Oklahoma anglers urged to take online survey to improve fishing

            As part of an ongoing effort to provide quality fishing experiences for anglers, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s fisheries division works regularly to establish “fish attractors” in lakes across the state, and now the Department wants the public’s input on how those areas impact angling.
            Biologists with the Wildlife Department are conducting an online survey to gain feedback from anglers on what types of fish attracting structure seems to draw more fish, which types work best for increasing angler success and where fish attractors should be located. Anglers are asked to log on to the Wildlife Department’s Web site at wildlifedepartment.com to take the survey.
            In recent years, the Wildlife Department’s fisheries personnel have been sinking brush piles and spider blocks in waters all across the state in hopes of attracting fish and increasing angler success. Brush piles are brought to lakes from other areas or cut from the lake’s own shoreline. Spider blocks, which are manmade fish attractors built from rubber hosing that is cemented into cinderblocks to create plantlike structure, are made by fisheries personnel as well as volunteers such as school groups and then strategically dropped into lakes across the state. Additionally, aquatic vegetation planting projects conducted by the Department also have been employed in some cases as a method for attracting fish.
            “When hunting for deer, turkey and quail, it’s beneficial to have access to areas that attract game and to know where those areas are located, and it is the same way with fishing,” said Barry Bolton, chief of fisheries for the Wildlife Department. “Our state’s waters are full of fish, but anglers know there is a lot more to finding and catching them than just knowing that they live in the water. It’s helps to find areas that draw and congregate fish. And while we have been working to establish areas like this to improve fishing for our state’s anglers, we need to know how well it is working.”
            Biologists with the Wildlife Department say all comments and suggestions are welcome, and the information gained from the survey will be used to refine future habitat enhancement efforts.
            “The habitat work done by the Wildlife Department is aimed at producing quality fishing, so the interests and concerns of our sportsmen are important to us,” said Gene Gilliland, central region fisheries supervisor for the Wildlife Department.
            For more information about fishing in Oklahoma or to take the survey, log on to wildlifedepartment.com.
 
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