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FISHING REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 9, 2011
NORTHEAST
Copan: February 6. Elevation slightly below normal, water clear. Crappie
good on minnows and hot pink jigs at 10-14 ft. near submerged structure
north of Washington Cove and on the north side of the dam. Catfish slow on
cut shad on bottom. Report submitted by Joe Alexander, game warden stationed
in Washington County.
Hudson: February 7. Crappie fair to good on minnows and jigs at heated boat
docks. Report submitted by Steve Loveland, game warden stationed in Mayes
County.
Hulah: February 6. Elevation normal, water clear. Crappie fair on minnows
and jigs deep near submerged structure on the north side of the dam. Report
submitted by Joe Alexander, game warden stationed in Washington County.
Lower Illinois: February 7. Elevation normal, water 43 and clear. Channel
catfish good on cut bait on bottom all along the river. Trout excellent
fly-fishing the surface, on rooster tails and super dupers at 1-2 ft. and on
power bait on bottom above Gore Landing. Report submitted by D. Tracy, Town
of Gore.
SOUTHEAST
Broken Bow: February 6. Largemouth and smallmouth bass fair on black jig and
pig and dark colored jigs along rocky outcroppings and points. Catfish good
on juglines and trotlines baited with cut bait. Crappie good on jigs at
30-35 ft. along structure in the upper end of the lake. Report submitted by
Dru Polk, game warden stationed in McCurtain County.
Eufaula: February 6. Elevation 5 ft. below normal, water clear. Crappie fair
on small minnows and small jigs at 8-20 ft. around boat docks with brush.
Report submitted by Ed Rodebush, game warden stationed in McIntosh County.
McGee Creek: February 6. Elevation 20 inches below normal, water 39 and
clear. Crappie fair on minnows and jigs at 20-26 ft. around cedar brush off
main creek channels. Largemouth bass fair on soft plastic lures and dark
colored jig and pig, fished slowly around structure and off rocky points,
18-30 ft. Report submitted by Larry Luman, game warden stationed in Atoka
County
Pine Creek: February 7. Elevation below normal, water murky. Bass fair to
good on old road beds in the south part of the lake. Catfish good on night
crawlers off the old bridge. Crappie fair on minnows. Report submitted by
Mark Hannah, game warden stationed in McCurtain County.
Sardis: February 6. Elevation below normal, water murky. Crappie fair to
good on minnows and jigs at 18-25 ft. Report submitted by Dane Polk, game
warden stationed in Pushmataha County.
Texoma: February 6. Elevation 1 ft. below normal, water 40 and clear.
Largemouth and smallmouth bass fair on jigs at 10-20 ft. around the points.
Striped and white bass fair on live bait and slabs at 15-25 ft. in the river
channels. Channel and blue catfish fair on live bait and slabs at 10-20 ft.
from Platter Flats to the Washita River. Crappie fair on minnows and small
jigs at 5-15 ft. around underwater brush. Paddlefish fair below the dam
while generating. Report submitted by Danny Clubb, game warden stationed in
Bryan County.
Wister: February 7. Elevation normal, water murky. Largemouth bass fair on
dark colored jig and pig around structure. Crappie slow to fair on minnows
and jigs at 18-25 ft. around structure. Channel catfish fair on juglines
baited with cut shad and liver and good on night crawlers. Report submitted
by Randy Fennell, game warden stationed in LeFlore County.
SOUTHWEST
Altus-Lugert: February 6. Elevation 15 1/2 ft. below normal and steady.
White bass slow to fair. Report submitted by Sue Hokanson, Quartz Mountain
Nature Center.
Ellsworth: February 6. Elevation 2 ft. below normal, water murky. Crappie
good at Ralph’s Resort on minnows and jigs at 14-24 ft. Report submitted by
Mike Carroll, game warden stationed in Comanche County.
Waterfowl Report for February 9, 2011
For zone maps and complete waterfowl hunting regulations log on to
wildlifedepartment.com.
NORTHWEST
Ft. Supply: Lake level is 0.48 ft above normal. Habitat conditions are fair.
Goose numbers are low. Hunting activity is low. Lake completely covered with
ice and all boat ramps are inaccessible.
SOUTHWEST
Ft.
Cobb: Lake level is 0.50 ft below normal. Habitat condition is good, with
fair winter wheat. Goose numbers are fair to good. Hunter activity is fair,
with fair success. Geese using wheat fields all around the area.
Mtn.
Park: Lake level is 2.10 ft below normal. Habitat condition is fair. Goose
numbers are low. Geese using state park side of lake, with some using
southwest side.
NORTHEAST
Copan: Lake level is 1.50 ft below normal. Habitat condition is poor, with
flooded native plants on units in excellent condition. Goose numbers are
low, with mostly Canada’s. Waterfowl numbers continue to decrease with snowy
weather.
Eufaula: Lake level is 4.60 ft below normal. Habitat conditions at
current lake level are very poor, and farming activity in the area is low.
Goose numbers are low. No significant bird movement has been observed in the
area recently. Lake elevation needs to rise a few feet before improved
habitat is available.
Ft. Gibson: Lake level is 0.25 ft below normal. Habitat conditions
are good, with smartweed, barnyard grass and some agricultural crops in the
area. Goose numbers are moderate. Hunting activity is moderate, with good
success. Good bird movement in the area.
Hulah: Lake level is 1.20 ft below normal. Habitat conditions are
poor. Goose numbers are moderate. Most birds in the area are using the lake.
Kaw: Habitat conditions are poor, with low quantities of millet
sedges and natural waterfowl vegetation. Goose numbers are fair. Hunting
activity is light, with fair success. Bird movement in the area has been
moderate.
Oologah: Lake level is 1.44 ft below normal. Habitat conditions are poor at
current lake level. Goose numbers are poor. Most of the lake is covered with
ice.
Sooner: Lake level is 3.00 ft below normal. Habitat conditions are
poor, with winter wheat stressed around lake. Goose numbers are good, with
mostly Canada geese. Hunting activity has been low. Geese seem to be
concentrating around the lake since most other bodies of water are frozen.
Webber Falls: Lake level is 2.60 ft above normal. Habitat conditions
are good, with smartweed, barnyard grass, bidens, cut soybeans, corn, milo
and wheat in the area. Goose numbers are moderate. Hunting activity is
moderate, with good success. Good bird movement in the area.
SOUTHEAST
Hugo:
Lake level is 2.5 ft below normal. Habitat conditions are poor. A group of
1,500 snow geese were seen in the area. No significant bird movement was
observed in the area.
Red Slough: Most units are dry. Units 27A, 27B, 30 & 38 are mostly
full. Units 15, 31 & 37 have enough water to make the usable. Habitat
conditions are fair. Goose numbers are low. No significant bird movement was
observed in the area.
Texoma: Habitat conditions are poor. Goose numbers are low. Hunting
activity is light, with low success. Water levels need to rise before
conditions improve.
Oklahoma Spoonbill Fishing
Dustin Newer
April 2010
These were
caught near the Twin Bridges State park fishing with Dempsey’s Guide
Service…My fishing partner is a well known OkieFish contributor but I
will let her send in the pics of the 60 lber she caught.
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.
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