Evers finishes second again
Edwin Evers of Talala finishes second to Tennessee's Ott DeFoe Sunday in the Bassmaster All-Star Championship.
Tennessee rookie Ott DeFoe weighed in 8 pounds, 7 ounces to defeat Evers in the finals of the Bassmaster All-Star Championship and cash a paycheck of $100,000 in the winner-take-all tournament on the Alabama River.
Evers and DeFoe were the final two anglers standing Sunday from a field that started one week ago with 12 of the top pros on the Bassmaster Elite Series. Evers, of Talala, weighed in 8 pounds, 2 ounces.
It was the third time this year Evers finished as a runner-up, once for the Bassmaster Angler of the Year title and twice in tournaments.
Evers missed a fish that he estimated to weigh more than 2 pounds just 10 minutes before the check in time.
“It wasn’t meant to be,” he said.
Our Outdoors Quarter
An image of the Chickasaw National Recreation Area quarter
If you haven’t heard, the Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Sulphur is going to be depicted on a United States quarter.
The quarter honoring the Chickasaw National Recreation Area will be released in November.
The quarter is part of the 56-coin series featuring designs from national parks and other national sites from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories.
It’s called the “America the Beautiful Quarters Program.” The designs of the parks are displayed on the reverse or tails side of the quarters.
Five new designs are issued each year. The November release of the Chickasaw National Recreation Area coin coincides with the 104th anniversary of Oklahoma’s admission to the Union.
A ceremony is scheduled Nov. 16 at The Point at the Lake of the Arbuckles boat launch parking lot in Sulphur.
The design on the coin is of the Lincoln Bridge in the Chickasaw National Recreation area.
The bridge is built of limestone and was dedicated in 1909 to celebrate the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.
The bridge was the first constructed improvement in the national recreation area and a favorite scenic spot.
Saving fish from certain death
Some landowners can try to seine a pond to try to save fish from dying, but it's a delicate situation to handle and move fish under the current heat wave.
A friend of mine and occasional Outdoors page contributor, Hal McKnight of Oklahoma City, spent the last few days trying to save the fish from his dying farm ponds in southwest Oklahoma.
He shared his experience in this story and photo that I decided to share with you in my blog.
“My favorite childhood memories surround the farm ponds in southwest Oklahoma where my grandparents had taken me fishing. Those same ponds have been ravaged by excessive heat and long term drought.
“It is doggone difficult for those of us losing bodies of water to not witness a sense of hopeless despair.
“I recently decided to try and save some of the fish facing certain death given the daily disappearance of water.
“I called a friend in Bray, Keith Prater, to help me run a seine in several small ponds that were close to going dry. There were four shallow impoundments about two acres in size that should be loaded with copper nose bluegill, golden shiners, and ghost minnows. All excellent forage fish for hungry bass.
“Keith met me at 4 p.m. on a clear July day where my temperature gauge read 112 degrees. We tied two minnow seines together resulting in a 40-foot long net that was five feet tall.
“We were full of optimism when we attacked the first pond. Unfortunately, we quickly came in contact with soft mud making it almost impossible to walk.
“It was as if we were walking in molasses, and we caught very few fish. After several frustrating attempts we gave up and moved to another pond.
“I had forgotten my tennis shoes so I put on a pair of chest waders. The hope was that these chest high boots would protect against any hostile snakes.
“Everything was working well in the second pond, until we reached the middle and found ourselves in quicksand.
“Suddenly I went from knee deep water to a depth where waves were tickling my chin. My waders quickly filled with water and I was stuck.
“I somehow managed to churn my way to shore over the next half hour. We were close to throwing in the towel when Keith came up with a new plan.
“The next day he bought a used 60 foot commercial seine, which we attached between two 4-wheelers. This automated system worked like a charm, and allowed us to stay on dry ground.
“I did buy a pair of high topped converse basketball shoes for pond work. My 10th grade basketball coach, Jerry Potter, would have been proud of me.
“We moved the bait fish to a deep pond that should hold adequate water until the rains come. We used a 150 gallon stock tank to transport the fish which we carried inside a horse trailer.
“Heavy plywood acted as a lid. An oxygen bottle bubbled air to ensure a safe trip.
“This formula will work for almost anyone that wants to save their fish from certain death in ponds approaching the critical level. The kicker is having a lake with enough water to survive this horrid heat to put their rescued fish.
“A curious thing happened on our final release when the after glow of the sun painted the turquoise sky in streaks of pink and purple.
“I set free a pair of huge bluegill larger than your hand that darted off toward deep water. Amazingly, both returned and seemed to thank us for saving their lives.
“I could not help but be reminded of my grandparents that took me fishing on these ponds many years ago.”
Western Oklahoma photo contest
A western Oklahoma scene near Hinton
The Oklahoma Wildlife and Prairie Heritage Alliance (OWPHA) is currently accepting entries for the Great Plains Trail Photography Contest.
The first and second place photos from each category will be displayed at the Wildlife Expo Sept. 24-25 at the Lazy E Arena, just north of Oklahoma City.
Judging for the contest will take place at the Washita Battlefield National Historic Site in Cheyenne, which will be accepting entries through Aug. 1.
New this year, visitors to the Washita National Historic Battlefield in Cheyenne will have a chance to vote for their “People’s Choice” favorite.
Submissions should depict the unique attractions, landscapes, wildlife, and wildflowers found across portions of the 30-county region of covered by the Great Plains Trail of Oklahoma.
The Great Plains Trail of Oklahoma is a series of 13 driving loops that explore a significant portion of the state located west of SH 81.
The loops are designed to offer the greatest likelihood of viewing wildlife and offer stopping points for vehicles and also opportunities to hunt, fish, camp, hike, ride horses, go caving, dig for crystals, swim, go rock climbing, boating and more.
