Here’s to Lewy
Lewy Fryer with a big Arbuckle bass
In Tuesday’s Oklahoman, there is a tragic story out of Guthrie about a daughter and boyfriend accused in a murder plot of the girl’s father back in May.
The 15-year-old girl, accused of enticing her 21-year-old boyfriend into killing her father, was ordered on Monday to stand trial on a charge of first-degree murder.
The victim is Lewy Fryer of Guthrie. I can’t say I really knew Lewy. I only met him once a few years ago when Oklahoma City still had the tackle show at the fairgrounds.
He stopped by my table and introduced himself, said he liked the job I was doing on the Outdoors page, so of course I immediately liked him.
I met a lot of people that weekend, but I remembered Lewy. We only visited for a few minutes but he made an impression. It was easy to see that he loved to fish. He just grinned from ear to ear while talking about it.
That was the only time I met him, but we did have a few more conversations over the phone and via email in recent years. From time to time, he would provide me information about his bass fishing club, the Backwater Bassin’ Club.
Three years ago, Lewy was my main source of information and photos for a story I was writing about tube fishing. Lewy could catch more fish in a float tube than most do in a bass boat.
“In the spring, I would much rather be moving along with my feet on the ground working the shallow spawning areas and the water weeds in a tube,” Fryer told me at the time. “It is much more quiet. And on a windy day, I have no worries about boat control.”
Fryer and other members in his club fished in modified float tubes, adding depth finders, trolling motors, dip-nets and multiple rods as accessories.
“When we want to fish a bank against the wind, we turn our trolling motors on number one speed and move right along and work the bank, just like a boat would do,” Lewy said.
A memorial bass tournament has been organized in honor of Lewy. Part of the entry fees will go to help Lewy’s son who is still in high school.
The tournament will be Sept. 25-26 at Sardis Lake. For information, call Jeff Joslin at 370-7702.
I’m just sorry I never got to fish with Lewy. I bet it would have been a lot of fun.
Here in the real world
Can this guy hunt and fish too?
Instead of the Olympic Games, why don’t we just replace them with the Wii games?
It would be cheaper and safer.
That’s the same logic used last week when it was announced that air pistols would be replaced by laser guns in the modern pentathlon in the 2012 Olympics.
Now, they can have such events even in shopping malls, officials announced.
I never thought Chuck E Cheese could be an Olympic venue. What’s next? Mall walking as an Olympic sport?
Less expensive I can buy, but are they really worried about safety? Has anyone ever been shot in a pentathlon except for maybe in a James Bond movie?
A bobsledder died in this year’s Winter Olympics yet no one has suggested that real bobsledders be replaced by the Super Mario Brothers.
That’s because bobsledders don’t shoot pistols. It’s another example of political correctness run amok.
I’m glad I live in Oklahoma where people still live in the real world.
Excuse me, but dove season opens Wednesday and I have to get ready. I have to make sure my Nintendo is working.
About lake records, free hunting days and blackpowder
Jim Black with his 18-pound hybrid from Lake Hefner in 2006
Too old for a record
After Sunday’s story on the new lake record hybrid (14 pounds, 8 ounces) at Hefner, Jim Black of the Village reminded me about the 18-pound hybrid that he caught on the Oklahoma City lake.
I even wrote a story about it in The Oklahoman with photo.
Unfortunately for Jim, he caught his big hybrid in 2006 before the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation started keeping lake records.
The Wildlife Department began the lake programs in 2008 and state wildlife officials made the decision to start from scratch. No fish prior to 2008 can be lake records, with the exception of catches that also were state records.
State wildlife officials say there would be no way to verify the weight or species of so-called previous lake records or if the fish were actually weighed on scales, even if the story and photo were published in a newspaper.
True, but it’s also true the lake records program was started to promote fishing in the state and help sell fishing licenses. The Wildlife Department wanted people to catch new lake records so newspapermen like me would write about it and create a buzz about fishing.
It’s worked. The lake records program has been extremely popular with Oklahoma anglers, except perhaps with fisherman like Black whose previous big catches don’t count.
Free hunting days and a blackpowder class
The fall hunting season is just around the corner.
Dove season opens Sept. 1 and Oklahoma’s annual free hunting days will be Sept. 4-5. No hunting licenses are needed on those days. Dove and squirrel will be in season.
