He says it’s the biggest smallmouth he has caught there so far, with most recent trips yielding nice size smallies in the 4 to 5 lb range (as pictured) using a Bomber model A (6 to 8 ft) diver in shad pattern.
In his opinion, Lake Skiatook is turning into a great smallmouth fishery.
Editor’s Note: Thanks for the report Keith. You got close to the
Last week Wildlife Department fisheries personnel stocked more than 100,000 channel catfish into
“We conducted several gill net surveys last month and we found out the fish kill was very significant,” said John Stahl, northwest region fisheries supervisor for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. “The good news is that this has always been a productive lake and we expect the fish populations to bounce back over the next few years. In the meantime, we’re going to do everything we can to help Mother Nature along.”
In coming weeks biologists are planning on stocking an additional 40,000 channel catfish, each about 5 ½” long. The catfish should grow to catchable size by next year. Next summer, if water levels are favorable, Department officials will stock both blue and flathead catfish in the lake.
“We’re going to monitor fish populations in the lake very closely over the next few years and make management decisions to ensure this fishery is as healthy as it can be,” Stahl said.
Editor’s Note: Story compliments of the
An innovative concept to turn a commodity that is typically thrown away by anglers into dollars is currently under consideration by the Wildlife Conservation Commission. The idea involves collecting, processing and selling paddlefish eggs as caviar on the international market.
Historically, caviar has come from sturgeon in the Caspian Sea, however that fishery has essentially collapsed and will not be able to produce sturgeon caviar for at least 25 years. Caviar made from paddlefish eggs has proven to be a comparable, if not equal, substitute for sturgeon caviar. As the supply of caviar has decreased, the demand, and price, for a caviar substitute has increased.
Paddlefish are found in several river drainages in the state, but the population in the Grand River system has been studied for the past 25 years. Each spring thousands of paddlefish move upstream to spawn. This fishery, arguably the healthiest paddlefish population in the United States, draws anglers from across the state and the nation for the chance to reel in one of the huge fish, which can exceed 100 pounds.
Many of these anglers choose to clean their fish and take home the meat, however, the eggs are often discarded. The Wildlife Department proposed to the Wildlife Conservation Commission that the eggs be voluntarily collected from sport anglers so they could be sold to fund paddlefish research, management and law enforcement. Similar operations have been in place in Montana and North Dakota since 1989.
After discussion the Wildlife Conservation Commission voted to finance a feasibility study and business plan for the project to determine if the proposal would be financially feasible in Oklahoma.
Editor’s Note: What are your thoughts on Oklahoma Caviar – a good idea? Story compliments of the
Fisheries personnel with the
With bulldozers, backhoes and a good deal of imagination, streams biologists created a brand new ¼-mile trout stream, dubbed Lost Creek. Water was diverted into an ancient stream channel through dense woods and boulders creating a unique area for anglers to try to fool wary trout.
A separate ½-mile stretch of the Lower Mountain Fork River, known as the Evening Hole, once had a poor reputation among trout anglers. The warm, slow-moving, muddy water in the area was not favored by the rainbow and brown trout stocked by the Wildlife Department. However, streams biologists saw the potential in the area and felt if they could narrow the channel and provide more habitat, the trout, followed by trout anglers, would quickly begin using the area.
Biologists used 600 dump truck loads of gravel to narrow the river channel, causing the water to remain cooler and move through the Evening Hole faster. With the addition of large rocks, logs and islands, fisheries personnel transformed once sub-par trout habitat into a first class fishing area.
The Commission voted to establish special trout fishing regulations on the Evening Hole and Lost Creek areas. Upon gubernatorial approval, anglers must use only artificial lures with barbless hooks and may harvest only one rainbow trout and one brown trout 20-inches or longer per day. When the proposed regulations were opened to public input recently, the Department received overwhelming support of the new regulations which are geared toward providing a high quality trout fishery.
Editor’s Note: Story compliments of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
This is a nice smallmouth in the 3lb range. I took the picture and then released it. I didn’t want to keep it out of the water any longer to put it on the scales. I have been cathing some nice smallmouth & spotted bass in deep water using jigs.
It’s funny, I used to only fish for largemouth bass but have found myself fishing mainly for the deep bite lately. All thru this fall season I haven’t yet run a buzzbait on the bank. Yeah, I’m hooked on these smallies.
Editor’s Note: Thanks for the report Darris. What a nice bass and beautiful spot on the lake. No wonder you are hooked on Lake Tenkiller and smallmouth fishing!
This is the 14.5lb flathead I caught on a live shad from the back of my houseboat while I was trying to take a nap.
And speaking of naps, my fishin’ buddies soak up that warm sun while out smallie fishing.
Editor’s note: Thanks for the report Darris. Don’t you hate it when a big ol’ catfish wakes you up from a perfect summer’s nap on the boat? 😉
BTW – what are your fishin’ buddies names?
(Click image to enlarge)
View the entire stocking schedule at:
Editor’s Note: The photo above is the current record for Oklahoma Brown Trout set last year by Jason Archie of Broken Bow, Oklahoma. He nearly doubled the weight of the old record with this 17-pound, 4.64-ounce catch. Read the entire story at:
Editor’s Note: Thanks for the report Mike. That looks like a mighty nice size largemouth bass. How big is it?
“Instead of wearing those old long johns, try wearing good comfortable sweat’s top and bottoms. You can wear two pair if it is really cold, 20 degrees or so, and the sweats will keep you warmer than any other underclothing. One thing I like about wearing sweats is I can still move around.”
Editor’s Note: Thanks for the tip Frank. It will be nice not having to listen to my wife complain about the holes in my sweats out on the boat!
So remember, the weather only bothers the fisherman! Dress warm and get out there…the big fish are still biting!
