FISHING REPORT FOR
MAY 21, 2008
FISHING REPORT FOR MAY 21, 2008
CENTRAL
Arcadia:
Largemouth bass good on spinnerbaits. Blue catfish good
around rocky points at night. Crappie fair on minnows at 10-12 ft.
Report submitted by Mark Murray, game warden stationed in
Oklahoma
County.
Arcadia:
Elevation normal, water 70. White bass being caught on white grubs. Channel
and blue catfish being caught on cut shad. Crappie being
caught on minnows at the heated dock and around rocks. Report
submitted by Tim Campbell, game warden stationed in
Oklahoma
County.
Hefner: Water 73. Smallmouth and white bass being
caught. Crappie being caught on minnows.
Report submitted by Tim Campbell, game warden stationed in
Oklahoma
County.
Thunderbird: Elevation 2 1/2 ft. above normal and murky.
Crappie being caught on minnows and jigs at 3-5 ft. around structure.
Saugeye good on medium-diving crankbaits, sassy shad and
jigs off windy points early and late in the day.
White bass good on jigs, sassy shad, medium-diving crankbaits and in-line
spinnerbaits. Largemouth bass good on plastic worms and tandem
spinners in the weed beds in shallow coves. Catfish slow. Report submitted
by Tony Woodruff, game warden stationed in
Cleveland
County.
NORTHEAST
Bell Cow: Elevation normal, water muddy. Bass fair on plastic worms. Catfish
fair on dough baits. Crappie fair on jigs. Report
submitted by Gary Emmons, game warden stationed in
Lincoln
County.
Carl Blackwell: Elevation normal, water 72 and murky.
Crappie fair at 8-10 ft. on jigs. Catfish fair on cut bait around
rocks. Report submitted by Jon Cunningham, game warden stationed in
Payne
County.
Chandler:
Elevation normal, water muddy. Bass being caught on plastic lures. Catfish
fair on live baits. Crappie fair on jigs and minnows.
Report submitted by Gary Emmons, game warden stationed in
Lincoln
County.
Eucha: Elevation slightly above normal, water 70 and murky. Bluegill good on
crickets and worms at 2-6 ft. on gravel bars. Crappie
fair on jigs and minnows. Largemouth bass fair on spinnerbaits and
crankbaits. Catfish fair on jug lines using cut shad. Report submitted by
Dwight Moore, City of Tulsa
Fisheries.
Ft.
Gibson: Elevation 7 ft. above normal and
dropping, water 69 and murky. Largemouth bass fair on spinnerbaits in
flooded grass and around woody plants. White bass good trolling jigs,
spinnerbaits and rat-l-traps above the dam; below the dam white bass are
good to excellent on jigs and minnows. Catfish good on
cut shad, worms and crawdads over mud flats above the dam; catfish good on
cut shad and rolling baits below the dam. Crappie
slow. Paddlefish good below the dam.
Report submitted by Marvin Stanley, game warden stationed in
Wagoner
County.
Grand: Elevation 1 ft. above normal, water 68-74. Horse Creek to above
Sailboat
Bridge dirty. Horse Creek
to the dam is stained to lightly stained. Bass
being caught on crankbaits,
Carolina
rigs, and spinnerbaits on main lake and secondary points. Jigs and
topwater lures continue to produce. Crappie
being caught up shallow, around the docks and brush piles at 6-12 ft. White
bass good in Elk River on jigging spoons at 12-25 ft. Catfish good on shad
and gold fish in the rivers, mid-lake and Horse Creek area. Report submitted
by Littlefield’s Sporting Goods & Greg Lamb’s Guide Service.
Greenleaf: Elevation normal, water clear. Largemouth
bass good on spinnerbaits and crankbaits in creek channels and along
shoreline. Catfish good on stinkbaits and cut baits on bottom.
Crappie fair on minnows and jigs at the fishing dock and
around brush. Report submitted by Lark Wilson, game warden stationed
in Muskogee
County.
Keystone: Elevation 7 1/2 ft. above normal, water muddy.
Largemouth bass good on spinnerbaits and dark-colored plastics at 4-8 ft. in
flooded cover in coves. Smallmouth bass slow on chartreuse crankbaits,
dark jigs and chunkbaits at 8-12 ft. around
points. Spotted bass fair on small chrome crankbaits at 6-10 ft. around
bluffs and deep coves. White bass fair on minnows and
jigs at 4-8 ft. below the dam and mouths of creeks. Striped bass fair
on buck tails, sassy shad and rattle baits at 3-6 ft. below the dam.