For those wanting to learn about black powder firearms, H&H Gun Range in Oklahoma City is offering a free black powder class on Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon.
The class will cover firearm selection, ignition systems, black powder substitutes, bullet selections, nomenclature and maintenance.
Class size is limited. For more information, call Tim Nelson at 947-3888, ext. 141 or email him at TimN@HHGunRange.com.
Lake records from Draper, Hefner
Glen Burling of Oklahoma City holds the new Lake Hefner hybrid record
A couple of lake records were established this week on two Oklahoma City lakes.
On Sunday morning, Glen “Howdy” Burling of Oklahoma City was trolling on Lake Hefner when he landed a striped bass hybrid that weighed 14 pounds, 12 ounces.
The hybrid was fooled by a Bill Dance Pearl-colored crank bait. “A friend of mine left it in my boat,” Burling said.
The hybrid measured 29 inches in length with a 24-inch girth. Burling, who fishes two or three times a week at Hefner, catches quite a few walleyes and sand bass while trolling but this is his first hybrid. He said several of his buddies had been catching some nice hybrids this summer, which is unusual for Hefner.
Fish in the hot, summer months go deep so Burling had let out more line than usual for trolling, about 80 feet. He was trolling around a ledge popular with anglers on the northeast side of the lake. It took him 40 minutes to land the big hybrid.
“Usually, I am not by myself but I couldn’t get anybody to go (fishing),” Burling said. “Luckily, I respool my line all the time. He was just peeling it off. ”
Burling expected fish to be biting at Hefner on Sunday morning because of the cold front that was coming through. ”Every time the wind comes from the north, on that ledge they are usually hitting,” he said.
Burling said the hybrid is being mounted by Terry’s Taxidermy in Oklahoma City. It will hang next to a 12-pound, 8-ounce walleye that he caught at Hefner three years ago. “There are some big (walleyes) out there,” he said.
Speaking of walleye, on Tuesday a lake record walleye was caught from Lake Stanley Draper by Scott Elam of Moore.
The walleye weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 29 inches in length and 13 1/2 inches in girth. It was caught by Elam on the south side of the lake near the water inlet on a soft plastic bait.
Elam said the water inlet has been the hot spot for bank fishing at Draper since the city began pumping water again from Atoka Lake.
The fish seem attracted to cool, fresh water coming in the lake and Elam’s walleye was caught about 25 yards down the bank from the spot. Elam and his family have been catching good numbers of sand bass, channel cats, black bass and big drum near the water inlet when the water is flowing.
Elam caught the walleye on a big Arkie green grub attached to a big black jig head. It’s a bait Elam said his son, Dakota, has caught numerous fish on this summer, including a 7 -1/2 pound largemouth from a Duncan lake.
The water level at Draper has been extremely low and the boat ramps are closed, but the fishing has been better, at least for the bank anglers, Elam said. “The farther you go on the south the better the fishing is,” he said.
The big walleye was the first he’s seen at the lake and that record will likely stand for a long time. State wildlife officials stocked walleyes in Draper years ago but only a few are believed to still be in the lake. He is having it mounted by Mark Chambers of Artisan Wildlife Taxidermy in Noble.
The water level at Draper is low because of a project to repair the Atoka Pipeline’s six pumping stations. Draper Lake’s water supply is pumped from Atoka Lake in southeastern Oklahoma via the 110-mile Atoka pipeline, and the repairs have lowered the lake.
Scott Elam of Moore with a walleye from Lake Stanley Draper
News and notes from the outdoor world
Edwin Evers of Talala won the PAA tournament over the weekend
Oklahoma pro wins event
Edwin Evers of Talala, who recently finished second in the BASS “Angler of the Year” season race, earned a victory on the Professional Anglers Association tournament trail over the weekend.
Evers weighed in a three-day total of 40.71 pounds on Saturday on North Carolina’s Lake Norman to capture the second PAA event of the year.
The veteran Oklahoma pro had a 5.19-pound largemouth, one more than four pounds and another more than three in his final-day catch on Saturday. His 15.70-pound sack on Saturday was the largest limit of the week and came after Evers dissected his “docks with brush” pattern more thoroughly on the second day.
