10% for non-permitted events and
estimated there were 1,425 tournaments.
•
The number of permits issued in 2001 was
slightly lower (6%) than in 2000 (1,520) and 19% fewer than the record high
set in 1998 (1,752).
•
A slow economy, another hot summer and low lake
levels in many parts of the state may have contributed to lower than normal
tournament activity.
•
Reports of poor fishing and continued media
attention to the suspected impacts of LMBV may have also reduced tournament
participation.
We received good
information on some lakes, but others were very poorly represented.
•
We received 703 Tournament Reports from
47 lakes (see Table 1 on Page 5). This represents only 54% of the
permitted tournaments. Reports were received from 113 clubs. This is down
from as many as 1,000 reports sent in by 180+ organizations in years past.
You might assume that
tournament fishing is growing by leaps and bounds given the number of
events held any given weekend, the increased media coverage and the number of
Internet sites devoted to tournament angling. However, tournament numbers
actually peaked in 1998 and are in a decline.
•
The number of tournament entries shown on Table
1 did not translate directly in to numbers of anglers. Most tournament
anglers typically compete in many events each year, with some fishing in
dozens. The numbers in the second column actually provide a measure of
fishing pressure.
•
There has been a consolidation among
tournaments. Tournament permits are down 14% since 1998 but the number of
contestants is down only 8%.
•
Anglers are fishing more tournaments each year -
but declining participation indicates that recruitment of new tournament
anglers is not keeping pace with those dropping out.
•
There were 37,751 entries in 2001, up 2% from
last year. The average number of anglers per tournament has risen to the
highest level in eight years (54 anglers per event). However, this was in
over 200 fewer events.
•
The average team tournament averaged 29 boats (2
more than last year). Draw-for-partner or singles events made up 19% of the
contests and averaged 37 participants per event (vs. 40 in 2000).
The success rate
(anglers/teams with at least one bass at weigh-in) was 57%, equal to last
year.
•
A total of 34,466 bass were brought to weigh-in
totaling 68,976 pounds.
•
Each tournament averaged 49 bass weighing 99.50
pounds compared to last year’s 51 bass that weighed 119.95 pounds. Although
this was a significant decline, the 2001 figure is similar to those seen from
1994 through 1998.
•
The average bass weighed 2.03 pounds, down
slightly from 2.35 pounds in 2000.
•
Winning weights dropped to 9.97 pounds, down two
pounds from last year’s high of 12.31 pounds. What was missing in the
winning weights were the 4-5 pound “kicker” fish.
•
The heaviest five-bass limit weighed 22.35
pounds from Arbuckle Lake during a Chisholm Trail Bass Club meet. The second
heaviest winning weight, 21.21 pounds, was from Eufaula, followed in third by
a 21.20 pound stringer from Lone Chimney.
•
Limits of bass were weighed by 11% of all
anglers or teams versus the long-term average of 14%.
2001
Top Tournament Lake...
•
Sardis topped our list this year (Table 2). It
jumped from 14th Place last year to the top in 2001, with high
marks for Average Weight of bass, Winning Weight and the Hours required to
catch a 5-pound or better bass.
•
McGee Creek snagged 2nd Place on our
list. Ranked 9th last year, McGee Creek topped all lakes in
Percent Success and was 2nd in Numbers of Bass per Day.
•
Annual contenders Hudson, Grand and Eucha took 3rd,
4th, and 5th Places.
•
Keystone, Oologah, Greenleaf, Robert S. Kerr and
Texoma round out the Top-10.
•
Tenkiller which held a strong 10th
Place in 2000 dropped to 19th due in large part to the sharp
decline in the numbers of bass over 5 pounds that were caught this year.
•
Ft. Gibson suffered a similar fate, dropping
from its usual place in the Top-5 to 15th Place in 2001.
The largest bass
reported this year weighed 10.00 pounds from Lone Chimney Lake caught
during a Good Ole’ Boys Bassin’ tournament (Table 3).
•
As noted earlier, it was a down year for big
bass. Numbers of bass over 5 pounds were down 55% compared to last year.
•
Only seven bass of 8 pounds or larger were
reported versus 29 in 2000 and 48 in 1999.
CONCLUSIONS
Many anglers said
that the bass fishing in 2001 was some of the worst they’ve ever seen.
Weather, water level fluctuations and LMBV may have all played a role in the
poor fishing. Tournament results confirmed that fishing was indeed down -
but not out. Numbers of bass caught, average size of bass and average
winning weights were down less than 20% from peak levels . Some of the 2001
averages were actually equal to or better than previous years.
Again, what was
missing in 2001 were the larger bass. That meant fewer 20- pound stringers
than we expect to see from our more productive lakes. Without these
“headline” stringers, anglers assumed the entire fishery was down. But ODWC
sampling shows otherwise. Electrofishing data indicates that while the
numbers of larger bass may be lower, the “average” bass are still there. In
most lakes, bass less than 16 inches in length are as abundant as they have
been in many years.
Time and
Mother Nature will bring Oklahoma bass fishing back to the levels anglers
have grown accustomed to. Spring 2002 surveys will provide a clearer
picture of the status of bass populations and the ODWC will do its best to
keep anglers informed of our findings. Look for updates on the ODWC website
www.wildlifedepartment.com
For a free copy of Oklahoma Bass Tournaments - 2001 Annual Report which
includes tables that show lake-by-lake results, the complete “Top-20"
Tournament Lakes rankings and the dates, lakes and weights of all trophy bass
reported in 2001, E-mail ggillokla@aol.com.
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