Fishing Tournament results available

Bass fishing can be easy at times.It is just a matter of knowing where to fish. Anglers can get a jump on the action by checking out the Oklahoma Bass Tournaments 2000 Annual Report. The report ranks the top 22 bass lakes in Oklahoma based on fishing results from more than 700 tournaments held in 2000, providing anglers and tournament directors useful information for future outings.

The 14-page report is compiled by personnel from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation's Fishery Research Lab in Norman. Charts within the report contain statistics such as angler success, average number of bass caught per day, average weight per bass caught and the number of hours of fishing taken to catch a bass five pounds or larger at specified lakes. "The data generated from tournament anglers provides very useful information for fisheries biologist to help gauge trends in bass populations at specific lakes," said Gene Gilliand, senior fisheries biologist for the Department. "We can't survey every lake every year during our spring electrofishing surveys, so the tournament data is very important. It provides us continuous information on fishing conditions and success at these lakes.

"The program is voluntary, but tournament officials are contributing more data every year," he added. "This information benefits everyone in the long run. The more we know about bass populations in Oklahoma lakes, the better informed our management decisions will be."

Based on the 2000 data, Okemah Lake took the state's top honors. Kerr Lake came in second and Keystone Lake placed third in the rankings which factored five angling quality measurements.

Additional highlights from this year's report include the following: * Each tournament averaged 51 bass weighing 119.85 pounds. * The average bass weighed 2.35 pounds. * The average first-place weight was 12.31 pounds, the highest seen since the program began in 1994. * A report about the Largemouth Bass Virus. * Tournament report cards and instructions. * Table outlining the top 22 bass lakes in Oklahoma based on angler success, average weight per bass, number of bass caught per day, hours fishing per bass greater five pounds and average first place weight.

The reports are available by calling the Department's Fishery Research Lab at 405/325-7288.