Hurricanes on Hefner!

It's been tough to get out to go fishing lately. If it's not the wind, it's the rain. We did manage to catch a couple fish from the damn on Hefner a couple days ago. Had some big waves from the storms brought in by the hurricane.

I caught a nice little crappie and a bluegill. Chad managed to bag a bass or two. We had to cut things a little short. It started raining in sheets! You could see where the rain started it's way from the other side of the lake. Before we knew it, we were pelted by giant drops.

It's a little tough, but we always seem to catch a couple from the damn. Just be careful on those rocks and wear good shoes!

-Anthony

Goodbye Stills, Hello Video!

Tonight was a good night for topwater, as I soon found out when float tubing my uncle's pond up North of Edmond, OK. My aunt said they're supposed to drain it soon! That's too bad, it's always been a great pond for quantity. While I've caught them up to 4 lbs from this lake, today it was a range of half pounders to maybe 2 lbs. at the most.

Who cares when they're busting on topwater poppers?! Not me. I'm all for the splash of topwater action. This time, I found a great way to mount my cell phone video cam to film my fishing exploits. Take a look at what I ended up with. Not bad for just testing the concept out. Look for more of these vids in the future as I do more float tubing.

Sorry for the poor audio quality. Youtube doesn't like my phone's video format after conversion.

If any of you haven't tried float tubing, look into it. It's a great way to get down at the fishes' level. You're gonna need a little bit of gear. Listed below for your convenience.

• White River Fly Shop Lost Lake Round Float Tube Combo
  
• White River Fly Shop Dogwood Canyon Breathable Stocking-Foot Waders for Men
  
• RedHead Wading Boots

-Anthony

So I called a dude a chick today...

Went to the local Academy Sports to do a little shopping spree. I managed to bag a nice Abu Garcia baitcast combo along with some much needed plastics and lures.

Thought I'd share something silly I did. I'm standing in line waiting for the cashier to double check the discount on the rod combo. I've already been rung up except for that one item. I notice a person standing in line behind me. They had an "interesting" haircut. Silver hair all combed back but kinda poofy. I only noticed this person out the corner of my eye and I could swear it was an older woman with a short haircut.

I told the cashier to go ahead and ring "her" up. Upon closer examination. It wasn't a chick at all!!! Wow. Was I embarrassed for a second there. The cashier and I joked about it, and it was good to know I wasn't the only one who thought it was a girl. The moral of this story? If you're all hopped up on a fishing equipment frenzy, you might take a closer look at your surroundings!

-Anthony

Gotta take the good with the bad.

Yes... Smoking is a bad habit. But hey... Nice Fish!

I must say, I haven't had too much luck on Lake Hefner as of late. Of course, I find myself not trying too hard. Today was a great example. I just couldn't get into it. We went on the hunt for crappie from the boat, but found it was a lil too windy to fish how we wanted to.

Rather than look at more options for crappie, we couldn't resist throwing around for some bass. I think I tried about 5 different lures. Including the blue/silver ones I've been using that have produced in the past. Chad hooked the fish above with a tasty plastic presentation.

It's mixed emotions, I tell ya. I'd love to catch fish every time. The problem is, it's called "fishing" not "catching." Even still, Hefner has been rough on us. It was good to see Chad pull a tournament weighable fish from the city lake shore.

He's posted a lil blurb about it on his blog. Go check it out!

-Anthony

Couple Crappie to break in the new rod.

Duane Raver/USFWS

I had an extra bit of cash, so I took a trip to the local Academy Sports & Outdoors store to do a bit of shopping. As you know from previous posts, I don't focus on one type of fish. I'm an equal opportunity fish catcher! I have been feeling the urge to eat some tasty crappie and I've yet to get any big enough from Lake Hefner. Even still, I wanted a new rig. No, I NEEDED a new rig.

Years of using old equipment just wears me down. Spinning reels with broken bails, old line. Granted it's my own fault, but I'm just a tightwad. What can I say? So when I had some extra grip on my hands I knew what I needed to do. As luck would have it, Academy is running a sale on all combos. I got a nice little 4 ball bearing, 5.2:1 ratio spinning combo. Ultra-light so I can have a little fun with my little crappie buddies.

Took a short drive to the fishing pier at Lake Hefner and threw out a new mini-shad bait I found when I bought my rod. Produced 2 small crappie in about 30 minutes. All in all I was pretty happy about it. It caught exactly what it was supposed to catch!Just waiting for the chance to use it on the boat now.

I think now I'll go look into some info about making my own lures. I need me a hobby for when I can't get out there. Looking at making my own lures. Maybe I'll give it a shot and let you know how it goes.

