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 Throughout
the year I am fortunate to be able to fish countless tournaments.
However, once in a while I need to just go fishing.
I need to get out on the water and fish with no pressure on
me to catch five keepers and a kicker fish.
City lakes are a great place to go for fun and you don’t
have to worry about all those personal watercrafts or big cruisers
throwing giant wakes.
This
past weekend I got such an opportunity and I took full advantage
of it. I called a
friend and we set out for Bluestem Lake in Pawhuska to catch a few
fish. We got to the
lake just before daylight. We launched the boat and started to fish in the cool morning
air. We had one fish
in the boat on the third cast. It was a short fish, but it
stretched my line and that is all we went for.
We caught several fish on buzzbaits early, but we put them
away and went to pitching worms.
That is where the fishing got good.
We ended up catching around twenty-five bass that day and
we had a couple of big fish.
That is what fun fishing is all about.
There
have been countless times that I wanted to go fun fishing but I
didn’t have the time to go to one of the big lakes in my area.
I sometimes would go to our city lake in Bartlesville
(Little Lake Hudson). There
is no way to count the number of fish that I have caught there.
I have caught several six-pound plus Largemouth’s.
I also have caught a few quality Smallmouth Bass there.
This city lake has timber, rocks, stumps, flats, ledges,
vegetation and long points to fish.
Since it has all this structure, it is a great place to
learn new techniques as well as fine tune techniques that you are
already using.
Another
city lake that I go to whenever I get a chance is Lake Longmeyer
in Paul’s Valley. This
is where I go when I want to go catch a few really big fish.
It is loaded with standing timber and you can only idle
through the creek channels in most of the lake.
When big bass are suspended in the trees, it is as close to
paradise as I have found.
City
lakes are numerous in Oklahoma and you can probably find one
within an hour of your hometown.
You need to check in advance to your trip to find out if
you need any additional permits to fish them.
Most city lakes do require special permits to use if you
are going to put you boat on the water.
My experience has been that the fee is worth every penny
that you spend on the permit, not to mention that the fine for not
paying is pretty stiff. Some
of them have speed limits on them and you need to know these laws
prior to launching your boat.
These lakes usually get some of pressure from both bank and
boat fishermen. They
typically are not terribly big, therefore it is crucial that you
practice catch and release.
So
if you get a little time and you need a little therapy on the
water, try out one of the local city lakes.
They are a great place to go fishing and relax a little.
They are also a great place to take your kids out and let
them learn about our great sport of bass fishing.
Leave
a few for seed,
Chris
Roberts
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