What Kinds of Fish in Turner Falls, Oklahoma?

Bass

• Black bass are common sights in most major fishing holes and rivers in Oklahoma. The species stocked are largemouth and smallmouth bass, white or sand bass, and some spotted bass. They all look similar to the untrained eye. The way to tell them apart is by the relationship of the mouth hinge to the eye. In the largemouth, the hinge lines up behind the eye. In the smallmouth, it lines up in front of, and in the spotted bass, it lines up directly. Though found mostly in eastern Oklahoma and the Wichita Mountains area, smallmouth and spotted bass can be found in Lake Texoma and most likely the Washita River - though are considered rare.

Trout and Crappie

• Two species of trout have been introduced in Oklahoma and have been caught in Turner Falls: the brown trout and rainbow trout. Many of them may not reach "large" designation, but the state records for each are both over 24 inches in length. This lends some credence to the idea that the trout are surviving the summer months in deep, cool places and growing larger. Other fish found regularly are the black crappie and white crappie. These fish regularly reach weights over five pounds, and are closely related. The best way to distinguish them is to count the dorsal fin spines: white crappies have six, and black crappies have seven or eight.

Catfish

• Catfish are some of the most-loved fish to catch. Three species exist in virtually every lake, stream, or river in Oklahoma: the bluecat catfish, channel cat catfish, and flathead. Catfish are some of nature's survivors, adapting well to new river systems as they spread, such as the blue catfish. Blues are the largest of the three species and are active year-round. All three species can interbreed and create hybrids, and all three bite better at night.

Sunfish

• Sunfish, like bass and catfish, are known to interbreed with other sunfish. Three common species live in and around Davis and Turner Falls: the redear sunfish, green sunfish, and bluegill. If a fisherman catches nothing else in the waters of Oklahoma, he'll catch more than one sunfish, and perhaps more than one species. They're the most common fish in Oklahoma. Many sunfish fry are food for largemouth bass. They are small fish, not growing over two pounds.