-Anthony

Quality not Quantity

We decided to try Lake Thunderbird. Was a nice break from 100 degree temps and partly cloudy. We were sure to bring all the necessary equipment this time, and I brought my daughter for good luck. Chad was able to land a nice bass, and another hour or two went by before I caught this one. Weighing about 4 and 3/4 lbs.

Needless to say it made the whole day for me! Both were caught on topwater poppers. My favorite way to fish!

-Anthony

Beating the Heat on Lake Hefner

We decided late last night to put our asses in bed and give Hefner a shot at daybreak. We met at the ramps about 6am, ready to go. Only 2 other boats on the water from what we could see. The trolling motor was gleaming with shiny plastic newness.

We jetted to the East Wharf to go for some bass and Chad realized he forgot his rods! It's amazing how a little excitement can make you miss the most important thing on a fishing trip. Luckily I had a spare and we got to fishing. It didn't take long before our first real issue. The trolling motor was "sputtering" a bit, and then suddenly stopped. We found a bad connection on a patch panel and were back in business in no time. Unfortunately, the downtime was right when we needed to have our poles in the water.

Sorry to say, Chad was the only one that got a hit. Looked like a small bass, but it never made it to the boat. At least we know we can stand the heat till about 10am on days like today where the high is supposed to be 106! We're looking to broaden our horizons by taking a trip up Northeast. Look for more to come!

-Anthony

The strange luck continues.

With overcast skies, we had to take the opportunity to do some fishing from the bank at Hefner. We took off to the south point. Right when we were about to leave, a largemouth hit. Basically the same as last time. I said "It's bout time to go." And sure enough, he hit.

Afterwards, we took off to the boat ramp jetty area. I managed to hang a cute small mouth off the rocks.

Chad finished strong with 3 mentionable sand bass off the large jetty at the boat ramp area. Next week we have a trolling motor again!

If you're interested, check out the Bass Pro Shops XPS Balsa Boogie Crankbait. The blue color seems to agree the most with the bass in Lake Hefner.

-Anthony

Chad's Guide Service

Chad is always ready and willing to do a little fishing, even with the boat out of commission. This usually involves driving all around the lake trying what few decent points there are along the bank.

We finally ended up at the West dam. Both pulling crankbaits, although Chad switched to a curly tail after a bit. We just want some tasty walleyes. Is that too much to ask? I kept with my blue/silver bass pro XPS crankbait and was getting discouraged. Right up till the point where I was trying to be funny and said "You know.. If we say we're leaving we'll catch one." So I did. I said something like "Okay, guess it's time to pack it up." And WHAM a nice little 1.5-2 pound largemouth bass snatched it up.

I'm sure Chad appreciated the fact that he always takes me fishing and puts me on em. Maybe one of these days he'll let me take him to some bass holes of my own and hook him up. All in all. A nice evening of fishing at dusk. Don't be afraid to bounce that crankbait on the bottom!

-Anthony

Stepping away from open water.

There comes a time when fishing at the lake just won't do. With the poor luck we've had with consistent bass on Hefner Lake, I decided to take things down a notch. East of Guthrie is a small town called Meridian. The folks have a nice little place on some land with two ponds.

I recently visited Bass Pro and bought one of these jewels in an all green color:




It's called a Bigfoot Frog and not only were the fish hooked, I was too. This thing caused a frenzy in the small pond at my folks. I knew a frog would do well, as it's a natural bait for these bass. 2, 3, 4 in a row. A total of 8 fish Friday night. None of them under 2 lbs., and the largest was 4 easy. Saturday morning was just as fun. Both days I ended up soaked in my float tube from all the bass splashing about.

Apparently it agreed with me because Friday night I dreamed of the day's action. Hell, I even woke myself up setting the hook on a topwater strike in my dreams! Needless to say I am ready for more. Next is a bit larger body of water just north of Edmond. They loved the poppers on that lake, I wonder how the Bigfoot will do.

-Anthony

Spawnin Crappie and a Surprise Largemouth

Yes it's been forever since I've written anything here. What can I say? Hefner is a cruel cruel mistress. It beat us down so many times with skunked trips, that I lost all interest in writing about it.

However, today and just more recently in general, it has been showing some promise. A few early spring Largemouths and the occasional small walleye have been the norm. Today the crappie were in the shallows. I was using a new crappie jig that sinks horizontally. I think it's made by "Crappie Magnet." This same jig caught a keeper sized catfish way up in the south end shallows.

All the crappie were babies. Hardly enough for even a small appetizer. We took off to another spot where the wind was blowing right into the point. A quick couple casts with a shad colored 6-7 ft. diving crank bait and I managed to hang a nice 1.5-2lb. bass.

All in all a good day! Look for more news on Lake Hefner as we continue to try to crack its secrets.

-Anthony