A great season for anglers, campers

By Ed Godfrey

Published: October 14, 2007

Fall fishing should be about ready to take off around the state, if it hasn't already.

August and September are normally the slowest fishing months in Oklahoma, but cooler October nights are dropping water temperatures and will make fish more aggressive as they begin to feed heavily to store energy for the winter.

Whether you prefer fishing for bass, crappie, catfish or trout, there should be opportunities for some terrific autumn angling in the next few weeks. And with Oklahoma schools taking fall break this week, it's a perfect time for a camping, fishing and/or hunting trip.

Chuck Justice, who guides on McGee Creek and other lakes, says the fall bite is just heating up in scenic southeastern Oklahoma.

"The fall fishing on all of these lakes down here is turning on,” he said. "I would think it's the same almost anywhere in the state.”

Many sportsmen might have the same idea as Justice, who plans to spend the fall break bowhunting with his grandson early in the mornings, coming in for breakfast, then heading to the lake for some bass fishing.

"That's why I love the fall,” he said. "There is so much to do.”

At Lake Texoma, many of the campgrounds have re-opened and the striped bass fishing is on the upswing. September is a terrible month for striper fishing on the lake, but in October the fishing gets easier.

"The gulls are in,” said Paul Mauck, south-central fisheries supervisor for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

"Herons and egrets are chasing the surfacing fish around. They are pretty good bird dogs to show where the fish are right now.”

Another lake anglers might want to try for some good fall fishing is Arbuckle. Not only is it a beautiful area for camping, but Mauck just completed a gill-netting survey there and found large numbers of nice-sized white bass.

"I think a guy could go to Arbuckle and catch a lot of white bass if he wanted to,” he said.

Trout fishing on the Lower Mountain Fork River is another prime fall destination. Many anglers consider autumn to be the best time of year to enjoy Oklahoma's most popular trout stream.

Good fishing along with mild temperatures and autumn colors entice many anglers to McCurtain County in October.

"As nights cool and days become shorter, trout fishing seems more natural than during the dog days of summer,” said Jess King, owner of the Three Rivers Fly Shop in Hochatown.

Fall is the time that the resident brown trout will try to spawn and will move up to one of several dams along the course of the river, King said.

As water temperatures start to cool, rainbows will become more active, feeding more to replace burned calories.

Shad, minnows and crawfish will be available as well as aquatic insects such as small mayflies, caddis flies and midges, King said.

Anglers can expect good fishing throughout the day during the fall instead of just at the dawn and dusk hours that generally rule in the summer, he said.

"Even cold, cloudy, windy, or just downright winter weather can produce some memorable outings,” he said.

And there will be more trout available to be caught this fall.

State wildlife officials are adding more fish in the stream thanks to the Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation, which donated $1,000 to buy more trout. The donation was matched three-to-one by federal sports restoration funds.

The result is an extra $4,000 to buy additional trout — a total of 1,510 pounds — that will be put in the stream during regular stocking periods.

The first stocking with an additional 300 pounds of trout was last week. The additional trout were put in the stream between the old park dam and re-regulation dam, said Paul Balkenbush, southeast region fisheries supervisor.

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