Family-Outdoors

Oklahoma City and Tulsa area trout fishing seasons will wrap up Feb. 29, but anglers will still be able to fish for rainbows and browns for a few more weeks at the six seasonal Wildlife Department trout fisheries found statewide.     Dolese Youth Park Pond in Oklahoma City and Veterans Park Pond in Jenks are stocked with trout annually in December, January and February. These " Close to Home Fishing " sites require anglers to have a state fishing license, and the limit is six trout per day. Anglers fishing at the Dolese pond also are required to have an Oklahoma City fishing permit.     Anglers at both metro sites may still catch and keep trout after the stocking season closes on Feb. 29, as long as trout remain in the water.     Trout stocking will continue into March and April at the Wildlife Department's six winter trout fishing areas statewide. The areas are: Robbers Cave: In Robbers Cave State Park, the Robbers Cave trout fishery is in the Fourch...

Sunset looking west over Lake Winnebago at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, (Photo credit: Wikipedia) With the past week's general rise in temperature following an almost Spring-like weekend, snow and ice depths, integrity and visibility are changing dramatically across the state and will continue to do so as we move towards this weekend's warmer weather. Several areas of the state received an inch or so of snowfall recently, and the applicable trails have been groomed. However, in areas that didn't receive snow or experienced warmer temperatures before the early-week freeze, a number of trails are losing their snow to a layer of ice, which should be approached with caution. Likewise, depending on your location in the state, anglers hiking out on the ice may also have an inch or more of slush to traverse. Some anglers may have been fishing open water this past week and weekend. For those who did, whitefish saw some of the most consistent success rates, with bass and pike also hav...

Ice drill used in winter fishing. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) NORTHWEST Brushy Creek Lake Ice is pulling away from the shoreline and is unsafe for ice fishing. Anglers can begin preparation for the open water season. Storm Lake (including Little Storm Lake) As of Feb. 24th, anglers were out on the main basin of the lake. If you do venture out, use extreme caution as ice conditions will only continue to deteriorate every day. There are areas of open water near shore, near the islands, and the inlet. Black Hawk Lake Aerators in Town Bay are in operation; there are areas of open water and thin ice. Test holes drilled on Thursday, Feb. 25th near the Ice House Point boat ramp showed 8 inches of clear ice under 4 inches of cloudy ice. Ice conditions will continue to deteriorate over the weekend so use extra caution if venturing out and test ice depths frequently. Arrowhead Lake As of Thursday Feb. 25th, test holes drilled near the boat ramp showed 6 inches of clear i...

The Dallas Safari Club has honored an Oklahoma woman with its 2016 Outstanding Hunting Achievement Award, the highest award given by the organization to recognize accomplished hunters.     Suzie Brewster of Marietta accepted the award Jan. 9 at the DSC's annual convention. She is married to Bill Brewster, a member of the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission that oversees the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.     Brewster was honored in 2011 with the Safari Club International's Diana Award, which recognizes female SCI members who hunt, and in 2003 with the Sybil Luddington Women's Freedom Award from the National Rifle Association, which honors achievements in education and promoting Second Amendment rights at a national level. She becomes the only woman to win all three of these prestigious national awards for hunting, conservation and involvement.     "It makes me feel like a queen," she said. "I was so excited and I could hardly stand...

You’ve probably heard of the American robin, and may have seen one tugging at worms in your yard. These birds – harbingers of spring, joyful songsters, jolly, round bundles of grey and rust – are a common sight in Michigan. In fact, the robin is so identifiable and well-loved that it was named our state bird in 1931. There was a time, however, when robins were not as common as they are today. In the post-World War II years, DDT and other pesticides were widely used. Farmers sprayed DDT on their fields to reduce crop pests, cities applied it to elm trees to kill the beetles that spread Dutch elm disease, and homeowners used it to control household insects.  Luckily, scientists began to recognize that widespread use of pesticides, including DDT, was causing problems for birds like the American robin. An ornithologist from Michigan State University named George Wallace and his graduate students collected birds from MSU and surrounding suburbs from the mid-1950s into the 1960s....

CENTRAL Hefner: February 22. Elevation above normal, water 47-52 and clear. Largemouth bass fair on crankbaits and jigs along shorelines. Crappie fair on minnows and jigs along riprap and docks. White bass and striped bass hybrids fair on minnows, jigs and grubs along riprap and docks. Channel and blue catfish fair on cut bait along shorelines. Walleye slow on grubs and lipless baits along shorelines. Report submitted by Lucky Lure Tackle. NORTHEAST Lower Illinois: February 21. Elevation normal, water 50 and murky. Trout good on PowerBait and in-line spinnerbaits below the dam and in the Watts area. Report submitted by Jeremy Bersche, game warden stationed in Sequoyah County. Oologah: February 21. Elevation normal, water 45 and murky. Crappie fair on minnows and jigs at 10-15 ft. around brush structure. White bass slow on jigs at 10-15 ft. along the Verdigris River channel above the lake. Blue catfish fair on cut bait and shad at 10-15 ft. along standing timber at the north e...

Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commissioners unanimously approved a slate of regulation additions and changes during their regular meeting Feb. 1 at Quartz Mountain Resort Lodge in Lone Wolf. The regulations, changes to Title 800 that governs the operations of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, were proposed in December and went through a public comment period in January. Among the most notable changes and additions are: Legal shooting hours will close at 7 p.m. daily during spring turkey season on several wildlife management areas in western Oklahoma: Altus-Lugert, Beaver River, Beaver River-McFarland Unit, Black Kettle, Cimarron Bluff, Cimarron Hills, Cooper, Ellis County, Fort Supply, Optima, Packsaddle, Rita Blanca and Sandy Sanders. The rule is designed to reduce disruption as turkeys are returning to roosting sites. The statewide bag limit for hybrid striped bass will be 20 per day with o...