The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s Lake Record Fish Program was launched in February, and since then lake records have been set at lakes all over the state. Most recently, three new lake records were landed at Fort Cobb in the flathead catfish and striped bass hybrid categories. Margaret Recker, Eakly, caught her 42-lb. lake record flathead catfish May 28. The fish measured 41.75 inches in length and 37.25 inches in girth. That same day, local Fort Cobb angler Rocky Brewster caught a striped bass hybrid that weighed 11.4 lbs from the south end of the lake. Just days later, on June 1, the striped bass hybrid record was broken when Brooke King of Weatherford caught an 18.2-lb. fish near the dam at Fort Cobb Other lakes included in the program are Arbuckle, Broken Bow, Canton, Eufaula, Grand, Kaw, Keystone, Sardis, Skiatook, Tenkiller, Texoma and Thunderbird.

Species eligible for spots in the lake records book include blue, channel and flathead catfish and largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass in addition to crappie, paddlefish, striped bass, striped bass hybrids, sunfish (combined) walleye/saugeye and white bass. Minimum weights are set for each species are detailed on the Wildlife Department’s Web site at wildlifedepartment.com.

Anglers who catch a potential record from a participating lake should contact designated business locations around the lake that are enrolled as lake record keepers. A listing of official lake record keepers is available on wildlifedepartment.com.

Once it has been determined that an angler has landed a record fish, the media is notified and the public will be able to view information about the catch on the Wildlife Department’s Web site.

All past and current state record fish are registered in the Lake Record Fish Program as records for their respective lakes.

News Source: Oklahoma Department of Wildlife - Jun. 06, 2008