Channel catfish good on chicken livers and worms at 4-8
ft. in creeks and coves. Blue catfish good on punch baits and cut
shad at 5-10 ft. halfway back in coves. Flathead catfish good on punch baits
and cut shad at 6-12 ft. around bluffs, riprap and below the dam. Crappie
good on minnows and bright-colored jigs at 3-10 ft. along gravel spawning
banks with rocky areas. Report submitted by Woody’s Bait and Tackle.
Oologah: Elevation 7 ft. above normal and falling, water mid-60s to near 70
and muddy. White bass good trolling with shad-colored
crankbaits at 10-15 ft. in the Blue and
Spencer
Creek areas.
Channel catfish good on worms and livers at 5-10 ft.
along rocky banks. Crappie fair on minnows around
standing timber. Crappie suspended at 10-15 ft. Blue and channel
catfish fair on shad below the dam. Report submitted by Brek Henry, game
warden stationed in Rogers
County.
Skiatook: Elevation 2 ft. above normal, water 70 and murky. Largemouth bass
fair on white spinnerbaits and crankbaits at the lower end of the lake.
White bass and striped bass hybrids fair drifting live shad in the main body
of the lake. Crappie fair on minnows and jigs in riprap.
Report submitted by Paul Welch, game warden stationed in
Osage
County.
Sooner: White bass and striped bass hybrids good on live shad in deep water
along flats. Report submitted by Doug Gottschalk, game warden stationed in
Noble
County.
Spavinaw: Elevation slightly above normal, water 68 and murky.
Crappie fair on jigs and minnows around the dam area.
Largemouth bass fair on spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Catfish fair on jug
lines using cut shad. Report submitted by Dwight Moore, City of
Tulsa Fisheries.
Tenkiller: Elevation 4 ft. above normal, water 72 and clearing. Largemouth
and smallmouth bass fair in shallow water on soft bass jigs or spinnerbaits.
Crappie slow with some action at 4-8 ft. on
gravel points. Catfish slow with some action on juglines with shad. Sunfish
fair on worms around docks or gravel banks. Report by
Monte
Brooks
Cookson
Village Resort.
Webbers
Falls: Largemouth bass fair on spinnerbaits and
crankbaits in weed beds and riprap. Catfish good on
stinkbaits and cut sunfish. Crappie fair on
minnows and jigs around bridges and brush. Report submitted by Lark
Wilson, game warden stationed in
Muskogee
County.
NORTHWEST
Ft.
Supply: Elevation normal, water clear.
Crappie good on jigs and minnows along the jetties in
the shallows. Report submitted by Mark
Reichenberger, game warden stationed in
Harper
County.
SOUTHEAST
Arbuckle: Elevation normal, water 69 and stained. Crappie have
moved to brush piles at 12-24 ft. White bass are chasing shad on ends of
points. Bass being caught on Carolina-rigged lizards, tubes Texas-rigged and
spinnerbaits. Channel catfish being caught.
Report submitted by Jack Melton.
Blue
River: Elevation normal, water 70 and clear.
Largemouth bass fair to good on minnows and flies. Channel catfish fair on
liver, worms and stinkbaits. Report submitted by Charles Baker, technician
at the Blue River Public Fishing and Hunting Area.
Broken Bow: Elevation 4 ft. above normal, water 71 and
clearing. Largemouth and smallmouth bass being caught on soft plastic
lures at 5-7 ft. along banks. Catfish fair on juglines and trotlines with
sunfish. Crappie slow. Walleye good on deep
running crawdad colored crankbaits at 10-15 ft. around islands and points.
Report submitted by Dru Polk, game warden
stationed in McCurtain
County.
Eufaula: Elevation 2 1/2 ft. above normal, water murky. Largemouth bass good
on soft plastic lures flipping flooded brush. White bass
good on jigs at 3-8 ft. around bridges and culverts.
Blue catfish good on shad at 4-10 ft. over shallow
flats. Crappie fair on minnows and jigs at 4-10
ft. around brush. Report submitted Ed Rodebush,
game warden stationed in
McIntosh
County.
Hugo: Elevation normal, water 64. Crappie and bass good
on minnows around brush. Catfish fair on cut bait.
Crappie and blue catfish good below the dam during water
releases. Report submitted by Jay Harvey, game warden stationed in
Choctaw and Bryan counties.
Konawa: Elevation normal, water 76 and clear. Largemouth bass good on
plastic worms at 3-6 ft. in weed beds and cattails.
White bass and striped bass hybrids good on shad at 15 ft. in the discharge
canal. Channel catfish good on stinkbaits at 8-10
ft. around points and coves. All other fishing
slow. Report submitted by Daryl Howser,
game warden stationed in
Seminole
County.