To enter the contest, applicants must mail or deliver their submissions — consisting of a matted photograph, a digital copy and an official entry form — to Washita Battlefield Historic Site, Rt. 1 Box 55a Cheyenne, OK 73628.
Contest entry forms and rules can be found online at owpha.org.
Cross Timbers map
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation now has a map available of the new Cross Timbers Wildlife Management Area on its website.
You can view a map of the nearly 8,000-acre public hunting area in Love County at http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/facts_maps/wma/cross_timbers.htm
Cross Timbers will be open to archery deer hunting this fall. Deer hunting during the muzzleloader and gun season will be available in 2012 through the agency’s controlled hunts program.
Baffled by fish kill
State wildlife officials are still trying to determine what killed thousands of fish in the Red River.
The fish kill was first reported last week but fish were still dying in the river as of Tuesday, although the rate of deaths has slowed, said Gene Gilliland, assistant chief of fisheries for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
The fish kill has occurred primarily along a 70 mile stretch of the river that borders Love County.
State wildlife officials first suspected the cause was depleted oxygen levels in the water, something that is not unusual late in the Oklahoma summer when there is excessive heat and no rain.
However, the fish kill on the Red River continued to progress downstream leading state wildlife officials to believe something else may be to blame.
“This one on the Red is puzzling,” Gilliland said. “It wasn’t acting like a normal oxygen depletion. This thing is moving.”
Water samples and fish tissue samples have been sent to various agencies in Oklahoma and Texas for testing.
“It’s still such an unknown,” Gilliland said. “We are trying to figure out what is going on and if there is anything we can do.”
Most of the fish that have been lost are rough fish like buffalo, but channel and blue catfish also have died.
Kriet makes the cut
Ardmore professional bass angler Jeff Kriet will join fellow Oklahoman Edwin Evers of Talala in the $100,000 B.A.S.S. post season tournaments in Alabama.
Fans have put Ardmore angler Jeff Kriet into the B.A.S.S. post-season tournaments.
Bass fishing fans selected Kriet, Michael Iaconell of Pitts Grove., N.J., Aaron Martens of Leeds, Ala., and Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., to complete the field of 12 for the July 23-31 Toyota Trucks All-Star Week in Alabama.
The top eight anglers on the Bassmaster Tour this season qualifed for the $100,000 post season event. The final four participants were determined by fan voting.
Anglers actively campaigned for the final four spots. Most tapped heavily into social media and e-mail for votes.
The closest race was in Region 2, where Kriet edged out Missouri’s Denny Brauer by 551 votes.
“I am very surprised and humbled that I got as many votes as I did,” said Kriet, whose Facebook page set up by his daughter likely helped his bid. “It means a lot to me that people would take the time to vote for me. There were a lot of really, really good fishermen in my region.”
The other pro anglers in the post-season event are Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich.; Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla.;
Gerald Swindle of Warrior, Ala.; Ott DeFoe of Knoxville, Tenn.; Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala.; Terry Scroggins of San Mateo, Fla.; Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C.; and Davy Hite of Ninety Six, S.C.
The fishing begins July 23-24 at Alabama’s Lake Jordan then moves to the Alabama River for the July 29-31 finale.
Okie Noodling
Danny Gamble of Maysville carries a 27-pound flathead to the weigh in at Saturday night's 12th annual Okie Noodling Tournament in Pauls Valley. Photo by Zach Gray, The Oklahoman.
Mark Rowan of Broken Bow took the top prize of $1,000 at this year’s annual Okie Noodling Tournament in Pauls Valleys with a 60-pound flathead.
Rowan’s team also had the top three-fish stringer in the natural or hand fishing division with a total of 150.56 pounds, anchored by the 60-pound brute. That earned another $400 for Rowan and his cousins who comprised the noodling team.
Second place and $300 went to Nathan Williams of Roff with 142.16 pounds. Placing third and winning $200 was Jacob McGregor of Blair.
The largest stringer in the scuba division was weighed in by Michael Smith of Eufaula, 149.86 pounds, which earned him $400.
Tom Lane of Eucha and Patrick Bennett of Ada finished second and third in the scuba division by weighing in 146.82 pounds and 142.16 pounds, respectively.
The top female noodler was Brandy Sparks of Walters who grabbed a 44-pound flathead. The top youth noodler was Dakota Garrett, 15, who weighed in a stringer of 111 pounds with the big fish a 41.9-pounder.
This was the 12th year for the Okie Noodling Tournament in Pauls Valley. There are now several noodling tournaments around the state, but the Okie Noodling Tournament was the first.
Noodlers can catch flatheads by hand in June and July as the males stay on the holes to protect the eggs spawned by female flatheads.
Noodling is illegal in most states, although Texas just legalized it this year. Many states fear noodling is too dangerous but some ban it because of the wildlife conservation issue – the belief that too many catfish are lost as a result of flatheads being pulled off the spawning nests.
But Oklahoma biologists say there are so few noodlers that noodling doesn’t negatively impact the flathead catfish population as a whole. More catfish are caught on jug lines or trot lines in Oklahoma than by noodlers.
Nice Texoma striper
Striper fishing this summer at Lake Texoma has been slower than normal, but that doesn't mean anglers still aren't catching fish. Travis Rider of Seminole landed this 32-inch striper June 30 on Lake Texoma while fishing with striper guide J.D. Lyle. The fish was caught on live shad. The fishermen didn't have any scales on the boat, but a 32-inch striper typically weighs between 10 and 15 pounds.
Another good Texoma striper
Lucas Laukhart, 12, of Choctaw caught this 14 pound striper on July 1 on Lake Texoma while fishing with Mark Evans and Striper Country Guide Service out of Alberta Creek Marina.
