Catching big bass on a snowy day
Orie Chambers, vice-president of the OSU Bass Club, caught this 10.8-pound largemouth at Dripping Springs Lake near Okmulgee on March 29. The fish is a lake record.
Is there some old fishing adage about how big bass will bite on a day after a snowstorm?
I’m just wondering because at least three huge black bass were caught last Sunday after Oklahoma’s big snow. One by Kenny Davis of Oklahoma City at Lake Thunderbird, which is the topic of my prevous blog.
One by Oklahoma State University Bass Club member Orie Chambers at Dripping Springs near Okmulgee and another by Gerald Plaster of Enid at Sooner Lake near Perry.
Chambers’ fish officially weighed 10.5 pounds while Plaster’s came in at 9.9 pounds.
Chambers donated his fish to Bass Pro Shops in Broken Arrow. Plaster released his back into the lake.
All three fish caught Sunday have been certified by state wildlife officials as lake records.
Dripping Springs is an Okmulgee city lake that was once hot for big bass in the early ’80s but fell off because to many fish were being taken from it.
Chambers said 5 to 7 inches of snow had fell the day before at Dripping Springs but it was melting fast the the day he and his dad went fishing.
Chambers’ caught the lake record largemouth on a Berkley Chigger Craw using 14-pound test Trilene 100 per cent flourocarbon line.
“ It was really an unusual day to catch the quantity and quality of fish that we caught,” Chambers said. “My dad and I both really wanted to go fishing so we deciided to go despite the weather conditions and moon phase being against us.
“We arrived at the lake around 1 p.m. in the afternoon with the expectation of having an extremely tough day of fishing ahead of us which turned out not to be the case. Not 20 minutes after we get there I missed a nice fish and two casts later I catch a three pounder.
“My dad and I were amazed that I had two good fish within the first half-hour of fishing. We continued to fish the area and the next fish that I hooked was a catfish or so I thought. This fish was pulling hard and wouldn’t come off the bottom just like a catfish, right? Wrong. It was a 10.8-pound bass.
“When I saw that fish for the first time my heart started pounding and then she made a hard run straight for a tree which got my heart pounding even harder. I was doing everything I could to keep the fish from getting into that tree and breaking my line.
“I fought the fish for about another couple of minutes and she just gave up. Once we got the fish in the boat, the hook just falls out.”
Gerald Plaster of Enid caught this 9.9-pound largemouth bass Sunday at Sooner Lake near Perry. It is a new lake record for Sooner Lake.
“
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Actually, I know of even a bigger largemouth bass from Sooner Lake than the one Mike Lewis caught. I wrote a story in December 2006 about Daniel Purdom of Enid landing a 12-pounder at Sooner.
But neither Purdom’s or Mike Lewis’ fish will be recognized by the state Wildlife Department as Sooner Lake records.
The lake records program was one that was started last year by the state Wildlife Department and they decided to start it from scratch. No past fish will be considered as lake records, with the exception of fish that were state records at one time. On those fish they have documentation.
Personally, if someone can bring them proof, I think they ought to count it.
Just to let you guys know, that 9.9 lb. Bass caught on Sooner lake last Sunday is NOT a lake record. Now, I’m not exactly sure what the lake record is, but a guy by the name of Mike Lewis caught a bigger one. He was fishing for the Ponca City Buddie Bass and caught a 10.31 lb. Bass on October 28, 1998. You can look it up with the Ponca City News. Thank you.