Blue Catfish Oologah Lake
Trophy Blue Catfish hunting time on Oologah Lake in Oklahoma since our water temps are finally down and the water is getting back to normal. Cold water and normal water levels create a perfect condition for the winter feed to pick up for blue catfish on all our area lakes in Oklahoma and region.
It was a crisp 23 degrees when we arrived at the boat ramp this morning. I don’t get the opportunity to fish with my dad as much was we’d like, so we treasured this time on the water together. A great family friend, Tommy, also accompanied us in search for trophy blue catfish on Oologah Lake.
They called for a high of 27 degrees and a 10-15 mph wind with gusts to 25 mph. It was a great day to put the top up, side curtains on, turn the heater on, and sit back and watch big blue catfish bury the rod down.
Our game plan was squashed with the cold north wind and big swells, so we had to devise a new game plan and search some new areas that we don’t normally fish. Some of you know that I grew up in the area, but began my career guiding and teaching in Texas before moving back home four years ago. When we decided to move back to Oklahoma, I sat in the garage with my fish finder marking areas should produce trophy catfish at Oologah and other surrounding lakes.
We looked at the map and found a few waypoints I had marked about six years ago that looked fishable with the wind conditions we had today. I graphed out several of the waypoint areas and finally found a ditch near deep water with broken up bait and big blue catfish in pursuit!!!
We decided to anchor today versus dragging baits with the trolling motor. It took two anchors and the MinnKota trolling motor to keep us anchored today.
About 5 minutes into getting the fresh cut baits in the water, we had a gentle bite on the shallow side, but he didn’t take it. We waited another ten minutes until we got a good solid pull down and Tommy was battling the first fish of the day. As Tommy was reeling his fish in, the rod on the opposite side of the boat went down and dad was reeling in a big fish. I used fish grips from Team Catfish on Tommy’s fish to pull him in the boat since we could tell dad’s fish was bigger and landed easier with the net.
Over the next couple of hours, we landed multiple double digit fish with about a dozen eating size for Tommy to have a fish fry. We let the fish over 30″ (about 12 pounds) live another day to keep our breading fish population healthy.
The next 10 weeks will be trophy blue catfish prime time!!! If you’re interested in book a trip in search of big blue catfish or spoonbill paddlefish, give us a call/text at 918-607-7357, email lancesguideservice@gmail.com.
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