Evers won a $45,000 package that includes a Nitro Z-8 boat rigged with a Mercury 250 and T-H Marine Atlas Jackplate. Evers already is qualified for the Toyota Texas Bass Classic in October on Lake Conroe, to which the PAA will send its top 15 points leaders following the season’s third tournament next month on Lake Tawakoni in Texas.
Tommy Biffle of Wagoner won the PAA’s first tournament of the season. Its next event is Sept 9-11 on Lake Tawakoni in Garland, Texas.
The PAA tournament trail started last year. It was created and is managed by pro bass anglers.
ORA convention Saturday
The Oklahoma Rifle Association is holding its annual convention Saturday at the Biltmore Hotel in Oklahoma City.
Registration begins at noon. Seminars begin at 1 p.m. Topics of seminars include the J.M. Davis Gun Museum, Important Information for the SDA holder, and political forum.
The awards banquet at silent auction begins at 6:15 p.m. For more information, call 324-8498.
Learn how to thin red cedars
The National Park Service staff and fire management professionals are offering public tours Saturday and Aug. 28 about the red cedar reduction project taking place around the Lake of the Arbuckles in Chickasaw National Recreation Area.
Each tour will begin at the Travertine Nature Center at 9 a.m. eady day and last about 2 hours. Topics to be covered include a review of the fuel reduction work which has been ongoing all summer, a discussion of the prescribed burns planned for this autumn and an explanation of the benefits of the projects both to the environment and local landowners.
For more information, call the Travertine Nature Center at 580 622-7234 or visit the park’s website at www.nps.gov/chic/
Meet “The Gunny” at Bass Pro
R. Lee Ermey, actor and former U.S. Marine Corps drill instructor, will be at Bass Pro Shops in Bricktown Friday representing SOG Specialty Knives and Tools.
Ermey, popularly known as “The Gunny,” will be meeting with fans from noon until 3 p.m. at the store.
Ermey has appeared in numerous films including Full Metal Jacket. He currently stars on the History Channel’s “Lock and Load with R. Lee Ermey.”
He was the voice of “Sarge” in Toy Story 3 and appears in a popular Geico commercial as a therapist.
How about some dough for the OSU bass fishing team, Mr. Pickens?
T. Boone Pickens with Oklahoma State University head football coach Mike Gundy
Don’t be surprised if billionaire T. Boone Pickens’ next donation to Oklahoma State University athletics is for the bass fishing team.
Don’t laugh. It’s not as preposterous as it might have sounded a week ago or even 24 hours ago. The ground has been broken.
In Tennessee, Bethel University became the first school to offer bass fishing scholarships to student anglers.
An estimated 220 colleges and universities in the United States now have competitive bass fishing teams, but most – like at the University of Oklahoma and OSU – are treated as clubs.
The anglers get to use the university’s name and represent the school in collegiate bass tournaments but they receive no financial support from the university.
Bethel University, a small school in northwestern Tennessee, has already signed 20 student anglers for the 2010-11 season and two more for the following year.
Read more about Bethel and its decision to fund a bass fishing team at http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/news/story?page=bass_scholarship_Bethel
Coincidently, Pickens has made a major investment in professional bass fishing. He just became a partner in FLW Outdoors, which bills itself as the largest fishing tournament organization in the world.
The announcement that Pickens is now an equity partner in FLW Outdoors was made Sunday on the final day of the Forrest Wood Cup, the championship event of the FLW tour.
Pickens even contributed $100,000 of his own money to the first-place purse, giving champion Kevin Hawk of Buford, Ga., a total paycheck of $600,000. Read the announcement at http://www.flwoutdoors.com/bassfishing/flw/tournament/2010/6362/forrest-wood-cup-pre-tournament/151421/t-boone-pickens-becomes-partner-in-flw-outdoors/
Bass fishing scholarships at OSU don’t seem like such a far-fetched idea now, does it?
Youth deer hunt deadline nears
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation is looking for young hunters to take advantage of doe hunting opportunities on private land.
Aug. 20 is the deadline to apply for the bonus youth hunts in Alfalfa and Osage counties. The hunts will be held in October and January.
This year, 22 young hunters will have their names drawn and receive one of the private land deer gun permits.
To be eligible, youth must have completed their hunter education requirements prior to applying and must be ages 12 to 16 at the time of their scheduled hunt.
