Fish Care and Recording a Big One

• Have the net, scale, board and camera ready before you start fishing. Keep a giant out of the water for less than 30 seconds at a time inference.
• Support the belly when you hold a heavy fish horizontally. Don't hang a big bass vertically by the jaw inference.
• Hot-water handling. In summer, Draper's surface water is warm, so cool the livewell with lake water from depth, or release the fish right away inference.
• Record it. For a possible lake or state record, weigh it on a certified scale with a witness, and contact ODWC: Central Region fisheries, (405) 325-7288 (ODWC). State-record rules are on the ODWC State Records page.
• Limits. Statewide: 6 largemouth and/or smallmouth combined per day, only 1 over 16 in (ODWC). On a low-density lake like Draper, releasing every big female is the single biggest thing anglers can do for future giants inference.