FLORIDA BASS PRODUCTION UNDER WAY AT OKLAHOMA'S DURANT HATCHERY
As Oklahoma's summertime fishing action fades into fond memories, the state's fish hatcheries are turning their focus onto creating many great fishing memories of the future. In mid-September, employees at the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation's Durant State Fish Hatchery took another step in the process of raising Florida largemouth bass (FLMB) for stocking in state waters next spring. About 1,000 DNA-certified FLMB brood fish are maintained at the hatchery in southern Oklahoma. These fish are spawned each spring to produce the fingerlings that are stocked into state lakes. However, new brooders must be certified each year to replace those lost to retirement or old age. Oklahoma's largemouth bass state record has been broken the past two consecutive years, and each of these record fish were verified to have Florida genes. The Wildlife Department began stocking Florida bass in Oklahoma waters in the 1970s, wit...