Lower
Mountain
Fork River:
Trout very good in all three zones at various times on wooly buggers, soft
hackles, midges and various streamers. Zones 2 and 3 are dependent on the
water releases from the powerhouse. Report submitted by Beavers Bend Fly
Shop.
McGee Creek: Elevation 2 ft. above normal, 70 degrees, and murky. Largemouth
bass fair to good on plastic craws at 4-5 ft. right against the bank.
Crappie fair on minnows at 12-18 ft. over cedar brush.
Report submitted by Larry Luman, game warden
stationed in Atoka
County.
Murray:
Elevation normal, water 70 and stained. Largemouth and
smallmouth bass excellent. White bass good on
minnows and jigs. Channel catfish good on
stinkbaits, minnows and worms. Crappie good on
minnows and jigs. Report submitted by Jeremy Brothers, game warden
stationed in Carter
County.
Robert S. Kerr: Elevation normal, water 73 and murky.
Largemouth bass good at 2-5 ft. using plastic baits, spinnerbaits and shad
type crankbaits fishing the weed, rock and woody shorelines. Crappie
good at 3-6 ft. using minnows fishing for suspended fish just off the
spawning areas. White bass fair at 10 ft. trolling crankbaits in the
Applegate Cove area. Blue catfish good on fresh cut bait at 3-8 ft. near the
rocky shorelines. Flathead catfish good on trotlines and juglines with live
bait at 8-10 ft. Report submitted by Rick Olzawski,
game warden stationed in
Haskell
County.
Sardis
Lake: Elevation 1 1/2 ft. above normal, water 69
and murky. Bass excellent on spinnerbaits in weeds and
along banks and plastic worms around points.
White bass good trolling crankbaits. Blue catfish
good to excellent on juglines and trotlines with cut shad and shrimp.
Flathead catfish good to excellent on juglines and
trotlines with live bluegill and whole shad.
Crappie fair on live minnows around bridges and the tower. Walleye
fair trolling crankbaits around the islands. Report submitted by Alan Couch,
game warden stationed in
Pushmataha
County.
Texoma: Elevation 1 ft. above normal, water 70
and clear south and murky to muddy north. Largemouth and smallmouth bass
fair to good in the coves at the south end of lake.
Striped and white bass fair to good on live bait and sassy shad from Platter
Flats south. Channel and blue catfish fair to good on live bait, cut
baits and worms with the majority of fish being caught above the Highway 70
Bridge. Crappie fair to good on minnows and jigs around
underwater brush and fish attractors. Sunfish fair to good on worms
around the fishing docks. Report submitted by Danny
Clubb, game warden stationed in
Bryan
County.
Wister: Elevation 4 1/2 ft. above normal and murky.
Largemouth bass good on soft plastic baits.
Crappie good with minnows and jigs below dam.
Channel and blue good on cut shad below the dam. Report submitted by
Randy Fennell, game warden stationed in
LeFlore
County.
SOUTHWEST
Altus-Lugert: Elevation 2 ft. below normal and
rising. Crappie poor compared to walleyes and white bass being caught when
trolling. Walleye good, tend to be small. White bass
good. Blue catfish fair around the old fish-o-rama.
Report submitted by Sue Hokanson,
Quartz
Mountain
State Park.
Foss: Elevation normal with gates closed, water 70 and clear. Striped bass
hybrids good near buoy line at 5 ft. near Lakeview. Walleye fair along dam
on live bait. Crappie fair in marina area.
Catfish good on prepared bait near
Cutberth Creek. Bass
fair. Report submitted by Eric Puyear, B & K
Bait House.
Ft.
Cobb: Elevation 3/4 ft. above normal.
Crappie slow to fair on jigs and minnows. Saugeye
slow to fair drifting night crawlers. Striped bass hybrids slow to fair on
shad. White bass slow to fair on jigs and minnows. Catfish slow to fair on
cut bait. Report submitted by James Edwards Jr., game warden stationed in
Caddo
County.
Tom Steed: Elevation normal, water 65 and murky. White bass and striped bass
hybrids good on minnows near the old highway. Catfish
fair all over lake. Crappie fair on minnows in
creeks. Report submitted by David Smith, game warden stationed in
Kiowa
County.
Waurika: Elevation above normal, water 68 and murky. Both gates are open and
water is being released. White bass fair on artificial baits and live baits.
Crappie good on minnows and jigs around
Walker
Creek Bridge
and Wichita Ridge. Report submitted by Phillip
Cottrill, game warden stationed in
Jefferson
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.
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