Thread: All you OKC fishermen

Originally Posted by cricket george

There is a proposal that will be coming out soon regarding funding of the hatchery. I do not know anything concrete about it as of yet. When I do I will let everyone know. City hall was inundated by angler calls and other people. It was reported to me that 60% of the calls were from anglers and 40% by others. City hall felt the heat. I was informed twice that crappie.com members and Friends of Lake Hefner members were instrumental in putting on the heat.

The next OKC Game and Fish Commission meeting is slated for July 12th. I would suggest anyone interested to come to the meeting. I will let everyone know of the meeting site. It has been at the Will Rogers Park bldg at 36th & Hefner Parkway.

Please send a thank you to all council members, mayor,city manager and Wendell Wisenhunt who actually was in favor,personally, of retaining the Hatchery.

WTG everyone.:D:D

But you said he's the one that proposed the closing What to heck?

Originally Posted by cricket george

Your calls need to be aimed at Wendell Wisenhunt,director of Parks and Recreation Department. He is the one who is proposing to close the hatchery. The City is asking for a 12% across the board budget cut in all departments. He has received numerous calls already on this matter. Let's step up the calls and tell him know what you think.

Here it is.

So he changed his mind between April and now?

Scott- The smoke is clearing. Wendell,personally, did want to see it closed it seems. There still is some smoke that has not cleared and may not totally. There is an under current still, if you understand what I mean. I think I know who but I cannot put that info in writing. I talked with one of the councilmen this morning and he advised me that there may not be a fee increase coming.

I do know that with all the calls that hit city hall alot of eyes were opened and city hall clearly knows that people do not want to see hatchery closed. There is more going on under the surface than I can discuss right now. If you would like to get involved or know more then please attend the OKC Game & Fish Commission meeting July 12th. It meets at Will Rogers Park main bldg at 1:00PM, I think. I will annouce everything when the time comes. I know that several of the council members want to work on some improvements around the lake.
I have suggested twice today to start enforcing the fishing and boating permits and that will pick up some revenues. It will not take long before people know that they better have a permit so they don't have to pay a fine.

Scott- if you want to talk to me about specifics then shoot me a pm.

CG

I agree cricket.....I buy both my fishing and boat permit every year....and sometimes I feel like I am just wasting my money because no one else seems to buy them....I have mentioned it several times...but Hefner is primarily used for sailing...and yet, maybe 10 percent of the sailboats stored there have current lake permits stuck to them....The last time I was actually checked for my fishing permit there was in the 90s...I don't really like being checked...but, if it will bring in more money from those breaking the law..then I am all for it!

OOOOOOHHHH CCC****P, I am glad I re read my post, I made a mistake. Wendell Wisenhunt,personally, did NOT want to see the hatchery closed. He commented to a couple of people that he was glad that the hatchery was going to stay open. My mistake for typing too fast and not double checking what I wrote:o

Lazylakedog - please shoot me a PM with your cell #.

Bob Martin just stocked 42,000 hybrid fingerlings in Lake Overholser last week.

The fishing clinics are still planned as usual in July and August. Call the hatchery for time and places 755-4014.

Channel cats are coming to the hatchery soon for rearing. Stay tuned......



CG

Originally Posted by cricket george

Bob Martin just stocked 42,000 hybrid fingerlings in Lake Overholser last week.

The fishing clinics are still planned as usual in July and August. Call the hatchery for time and places 755-4014.

Channel cats are coming to the hatchery soon for rearing. Stay tuned......



CG

Overholser appears so barren. Does it have much underwater structure? I drive by there pretty often and see lots of fisherman tight lining the banks as if they are catfishing.

Scott - Overholser is virtually a wasteland as far as structure is concerned. The deepest water is on the Eastside. I have been told that the crappie average better than Hefner but I cannot speak from experience. Overholser was a sleeper when it came to hybrids. The fish were averaging 5 pounds+ until the torrential rains came flooded the lake a few years ago and all or most of the hybrids went thru the dam. Hybrids go with the flow. That's why Kaw lake has such good hybrid fishing because they left a Kansas lake or two during a flood. The second primary fishing in Overholser is for catfish. I hope this answers your question.

Bob is just pumping up the population in O/H again trying to gain ground.

I am going to try to have some news each month on City lake happenings to keep everyone informed on what the OKC hatchery is doing for you the fishermen. CDC and Friends of Lake Hefner REALLY opened up City Hall's eyes about the importance of the hatchery to the citizens. I do not want to see that power/importance go away. I expect next year we may have another fight on our hands because of a couple of people. So i want o try and keep fresh info coming to everyone so if a fight starts our voices will be hear loud and clear. I personally was stunned to see what all of us accomplished. I never fully understood the power CDC wielded until after the the vote had been taken.