Canton

[Swede]

Anyone been out west to Canton?  Used to fish it a lot when stationed at Enid. 

[Barney Leonard]

Swede I've never fished Canton before.I was looking at the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife site about it and seems to be some good fishing over there.Quite a few of the lakes in northwest Oklahoma have been hit hard by the drought that we've been going through here in Oklahoma.Canton is only six feet low at the moment.
The Great Salt Plains lake seems to be hit the hardest by the drought.This summer there was a very large fish kill that killed off about everything in that lake.The state guys have started to restock that lake and say that it will be five or six years before it'll start to pick back up.I sure hope it starts to rain at some point.

[Swede]

Caught some eating sized saugeye up there at Great Salt Plains.  Some pretty good goose hunting up that way as well.  Canton was my favorite place to head on the weekends.  Fished it all year round.  Very good for multiple species - walleye, bass, catfish, crappie, sand bass, etc.  A lot of great fishing right from shore walking the long rock dam there.  Biggest walleye was 4 pounds.  Bass - about 3 pounds.  Flathead catfish - 9-10 pounds.  Crappie - 1.5-2 pounds.  Small roostertail spinners, small CBs produced best.  Jigging spoon around the edges of the flats in middle of the lake worked for sand bass and walleye.  You really need to head over there - give it a try.  Used to know a bait shop owner out that way - lived near Roman-Nose State Park.  Great guy - lost touch with him over the years.

[skeeter jones]

Swede,  It is suppose to be some of the best Waleye fishing around.  I've been wanting to get up there it's about 1.5 hours away. Barney, what species was hit the hardest as far as the kill goes?

[Barney Leonard]

Skeeter I heard from some catfisherman that it was really hard on the catfish,but haven't heard about other species.After the holidays I'll try to get ahold of someone who knows whats going on up there.Below is all the information that was listed on the Department of Wildlife's site from August.

Heat, drought combine to cause fish kill at Great Salt Plains Lake (8/10/06)

High temperatures and prolonged drought led to a major fish kill at Great Salt Plains Lake in northcentral Oklahoma this week. Biologists with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation estimate 10,000 fish have died due to low dissolved oxygen levels in the lake.

                "This is a major fish kill and it reflects how this abnormal weather not only affects farmers and ranchers, but it also affects our lakes and our fisheries resources," said Barry Bolton, assistant chief of fisheries for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. "We are monitoring the situation closely. Unfortunately, there is simply not anything we can do to remedy high heat and lack of rain."

                According to Bolton, Great Salt Plains is a relatively shallow reservoir making it particularly susceptible to warm water temperatures.

                "What we really need is some rain, cooler temperatures or strong winds - unfortunately none of these conditions are in the short-term forecast and there is a real concern that this situation could get worse before it gets better," Bolton said. "However, nature is very resilient and long term outlook remains positive. We will continue to monitor the situation and we will adjust our management efforts, such as stocking, in the future if that is appropriate."

There have been no other fish kills reported in other state reservoirs.