Report From 8/16

[Bird Watcher]

I was sitting around the house with my tail between my legs after giving Stockton a hard try for the walleye Fri. night and Sat. morning with little to show for it. I decided spur of the moment to go to Grand for a few hours and try to catch some hybrids. I am not a hybrid genius by any means, but I do know when the surface temps warm up in the summertime some of the fish will go way up in the cool water creeks for relief from the heat. We used to fish for them a lot back 10 years or so ago, but I haven't been in probably that long.

I've been hearing more and more about this latest batch that GRDA stocked 4 or 5 years ago and thought that maybe it would be worth fishing for them.

I worked my way back up in the creek. You have to get WAY up in there. You want to be where the water clears up and you see the big mat of scum where the cool water meets the warm lake water.

Threw a chrome lipless crank, a big inline spinner and a spook. They wanted the spook. In 1 hour of fishing I had 4 fish and missed a dozen others. The fish I caught ran from 4-7lbs. It was a lot of fun. Only one of the fish hooked up on the first blowup. Most of them would come back 4 or 5 times before they took it. It takes a lot of self control to keep from yanking it away from them while they are bombing it like that.

You have to sneak up on these fish. The ones I caught tonight were in about 3 FOW. No banging around in the boat, long casts, and just ease the boat back in there. Don't run in there with the TM on high hitting stumps and getting caught on gravel. you'll blow them out before you ever see them.

I know some people don't like it that GRDA stocks them. I even had an agent tell me they try to keep it under wraps because of the backlash (no pun intended) from the largemouth anglers, but I personally love to catch them and think these are beautiful fish. Next time I go, I'll make sure I take a camera to get some pictures.

[Quillback]

Thanks for the report. I did not know hybrids would do that. I'm thinking about heading to Grand this Saturday to try for whites.

[Bill Butts]

Hi Chris~

I've been trying to follow fishermen experience with Hybrids in Grand for the past 2 years, but there is little to be found related to Hybrid catching.

Thanks for posting your report of success and how you located them, without revealing your specific creek.

There are enough tributaries that it should help other fishermen learn what to look for and how to approach them on any similar fishery.

In our region, that would also include Beaver, Norfork, Truman, LOZ, and perhaps Oologah, Skiatook the upper end of Hudson.

In 2005, the ODWC (not the GRDA) stocked 690,000 reciprocal Hybrid Striper fry (using the White Bass eggs instead of from a Striper), and in 2007 they stocked 100,000 orginal strain Hybrid Striper fingerlings (using Striper eggs). When I asked the fisheries biologist why they began restocking them and in the large #, he said it was due to public/fishermen requests. Proves they listen, even though the LMB guys don't usually like it. Many studies across the nation have time after time proven that Stripers/Hybrids don't negatively impact the LMB, SMB, Crappie and Walleye fisheries in the same lake. The bottom line for healthy fisheries in our region is to have good Shad populations, because all of the previously listed gamefish also depend heavily on them. Especially this time of year when there are bazillions of baby shad (threadfin and gizzard) available.

One suggestion with your Spook, or other baits, too. If you get those blow-ups and are fishing a good sized topwater or other bait, you might try downsizing to a baby Spook or other smaller bait that is 2" or less in size. This time of year the lakes are packed with those baby shad and the fish can get somewhat selective to them. Also, when they bounce that bait many times they are trying to determine if it is real, and in that case an unweighted Fluke or something similar will get you a grab. Don't always think that the same fish is coming back multiple times either, they hunt in packs and you are probably getting refusals from multiple fish.

We've found this recently on Bull Shoals. The baby threadfins are about half to 3/4" and the baby gizzards are about double that size.

Our recent success has been best on small baitfish-imitating flies and some of my buddies use small plastics and a very small Spook.

We've caught a lot of very nice LMB, SMB and Whites on the small baits as short as 1".

Thanks again for sharing your success report,

Bill

[Bird Watcher]

Hi Chris~

I've been trying to follow fishermen experience with Hybrids in Grand for the past 2 years, but there is little to be found related to Hybrid catching.

Thanks for posting your report of success and how you located them, without revealing your specific creek.

There are enough tributaries that it should help other fishermen learn what to look for and how to approach them on any similar fishery.

In our region, that would also include Beaver, Norfork, Truman, LOZ, and perhaps Oologah, Skiatook the upper end of Hudson.

In 2005, the ODWC (not the GRDA) stocked 690,000 reciprocal Hybrid Striper fry (using the White Bass eggs instead of from a Striper), and in 2007 they stocked 100,000 orginal strain Hybrid Striper fingerlings (using Striper eggs). When I asked the fisheries biologist why they began restocking them and in the large #, he said it was due to public/fishermen requests. Proves they listen, even though the LMB guys don't usually like it. Many studies across the nation have time after time proven that Stripers/Hybrids don't negatively impact the LMB, SMB, Crappie and Walleye fisheries in the same lake. The bottom line for healthy fisheries in our region is to have good Shad populations, because all of the previously listed gamefish also depend heavily on them. Especially this time of year when there are bazillions of baby shad (threadfin and gizzard) available.

