By KELLY BOSTIAN Outdoors Writer on Aug 21, 2012, at 7:31 PM Updated on 8/21 at 7:31 PM
THE OUTDOORS
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The rules of collecting a record-breaking catch in Oklahoma are every bit as strict as the ones in Arkansas that caused Rodney Ply to miss out (so far) on record designation of the 68-pound striped bass he caught in Bulls Shoals Lake back in February -- but Oklahoma might be better prepared to handle such a fish since its Lake Records program was launched four years ago.
The weighing of an official state-record fish must be witnessed by an employee of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (usually a game warden) and a biologist must confirm the species, but finding certified scales might not be as hard as it was for Ply.
Ply said he had to drive 30 miles to meet a game warden and then continued with the game warden and “drove around half the night” trying to find certified scales that would handle his 68-pound fish. The scales at the marina where he had first weighed his fish were certified at one time but the certification had expired.
In Ply’s case a game warden certified the scales the following day and took statements from witnesses, but still the state's Game and Fish commissioner determined the record was invalid because no employee actually saw the fish on the scales.
Final decisions on records in Oklahoma are made by the Chief of Fisheries.
“When we started our lake records program all our area offices got certified scales,” said Oklahoma’s Assistant Chief of Fisheries Gene Gilliland. All of the offices have scales that handle smaller fish and fish up to 150 pounds, he said. “But then again you’re sort of restricted there to weekdays and regular business hours.”
Scott Hood, Oklahoma representative for the International Game Fish Association, said he carries portable certified scales with him at all times, “but they only go up to 35 pounds,” he said.
Gilliland said a Wildlife Department employee must be present so the first thing to do if a suspected state-record fish is caught outside regular business hours is to call a county game warden immediately.
The next step would be to find “any business that sells products, retail, by weight.” Grocery stores and butcher shops typically have state certified scales but often they can’t be used to weigh fish because of food safety regulations. “Sometimes a feed store is an option,” he said.
Another benefit of the lake records program is that some of the bait shops and sporting goods stores that have signed up with the state as official weigh-in spots have taken the extra step of having their scales certified. “I couldn’t tell you which ones, but that may be an option as well,” he said.
The place to start is with the lake records section on the department’s Web site at tulsaworld.com/wildlife or with the state Fishing Guide regulations booklet, which lists record guidelines, county game wardens and sites participating in the lake records program.
The lesson from Ply's experience is to not give up on finding scales until the fish is weighed in front of a department employee.
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