After two straight years of high water, Oklahoma bass anglers can look forward to some outstanding fishing in the next few years.

This spring, however, anglers will notice the results of a couple of recent low-water years. The bass that spawned in 2005 and 2006 should be keeper-sized fish this year, but because of poor spawning and recruitment conditions during those years, there probably will be fewer of them compared to what we'll see in 2010-11. We'll probably notice the difference in the number of keeper bass we catch this year, too, but overall we can expect a productive year of bass fishing.

As always, there's a good chance of catching a state-record largemouth or smallmouth bass on certain lakes. On Feb. 28, 2008, for example, Allen Gifford set a new lake record at Lake Arbuckle by catching a 14-pound, 8-ounce largemouth on a titanium spinnerbait. March traditionally is a great time to catch monster bass in the Sooner State, so right now is the time to be on the water, provided you can get to the water. High water prevented many anglers from getting on their favorite lakes and rivers last year because access areas were flooded and boating conditions often were unsafe.

Gene Gilliland, bass biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, said high water certainly provided great spawning and recruitment conditions, but the flooding made it tough to get good fisheries data. The ODWC couldn't run electrofishing surveys on some lakes, and high water also forced the cancellation of a lot of tournaments.

Ordinarily, the ODWC gleans a lot of useful data from tournaments. If anglers can't get to the fish, the fishing is not going to be very good, but that doesn't reflect the number or quality of fish in a body of water.

"So much of our quality of fishing in this state depends on water, not so much from the fishing standpoint, but from an access standpoint," Gilliland said. "You can say bass should be there in 2009, but if you don't have the conditions that allow people and fish to get together, that's something you can't control."

One thing we do know is that the future is exceptionally bright for Oklahoma bass fishing. Spawning and recruitment for bass was outstanding the last two years, and Gilliland said anglers can expect to see a lot of small bass. Also, we finally have overcome the effects of the largemouth bass virus that hit our waters a few years ago, so the adult bass we now have are healthy. Overall, the average angler probably won't notice the effects of the few lean years.

"Since bass live 10 to 12 years, if we have a couple of bad years, it doesn't hurt us too bad," Gilliland said. "It's a small hole in the population out of that 10-year span. If you have a big, long string of drought years, say four or five years, then you have a really big hole, and that really shows up in fishing quality."

Fortunately, we don't have any big holes in our bass populations. The only question now is where to go to find the best bass fishing. You won't have to go far, because chances are you can find a little taste of it somewhere close, in a lake close to home. Here's a region-by-region breakdown of our best spots.

NORTHEAST
Of all the lakes in northeastern Oklahoma, the ODWC sampled only two, Grand Lake and Chimney Rock. Both lakes are in great shape, and Chimney Rock has emerged in recent years as an excellent spot for catching trophy largemouths.