For the record, Thunderbird produced eight bass per hour, and five were longer than 14 inches. The biggest weighed 7.8 pounds.

“The shocking results you see here are a result of what happened two, three, four years ago,” Gilliland said. “Low water plus low cover equals poor recruitment.”

Lake Draper is on life support, with 6 bass per hour and only two larger than 14 inches. The biggest weighed 4 pounds.

SOUTH-CENTRAL
Lake Arbuckle
For overall quality of both fishing and the fishing experience, the lakes in south-central Oklahoma may be our best, and Lake Arbuckle is arguably the best lake in the state. Aside from its stunning beauty, it also supports healthy populations of largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass.

During the 2007 surveys, Arbuckle produced 130 bass per hour, of which 57 (44 percent) were longer than 14 inches. The biggest bass weighed 10.5 pounds. That reflects both good numbers and size.

“Arbuckle was one that they made a big deal out of this year,” Gilliland reported. “They had a 10-pounder, a 9-pounder and a couple of 8s. Paul Mauck (south-central fisheries supervisor) said it was one of the best electrofishing results he’d ever seen at Arbuckle.”

Again, its quality is the result of many strong year-classes, as evidenced by the big fish. The secret is perennially stable water levels and its abundance of aquatic vegetation. They go hand-in-hand.

“It’s far enough south that it typically has strong threadfin shad populations,” Gilliland said. “There’s not much winter kill, and it doesn’t fluctuate drastically. That’s a real stable environment for bass production.”

High water enables healthy spawns. Aquatic vegetation and ample forage enable high recruitment, year after year.

“Ten-pounders don’t grow up overnight,” Gilliland said. “Those fish were there and had been there for years. The planets lined up just right, and they were able to sample those fish. They’ve been there for years in that kind of number and quality, and this year’s survey proved it. Tournament results kind of bore that out, too.”

Lake Longmire
Not far from Arbuckle is Lake Longmire, an excellent if overlooked ODWC lake near Davis. In last year’s electrofishing surveys, it produced 58 bass per hour, of which 43 (74 percent) were larger than 14 inches. The biggest weighed 9.3 pounds. It’s a good place to go for consistent numbers of big bass, with an excellent chance to catch a monster.

Durant Lake
This lake graded out similar to Longmire. It produced 55 bass per hour, of which 33 (60 percent) were longer than 14 inches. The biggest bass weighed 9 pounds. This is a lake definitely worth looking into!

SOUTHEAST
Pine Creek
Of the six lakes in this region surveyed in 2007, only Pine Creek Reservoir was larger than 1,000 acres. It drains a fairly sterile watershed in the Kiamichi Mountains, and although it produced respectable numbers of bass last spring, it produced few big fish.

Specifically, it produced 82 bass per hour, but only 15 (18 percent) were larger than 14 inches. The biggest bass weighed 5.1 pounds.

Cedar Lake
The best lake in this region was Cedar Lake, a tiny lake in the Ouachita National Forest. Last spring it produced 123 bass per hour, of which 70 exceeded 14 inches. The biggest bass in the sample weighed 8.3 pounds.