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
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Comments
Did you not submit it to the state Wildlife Department as a lake record? Burling’s fish was certified as a lake record by the Wildife Department.
Jim, I found the story and photo about your fish in our archives. It was in 2006. The state Wildlife Dept. did not have a lake records program back then. I don’t think they will officially consider your fish for a Hefner record because the catch was before they started the lake records program. The only lake records they grandfathered in were those that were also state records. Their reasoning is they know that the weights of state records were properly documented. They can’t be sure about other big catches from lakes in the past. However, it never hurts to ask.
I saw the picture of Jim’s fish in the paper & respectfully dispute that it is an 18 lb fish. There are a big difference’s in the size of the fish in the pictures. I was going to write a retraction when i saw the article, but change my mind. It’s just a fish. Beleive what you want? Compare fish pic’s ot pic’s there is no camparision. Sorry it wasn’t certified. Another good fish story. Seems they tend to bet bigger with time. Matter of fact Glen caught one as big or bigger the week before on a Sunday & couldn’t get it certified anywhere! So he went ahead & took it home to cook. I’m glad people are so responsive to what Lake Hefner has to offer cityites. Shauna Fendrych
I have an 18 lb Hybrid on the wall, caught on Nov. 9.out of Hefner. You put a picture and article in the paper. Respectfully Jim.