[oucorry]

By Ed Godfrey
Outdoors Editor
Canton Lake once was home of the state record hybrid, and it nearly was again.


On April 19, James Jones Jr. of Canton landed a striped bass hybrid weighing 23 pounds, 3 ounces from his home lake, just 1 ounce shy of the current state record.

The state record of 23 pounds, 4 ounces was pulled in 1997 from Lake Altus-Lugert.

Jones landed the brute on a 1-oz. Rat-L-Trap in 4 to 6 feet of water while fishing for walleyes.

John Stahl, northwest fisheries chief for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, said he wasn't surprised by Canton's big hybrid.

"I had a state record in my hands a few years ago,” he said.

Stahl and another wildlife department employee were sampling walleye on Canton Lake when a huge hybrid got caught in their walleye net. It took both men to release it.

"We got her out and turned her loose,” Stahl said. "We guessed it at 24 pounds.”

The hybrid fishing has been hot lately on Canton.

"Right now, the spilling basin is full of 4-pound plus hybrids and some nice walleye,” Stahl said.

Thunder Road, on the north shoreline of the lake, is another hot spot, but the fishing is better there with a stout south wind, he said.

When fishing from Thunder Road, Road Runners, purple 3-inch twist tails, night crawlers and cut shad are suggested baits for hybrids, he said.

"Throw out as far as you can,” Stahl said. "Chest waders are preferable to get further out from the bank.”

In the spilling basin, crappie jigs below a weighted cork have been effective, he said.

"Throw to the white water,” Stahl said.

Short rubber boots are needed when fishing at the spilling basin.