Visit Our Sponsor

FISHING REPORT FOR JANAURY 28, 2009
 
CENTRAL
 
Hefner: Elevation normal, water 40. Channel and blue catfish good on cut shad. Crappie good on minnows and jigs at 15 ft. around the dam. Report submitted by Tim Campbell, game warden stationed in Oklahoma County.
 
Thunderbird: Elevation 1/2 ft. below normal, water clear. Crappie fair to good on small minnows and jigs at 8-10 ft. around structure. Report submitted by Tony Woodruff, game warden stationed in Cleveland County.
 
NORTHEAST
 
Birch: Elevation below normal, water 36 and clear. Crappie fair on black and chartreuse jigs at 25-30 ft. over brush. Report submitted by Spencer Grace, game warden stationed in Osage County.
 
Ft. Gibson: Elevation normal and clear. Crappie biting on chartreuse and black jigs at 15-25 ft. under the docks. Paddlefish are moving into the river. Catfish fair in the main river channel in the lake on shad heads and live shad. White bass fair fished slow with curl-tail grubs and minnows in the deeper holes in the river. Report submitted by Rick Stafford with 3riverguideservice.com.
 
Grand Lake: Upper end: Elevation slightly below normal, water 42. Largemouth bass good on black angel, Eakin's or jewel jigs. White bass fair on white grubs and small spinnerbaits. Channel, blue and flathead catfish good on shad at 60-80 ft. Crappie good on silver minnows, rosy red minnows, grandpa's jigs in chartreuse and pink and on Bobby Garland jigs in Vegas, gumdrop, salt & pepper and blue ice at 22 ft. around brush piles and docks and at 2-4 ft. at river feeders. Paddlefish are picking up. Report submitted by Grand Lake Sports Center.
 
Kaw: Crappie good in upper end of lake around Washunga Bay and north of Kaw City in manmade brush piles on minnows fished at 18-26 ft. Striped bass hybrids fair below the dam during periods of water release on 1/4 to 5/8-ounce jigs with four sassy shad style bodies or white or pearl-colored bucktails. Blue catfish fair around Washunga on juglines baited with fresh cut shad at 25-35 ft. Report submitted by Marshall Reigh, game warden stationed in Grant and Kay counties.
 
Lower Illinois: Elevation normal, water 49 and clear. Trout excellent on rooster tails at 1-2 ft. at the dam and Watt's and on powerbaits on bottom at river access and Gore Landing. Fly-fishing excellent. Report submitted by D. Tracy, Town of Gore.
 
Oologah: Elevation 1/2 ft. above normal and murky. Water temp in upper 40s to lower 50s. Crappie fair on jigs and minnows around brush piles at 15-18 ft. Report submitted by Brek Henry, game warden stationed in Rogers County.
 
Pawhuska Lake: Elevation 5 ft. below normal, water 35 and clear. Trout excellent on chartreuse jigs and power baits with 16-inch leaders at 5 ft. and fair on gold inline spinnerbaits. Report submitted by Spencer Grace, game warden for Osage County.
 
NORTHWEST
 
Canton: Elevation normal. Crappie fair on minnows and jigs near brush along dam and Canadian River area. Report submitted by Mark Walker, game warden stationed in Blaine County.
 
SOUTHEAST
 
Arbuckle: Elevation 4 1/2 ft. below normal, water 44 and stained to clear. Crappie fair at 35-65 ft. on minnows and spoons. White bass biting on spoons on mid-lake knolls. Bass fishing slow to fair using jerk baits and swim baits. Report submitted by Jack Melton.
 
Blue River: Elevation below normal, water 39 and clear. Trout fair on garlic-scented powerbait, power worms, and meal worms. Trout good on black and red super dupers and in-line spinners as well as on red midges, San Juan worms, pheasant tails, and hares ears. Smallmouth, spotted, and largemouth bass fair on soft plastics and in-line spinners. Channel catfish fair on stinkbait and liver. Flathead catfish fair on sunfish. Report submitted by Matt Gamble, biologist at the Blue River Public Fishing and Hunting Area.
 
Broken Bow: Elevation normal, water clear. Largemouth and smallmouth bass good on jig and pig black #11 around structure. Catfish good on juglines with cut baits. Look for walleye starting to run when water temperature reaches 45 degrees. Report submitted by Dru Polk, game warden stationed in McCurtain County.
 
Eufaula: Elevation 1/2 ft. below normal, water clear. Crappie fair on minnows and jigs at 10-20 ft. around brush piles under boat docks. Report submitted by Ed Rodebush, game warden stationed in McIntosh County.
 
Lower Mountain Fork River: Fishing good. Small flies, properly presented and drifted are catching the bulk of the fish. A report from the Re-regulation dam area said that several large fish were either landed or broken off the line. In the park, anglers are having success using very small flies, sometimes trailed behind an attractor fly. There are three methods of catching these trout; immitate a very small insect, immitate a minnow or crawfish or use an attractor pattern. The flies used to fish these methods have been various midge patterns, Zebra midges, Wooly Buggers, Clouser Minnows, or egg patterns and San Juan worms. Report submitted by Beavers Bend Fly Shop.
 
McGee Creek: Elevation 1 ft. below normal, water 49 and clear. Largemouth bass fair on soft plastic lures and jig and pigs fished slowly at 15-25 ft. over underwater structure. Report submitted by Larry Luman, game warden stationed in Atoka County.
 
Pine Creek: Elevation below normal and clear. Bass fair on shad-colored, deep-running crankbaits off of rocky points. Crappie fair on blue jigs and spoons around timber. Catfish good on liver. Report submitted by Mark Hannah, game warden stationed in McCurtain County.
 