One suggestion with your Spook, or other baits, too. If you get those blow-ups and are fishing a good sized topwater or other bait, you might try downsizing to a baby Spook or other smaller bait that is 2" or less in size. This time of year the lakes are packed with those baby shad and the fish can get somewhat selective to them. Also, when they bounce that bait many times they are trying to determine if it is real, and in that case an unweighted Fluke or something similar will get you a grab. Don't always think that the same fish is coming back multiple times either, they hunt in packs and you are probably getting refusals from multiple fish.

We've found this recently on Bull Shoals. The baby threadfins are about half to 3/4" and the baby gizzards are about double that size.

Our recent success has been best on small baitfish-imitating flies and some of my buddies use small plastics and a very small Spook.

We've caught a lot of very nice LMB, SMB and Whites on the small baits as short as 1".

Thanks again for sharing your success report,

Bill

Bill,

That's some good information. Sounds like you spent some time learning about these fish. I have also heard the "due to angler request" reason for stocking, but the funny thing was the biologist working the spoonbill station this spring told me "we stock the hybrids to control the shad population, period." Go figure, huh?

The downsize bait and fluke were actually already in my plans for next time (maybe tonight if it doesn't rain) The full sized spook worked well last time I fished for them (10 years ago) but the fish were bigger then.

Thanks again for the info.

Quillback,

I have to stress that I don't think it is all the fish that congregrate up there. I think most of them stay in the main lake hanging on mid lake humps and roll offs on the flats, but some of them do move up in the creeks when it gets hot.

FWIW, I have been catching quite a few white bass on main lake points between Elm Creek and SB bridge. I can never resist dropping a spoon on them a few times when I see them on the graph, even if we are fishing for largemouths. It drives all of my buddies who only want to fish for LMs crazy.

[Quillback]

I would just as soon catch Whites as Largemouth, especially on light tackle.

[Bill Butts]

Chris~

The response you got from the ODWC biologist may be an answer they give to a lot of folks if they are unsure of your attitude toward the Hybrids. I know those folks and I really believe if you make it known you are "pro-Hybrids" they would be a lot more open.

The two main biologists who man that spoonbill station are Brent Gordon and Ashley Foster. Brent is one of the ODWC spoonbill gurus, but his main fishery responsibilities are the AR River, Keystone Lake, Oologah Lake, plus some small ones. He also captures the Stripers their hatchery folks spawn to make more Stripers and all the Hybrids, each April from the AR River (they are returned after short term post-spawn observation). By the way, the AR River is NOT stocked with Stripers, they are all wild fish, and gorgeous they are. The hatchery produced Stripers are stocked elsewhere in the state.

Ashley has Grand Lake but I'm not sure what others. She has just been on that fishery for about a year.

My opinion is that they have extremely good folks doing wonderful work for fishermen in OK.

The ODWC has also been conducting comparative studies of original strain vs reciprocal Hybrid Stripers in Kaw Lake. Studying primarily two issues: which strain grows the fastest and which has a greater tendency to go down river thru the dams during extended periods of strong outflow like we've had the past two springs (high or flooded tributaries inflowing lots of water, the dams outflowing lots of water thru generators and/or flood gates, therefore significant current thru the lake).

One of their research guys told me this spring that they are finding a near equal tendency with each strain for migrating down current, and that the original strain is definitely the faster growing of the two. I believe he said there is one more year in their 5 year study, but he was pretty sure they would not be creating many of the reciprocal Hybrids after the study was completed.

The question that keeps circulating in my mind is I wonder what % of the 690,000 Hybrids they stocked 4 years ago are still swimming in Grand Lake, and how many migrated down to Hudson, of those that have survived.

I have intended but not taken the time to call the game wardens for the counties covered by Grand and see what comments about Hybrids they have heard in the past couple of years.

Hope you can get out there again, today. You must live pretty close. ???

Good luck,

Bill

[Bird Watcher]

Bill,

Ha! yeah those were the two that I was talking to about it. Actually, to be honest, I was talking to an intern about it while Ashley was standing right next him. She wasn't talking much, she had a dip in her mouth (say whatever you want about it, she was still hot ) The intern was the one that made the comment about controlling the shad population, she just kind of nodded her head. Great folks, both herself and Brent Gordon. Fascinating just to shoot the bull with them while they were cleaning the spoonbill.

Thanks for all the information. You are now my foremost authority on Hybrids in Grand.

Yeah, I lived most of my life in Joplin and now I live in Goodman. Either way you slice it, I've always been 25 minutes from the lake.

I am going to try it again tonight if this storm will just slide a little to the North. I actually have a different creek in mind than the one I fished last night. I kind of want to rest those fish and scout some new water. I'll report back on what I find if I go. Oh, I did go get a couple Zara puppies at lunch too.

Thanks again for the info.

[Bird Watcher]

The question that keeps circulating in my mind is I wonder what % of the 690,000 Hybrids they stocked 4 years ago are still swimming in Grand Lake, and how many migrated down to Hudson, of those that have survived.

I have heard a LOT of reports of people catching them this year, but 690,000 fish is a ton of fish. I mean when you compare that number to what AGFC stocks for stripers on Beaver. you could probably lose a couple hundred thousand downstream and never miss them. FWIW, I also saw one of the old fish last night while I was fishing. It was big and there is no mistaking that blue green color and the lines down the side when they blow past you.