Report reveals top bass tournament lakes in 2002
ODWC excerpt from the weekly Newsletter

The numbers don't lie; bass fishing is big in Oklahoma. According to the
2002 Oklahoma Bass Tournaments Report, approximately 1,375 bass
tournaments were held last year. That's an average of four per day!
Not only does fishing provide a significant boost to the state's economy,
but tournament anglers are also an important part of the Oklahoma
Department of Wildlife Conservation's fisheries management team.
"In the course of their activities, tournament anglers provide biologists
with hundreds of thousands of hours of fishing data every year," said Gene
Gilliland, senior fisheries biologist for the Department. "While this
information is of critical importance to biologists as they make
management decisions, anglers can also use the same data to help plan
their next fishing trip."

According to the 2002 Oklahoma Bass Tournaments Report, the average size
of bass caught in tournaments was up slightly from the previous year,
although the average winning weights and the total number of fish was down
from 2001.

"For a second year in a row, there was a decline in the number of large
fish (over five pounds) recorded in tournaments," said Gilliland. "The top
20 tournament lakes list also witnessed a number of changes, with several
non-traditional lakes garnering top spots in the various fishing indicator
categories."

Cooperating bass clubs submitted data from more than 690 tournaments from
52 lakes and 91 organizations in 2002. Biologists analyzed the information
and compiled an overall lake ranking based on five fishing quality
factors.

Kerr Lake took first place as the state's best overall tournament lake,
jumping from 9th place last year. It recorded the highest average winning
weight and the third highest percent of successful anglers. Hudson took
second place and McGee Creek, Ellsworth and Lawtonka, Grand, Sardis,
Murray, Greenleaf and Texoma rounded out the top 10.

The largest bass reported in 2002 was a lunker tipping the scales at 10.06
pounds and was caught from Sportsman Lake during a Heart of Oklahoma Club
tournament. The heaviest five-bass limit weighed 21.65 pounds from Sardis
Lake during a Leflore County Bass Club meet.

The overall ranking isn't the only thing anglers should notice. If you're
looking for a lake where you can catch a lot of bass, for example, you
should compare lakes in terms of numbers of bass caught per day. In that
category, McGee Creek was the best last year, followed by Murray and
Arbuckle.

Likewise, if you wanted the best chance of catching a bass larger than
five pounds, you should look to lakes with the lowest relative index of
bass over 5 lbs. Tournament anglers fishing Lake Lawtonka spent less time
per bass five pounds or greater than other lakes.

Copies of this year's 14-page Oklahoma Bass Tournaments Annual Report can
be found on the Department's Web site at
www.wildlifedepartment.com/basstourn.htm

Overall, Oklahoma’s 774, 254 anglers, many of them bass fishermen, spent
an impressive $484,178,493 in retail sales, which rippled through the
economy to generate $992 million in economic output for the state
according to a recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report.