Robert S. Kerr: Elevation normal, water 42 and murky. Crappie fair at 10 ft. using minnows fishing the edge of the old creek channels. Blue catfish good at 8-25 ft. using fresh cut shad fishing the old channels or the windy shorelines. Report submitted by Rick Olzawski, game warden stationed in Haskell County.
 
Sardis Lake: Bass fair to good on crankbaits around points and creek channels and around cover on spinnerbaits; warmer afternoons best. Crappie good off of Jack Fork bridge with minnows, off of tower on live minnows and on brush piles using pink grubs or green and black grubs; activity is better on sunny days. Flathead catfish slow on live bait using jugs or trotlines. Blue and channel catfish fair on cut bait or shrimp using jugs and trotlines. White bass good trolling around islands and on plugs. Walleye fair trolling around islands and around rip rap on deep-diving plugs. Report submitted by Allen Couch, game warden stationed in Pushmataha County.
 
Texoma: Elevation 1 ft. below normal, water 48 and clear. Striped and white bass fair to good from Platter Flats south. Channel and blue catfish fair to good from Platter flats north. Report submitted by Danny Clubb, game warden stationed in Bryan County.
 
Wister: Elevation normal and murky. Largemouth bass fair to slow on dark plastic baits at points and drop offs. Crappie fair to slow on small spinners and jigs around brush piles and fair to slow on minnows below dam area. Channel catfish fair to slow on cut shad and liver with jugs. Report submitted by Randy Fennell, game warden stationed in LeFlore County.
 
SOUTHWEST
 
Altus-Lugert: Elevation 10 ft. below normal. Crappie fair. Report submitted by Sue Hokanson, Quartz Mountain State Park.
 
Foss: Elevation normal, water in the 30s and freezing around edges. Gates are closed. Striped bass hybrids and crappie good from fish house. A few walleye have been caught around fish house. Walleye fair. Report submitted by Eric Puyear, B & K Bait House.
 
Ft. Cobb: Elevation 1/3 ft. above normal. Crappie slow to fair on jigs around marina. Saugeye slow along east end of dam. Report submitted by James L. Edwards Jr., game warden stationed in Caddo County.

 

Huge striped bass hybrid takes lake record spot at Canton
            Lifelong Oklahoma angler James Wesley Jones, Jr. of Canton said he loves fishing because it is a relaxing activity, but there was likely no relaxing going on April 19 when he landed a 23.2-lb. (23 lbs., 3 oz.) striped bass hybrid from Canton Lake. The huge fish qualifies as a lake record for Canton and falls only about an ounce shy of taking the state record spot as well, which is held by Paul Hollister and his 23-lb., 4 oz. fish caught April 1, 1997, from Altus-Lugert Lake.
            Jones caught his fish in the evening using a 1-oz. rattletrap. Though the hybrid fell short of the state record, it reminds anglers that if they catch a potential state record fish, they should contact an employee of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation for procedures on certifying state records. Lake record fish are weighed on scales through lake record keepers registered with the Wildlife Department, but the weighing of state records must be done on certified scales with a witness from the Wildlife Department present.
            Jones said the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s new Lake Record Fish Program does more than just recognize fish, but that it also encourages the sport of fishing. Before the program was in place, his near state record fish could have gone overlooked by anglers across the state, but the recognition his fish received through the Lake Record Fish Program reminds anglers of the potential that Oklahoma’s lakes hold for producing monster-sized fish.
            “It gets people motivated to fish knowing that there are larger fish in the lake,” Jones said.
            He said it is common in discussions among anglers to wonder about the sizes of the largest fish caught in lakes across the state.
            “You don’t have to wonder anymore,” he said. “You can just go on and find out.”
            Jones is referring to the Wildlife Department’s Web site, wildlifedepartment.com, which includes an easily-operated search feature that allows those interested to view a wealth of lake record fish information, ranging from the size of record fish caught to what kind of bait or rod and reel was used to catch them. And right now, lake records are being set and broken on a regular basis, which means the wealth of information on the Web site is updating and growing regularly as well.
            Other recent lake records include a 4.8-lb. smallmouth bass caught by Derek Thurman of Collinsville. His fish went down as a record smallmouth for Skiatook Lake, but that record was broken just days later, on April 5, when angler Jim Horn of Cleveland landed a 6.6-lb. smallmouth bass from Skiatook using a bait casting rod and reel set up with a jig.
            Lakes included in the program include Arbuckle, Broken Bow, Canton, Eufaula, Ft. Cobb, Grand, Kaw, Keystone, Sardis, Skiatook, Tenkiller, Texoma and Thunderbird.
            Species eligible for spots in the lake records book include blue, channel and flathead catfish and largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass in addition to crappie, paddlefish, striped bass, striped bass hybrids, sunfish (combined) walleye/saugeye and white bass. Minimum weights are set for each species are detailed on the Wildlife Department’s Web site at wildlifedepartment.com.
         Anglers who catch a potential record from a participating lake should contact designated business locations around the lake that are enrolled as lake record keepers. A listing of official lake record keepers is available on wildlifedepartment.com.
            Once it has been determined that an angler has landed a record fish, the media is notified and the public will be able to view information about the catch on the Wildlife Department’s Web site at wildlifedepartment.com.
            All past and current state record fish are registered in the Lake Record Fish Program as records for their respective lakes.
            To see the complete database of all lake record fish caught, or to learn more about the Lake Record Fish program, log on to the Wildlife Department’s Web site at wildlifedepartment.com.