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I finally made my move to Enid from Raleigh and I'm interested in local fishing. Sold my boat before moving, so I'll start out shore fishing. The only place I have looked at so far is Canton, which looks like a decent boat lake. Panfish like crappie or white bass would be fine to start with. Any suggestions?
you are kinda close to a lot of lakes. I have never fished Canton, but heard it has a fair amount of crappie in it. then there is Salt Plains Lake, that is close to you and full of catfish. Awesome place for a evening fire and throw some rods out. to the east, you have sooner lake that is great for catfish, sandbass, hybrids, stripers, and i hear mixed reviews on crappie. to the south east, there is Lake Carl Blackwell, great fishing, they have a heated fish house, and room for lots of bank fishing. You decide to come to blackwell sometime, I will take you out. Perry has a lake, I have never fished it, but family of mine have pulled several 2 pound crappie from it. Kaw Lake, is outside of Ponca City about 8 miles east, its a great fishing lake also.
Sooner lake is a power generation lake which recycles water and pushes out warm water thus it's good lake during the winter.
There are Crappie in it but it's been several years since I fished it. We were after winter hybrids and the channel that returns the warm water draws the shad up there.
I would think that the crappie would follow the shad. There was a lot of standing timer in the lake in some areas. It's definitely worth a try when it gets cold.
Kaw lake has always been a good fishing lake and I have heard lots of Crappie stories but never fished it myself... I would definitely make a run at it though.
Also tons of arrowheads found below the dam when the water is down... so keep your eyes peeled when fishing it you could find them around the waters edge as well.
Good fishing
Crappie Beater
Thanks guys, gives me some starter ideas. Anyone ever try the 4 city lakes or the smaller near ones like Heffner? May not be big crappie, but I'd think some type of panfish must be in them.
I have never fished the lakes in or around the city. I know alot of people fish there, but there are also a ton of people from that area who travel down to Lake Carl Blackwell and fish because they say the fishing is better, not so crowded at times and Blackwell has a nice fish house for the wet and cold times. Let us know how you do when you choose a lake to fish
Hefner is full of fish , in the winter the dam stacks up with crappie , in the spring , it's the boat docks , it is full of sand bass and hybrids , it has a good population of walleye up to 12 lbs. , fair largemouth fishing and small mouth off the east side rocks , all the cats are in it in good numbers . the thing about Hefner is , the fish can get in but they cant get out . Overholster use to be great for crappie , channel cats and hybrids before they rebuilt the dam but its coming back , in the spring doodle sock the rocks for crappie and slip cork for channels . they are permit lakes but not to bad 25 bucks for the year to fish all the close to home lakes. if you like bluegill , American horse is the place to be , bigger than your hand . Canton has the best numbers of walleye in the state and is also a good crappie lake , slip cork the jetties . hope this helps , good luck !
If you are after big slabs, kaw is your lake. Canton has big slabs too but has been hit hard by low water.
Salt plains lake is dead and will not be restocked by ODWC. Canton is a good crappie, walleye, channel cat, white bass and hybrid lake. It also has a lot of big bluegill. American Horse lake is closed until further notice due to low water conditions. Kaw is the best bet for crappie and catfish.
What happened to Salt Plains? That was a great catfish lake.
salt plains silted in, got real shallow, and with no rain the fish all died.
Scott, sent a pm with my number. I'm in Enid and seems like I'm always looking for someone to go with.
Wow. I had no idea. Thanks for the heads up.
Still gathering background info. Looks like another month or so. Curious about Lake Hellums north of town now. Also Big Al's bait shop or other alternatives to Walmart for bait and tackle in town.
Lake Hellums is a pond, privately owned by Grondyke. It was the local swimming hole/water park for lots of years before that. Big Al's is fine for live bait and he usually has lots of hand made lures available as well, real nice guy. There is also a place on Grand, can't remember the name right now but they have stuff as well. They lease water around here and it is s almost worse than hunting as far as finding a place, even if you are willing to pay. I love pond fishing but won't pay to fish a place with who knows how many more folks. If you are boat less, Lake Watonga may be a place but I can't give you specifics on crappie, they do stock it several times through the winter with trout and you can usually catch a limit there without a lot of work. American Horse is awesome and when they open it back up it would be the place I would give the top nod to without a boat(although I would recommend a tube at the least).
Thanks. Getting more and more into the fishing mood. Not sure it is worth the out of state license though.
Do the lakes here freeze up over winter, or are they fishable year round?
You can fish all year here. No winter freeze up!
Salt plains is tough. I fish the creeks for cats. CANTON CRAPPIE 2013 CAUGHT A FEW but its tough.
Back in the 80's, Canton froze up enough to go out on the ice and fish. I was busy with work and refereeing, but the guys who went over there said that the crappie and walleye fishing was the best they had ever seen, although their hearts started pounding every time the ice would "groan".
I been fishing the crappie in the winter at canton since 1992. I catch them every year but 2012 was the bomb crappie jan by the trees rip rap .the always key on one color. If the guide is on the rip rap the bite is hot. Catch buckets full. But no heated dock rip rap. Yes hefner is on right now. I live in enid too far
Im from enid too. I TRYED the crappie at sooner today one bite cold. I wanted to try canton but had a appt. Oh well. I might try canton sunday. Catch them on slip corks been fishing it since 92