Sardis Lake has rebounded in popularity with bass anglers to levels approaching it's reputation of the mid 1980s. McGee Creek Lake has for many years been a mecca for trophy largemouth and also good numbers of bass. A recent report, compiled by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) showed Sardis and McGee Creek as the state's top bass tournament fishing lakes for 2001.

"Since 1994, our Fisheries Division has cooperated with bass fishing clubs and tournament organizations to collect data on bass fishing throughout the state," said Gene Gilliland, ODWC fisheries biologist.

"Last year we received 703 tournament reports from 47 different Oklahoma lakes. Through tournament report cards, fisheries biologists collect such information as the percent of anglers who catch at least one fish during the tournament, the average number of bass anglers caught during an eight-hour day, the average weight of bass that were caught in each tournament, the number of bass caught that exceed five pounds and the average weights of winning stringers among all tournaments held on a specific lake.

"After analysis of several different parameters, Sardis ranked number one overall with McGee Creek placing second. These two lakes have a history of producing trophy fish due to the high percentage of Florida genes in their bass populations, but they are producing good numbers of bass as well."

Perennial bass producers, Hudson, Grand and Eucha round out the top five bass tournament destinations for 2001. Hudson and Grand lakes produced the highest average winning weights and Eucha ranked high in the number of bass caught per day."

Gilliland said overall bass fishing success declined slightly in 2001.

The average tournament had a catch of 49 bass that weighed an average of 99.5 pounds compared to 51 bass that weighed 119.95 pounds in 2000.

"Our tournament results confirmed that bass fishing in 2001 was down, but it is definitely not out," said Gilliland. "Numbers of bass caught, the average sized of bass and the average winning weights were down less than 20 percent from long-term levels.

Gilliland said record cold winter weather, unusual water level fluctuations and the Largemouth Bass Virus (LMBV) might have all played roles in the decline of bass fishing success in 2001.

"What was apparent from the 2001 results were lower numbers of large bass. While our electrofishing surveys confirmed this, we found that numbers of "average" sized bass were as abundant as they've been in many years. We expect bass fishing to rebound to normal levels in just a year or two. The future looks positive for bass fishing in Oklahoma."

To get more information about the 2001 Annual Report of Oklahoma Bass Tournaments, log onto http//www.wildlifedepartment.com/basstourn.htm