An idea for winter trout fishing on the Oklahoma River
Could anglers catch a stringer of trout from the Oklahoma River someday?
My column on Sunday raising the possibility of winter trout fishing on the Oklahoma River brought this interesting response from Rick Parker of Oklahoma City.
Parker said he has been dissapointed in the lack of anything going on at the Oklahoma River.
“The locals are just not using the place,” Parker wrote in an e-mail. “I think you hit on something with the trout fishing though. Do just like the rowing has. Start simple.
“You have Bass Pro that would love to cater to the trout fisherman. You have white water at Eastern Avenue. You have fairly good access at that spot. You could have this location for your trout fishing purists.”
“Have this a fly only trout fishing spot. Build a fence a few hundred yards downstream to help hold the trout in. The fly fishermen,and want to be fly fishermen, would go crazy over this.
“You could keep everyone else happy by artificial lures only. I’m no engineer, but a 4-feet chain link fence across the river at that point should work fine.
“Bait fishermen could always go to Dolese. But this would bring out a whole different crowd. The city could hold off during the winter to clean the river until the middle of March. A $10 trout permit could pay for this.”
Parker e-mailed his idea to David Holt, chief of staff for Mayor Mick Cornett, who was going to forward it to the parks department.
“I’m not going bug you or them anymore,” Parker wrote in a subsequent e-mail. “But I do think that trout fishing on the back side of the Eastern bridge could be a lot of fun. And be another positive image of our city.”
Kids can catch trout Sunday at Bass Pro
Kids fish for trout at Bass Pro Shops in Bricktown at last year's event
You can take the kids trout fishing for free on Sunday (March 7) at Bass Pro Shops in Bricktown.
Anglers ages 16 and younger will be allowed to fish for trout at the Bass Pro Shops pond.
The pond will be open for trout fishing from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Tackle and bait will be provided. Each angler may keep a limit of two rainbows. No fishing licenses or city permits are needed.
Volunteers from the North OKC Bassmasters club will be on hand to assist children.
The event is sponsored by Bass Pro Shops and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
Texas bass will be worth $$$$$
Carl Adkins of San Marcos, Texas, caught this 13.1-pound largemouth from lake Austin on Saturday.
March has arrived and with it comes big bass.
If you are thinking about leaving frigid Oklahoma and heading to the warmer southern waters in Texas this spring to fish for largemouth bass at one of the Lone Star state’s big bass factories, you might just win some money.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation is providing prize money for the 500th entry into the Texas Park and Wildlife’s Department ShareLunker program.
That program uses 13-pound plus bass caught in Texas waters for genetic research to try and grow other big bass.
ShareLunkers – which are all females – are paired with males that are ShareLunker descendants and the resulting spawns are stocked into Texas lakes.
“Everything we know about genetics leads us to believe that fish that are produced by parents that grew big are more likely to grow big themselves,” said Allen Forshage, director of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, where the ShareLunker program is headquartered.
Anglers in Texas have been donating, or sharing, their big bass with researchers since 1986. Anglers receive a fiberglass replica of the catch and ShareLunker clothing for their donation.
However, the angler who catches No. 500 also will receive $500 for every pound of fish.
If No. 500 happens to be a 14-pound largemouth, that would earn the angler $7,000. A new Texas state record (18.2 pounds) would be worth $9,100.
As of March 1, 483 ShareLunkers have been caught. The last three were caught on Saturday from Austin, Amistad and O.H. Ivie lakes. For more information on the Toyota ShareLunker program and an official list of weigh and holding stations in Texas, visit www.tpwd.state.tx.us/sharelunker.
And you can keep track of the race for No. 500 on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sharelunkerprogram
