sponsored by
Zeiner's Angler Supply
The Kansas Angler Online
and Swim Tail Lures |
High water temperatures result
in continued delays for Lower Illinois trout stockings.
October 22, 2008 - Warm weather conditions
have prompted the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
to postpone regular trout stockings at the Lower Illinois River
below Tenkiller, but biologists say water temperatures are slowly
decreasing.
Wildlife Department officials had hoped to resume
stockings by the end of October, but water temperatures have
remained too warm for trout, temporarily preventing further stocking.
According to Jim Burroughs, east central region
fisheries supervisor for the Wildlife Department, it was heavy
spring rains and a period of extreme heating that combined to
create the unusually warm water in Tenkiller Reservoir.
These waters are released through turbines used
for hydropower generation and flow directly into the Lower Illinois
River trout stream.
"This has been a very unusual year,"
says Gary Peterson, east central region fisheries biologist for
the Department. "Temperatures need to be 65 degrees or lower
in the tailrace during power generation before regular stockings
can begin again."
Officials are routinely monitoring water temperatures,
and although they are beginning to decrease, it is at a very
slow rate. Stockings have been discontinued since August 12 and
will resume as soon as temperatures reach optimum levels.
According to biologists with the Wildlife Department,
trout that were in the water before temperatures warmed to near
lethal limits have a better chance of adapting to the temperatures
and may find springs and other refuges where colder temperatures
may exist.
The Lower Illinois River is one of only two year-round
trout fisheries in the state and is managed by the Wildlife Department.
Anglers are still having success at the Lower Illinois
River catching largemouth bass on topwater lures in the backwaters
and weed beds.
Additionally, striped bass fishing is good on cut
bait, and catfish angling is fair on cut bait along the bottom
of the river.
For more information about trout fishing in Oklahoma,
log on to wildlifedepartment.com.
Back to
Zeiner's Angler Supply | Kansas
Angler Online |
Swim Tail Lures
|