To apply for a hunt, applicants must send the Wildlife Department a 4” by 6” index card with the following information: hunter’s name, date of birth, mailing address, telephone number, hunter education certification number, social security or driver’s license number, their order of hunt preferences (Osage County Oct. 1-3 or Alfalfa County on Jan. 7-9) and lifetime license number if applicable.
A non-hunting adult (licensed or unlicensed) who is at least age 21 must accompany the youth, and must also be listed on the index card.
Youth who will be 16 at the time of the hunt, who are required to have a hunting license, may possess an apprentice-designated license; however, the non-hunting adult accompanying an apprentice-designated hunter must possess a valid Oklahoma resident or nonresident hunting license, lifetime hunting license, or lifetime combination license and be hunter education certified, unless otherwise exempt.
The envelope/card should be labeled “Private Lands Youth Deer Hunt” and should be mailed to: Department of Wildlife, Attn: Wildlife Division-Youth Deer Hunts, P.O. Box 53465, Oklahoma City, OK 73152. Applications must be received at the Department by 4 p.m. on August 20.
Winners will be informed by letter.
Selected resident youth will need to buy a $10 resident youth deer gun license unless they possess an Oklahoma resident lifetime hunting or resident lifetime combination license.
Selected nonresidents will need to purchase a $206 nonresident deer gun license.
Any antlerless deer harvested during the controlled hunt will be considered a bonus deer and will not count against the youths’ combined season limit.
For more information, call the Wildlife Department at (405) 521-2739.
Bass tournament angler caught cheating
In California, a bass tournament was caught cheating by putting lead sinkers down the throats of fish he submitted for weigh-ins.
It happened in a $100,000 U.S. Open of the Western Outdoors News Bass Tour. The California pro has been banned for life.
Read more about it at www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/19468/cheating+scandal+at+us+open+rocks+bass-fishing+community/
ESPN announces sale of BASS
Edwin Evers of Talala finished second in the Angler of the Year race this season on the Bassmaster Tour. ESPN announced today that it is selling BASS to a group of investors but the Bassmaster Elites Series and the Bassmaster Classic still will be televised by the ESPN networks.
ESPN is selling the Bassmaster Tour to a group of investors and issued the following new release today about the pending sale.
ESPN Inc., announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement in principle to sell BASS, LLC to a group of investors led by Don Logan, Jerry McKinnis and Jim Copeland.
BASS is the largest membership organization of bass anglers in the U.S. with more than 500,000 members. It was purchased by ESPN in 2001 and includes several media platforms, including three magazines and a popular web site.
The purchasing party will assume ownership of all BASS’ assets after the completion of the sale.
“The investor group, with its enthusiasm for the brand, will continue to serve BASS’ interests with anglers,” said Traug Keller, ESPN senior vice president, production, business divisions.
As part of the agreement in principle, BASS’ core television programming assets – the Bassmaster Elite Series and Bassmaster Classic – will remain on ESPN networks.
Investor and outdoorsman McKinnis has a long history with ESPN as the host of the network’s second longest-running show, The Fishin’ Hole, which aired from 1980 until 2007.
Retired Time Inc., executive and avid angler Logan at one time oversaw Time Inc., America Online, Time Warner Cable and the Time Warner Book Group before his retirement from the media giant in 2002.
Georgia native Copeland retired as U.S. and Global CEO of international financial services firm Deloitte in 2003 and currently serves on the board of directors of three Fortune 500 companies.
“I am eager to begin working with the anglers, sponsors, and supporters to bring an even more exciting BASS business to its fan base,” said McKinnis.
“This group is looking forward to working with the fishing industry’s strongest brand and plans to make BASS even more relevant in the multimedia world,” said Logan.
Until a sales transaction is finalized, BASS will continue to operate under ESPN’s ownership.
Interested in art and horses?
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, in conjunction with the Mustang Heritage Foundation, is conducting a unique two-day summer camp next week for ages 12 to 16.
Called Camp Wildfire, students will learn about the fundamentals of art and the history of the wild mustang.
On the second day, campers travel to Pauls Valley via motor coach to visit the U.S. Bureau of Land Management wild horse and burro adoption facility.
The camp will be August 9-10 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Camp Wildfire will be guided by instructor Jennifer Hustis. Tuition is $25.
There is limited enrollment and advanced reservations are required. Reservations can be made by calling (405) 478-2250, Ext. 277.
