Gigs and spears open in rivers and streams on December 1, and Oklahoma City's Close To Home trout season runs from December through February. The Lake Texoma license and the paddlefish permit run out on December 31. Eufaula and Atoka crappie are now 20 a day, and several waters, all the Close To Home lakes among them, have no crappie limit.
What to fish for in early November
Oklahoma's winter is open water and stocked trout. The big reservoirs rarely freeze, the striped bass school up on Texoma and below its dam, the trout areas are stocked through the cold months, and the power-plant lake at Konawa stays warm enough to keep its fish feeding.
Striped Bass
Gangs up on the shad in winter schools that move fast across open water, and gathers in the current below the dam.
Where. Lake Texoma's main lake and channels, the tailwater below Denison Dam, and Keystone and the other northeast lakes.
The striped bass waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Lake Texoma about 65F Best Tue, Nov 10, A+Today's forecast Crappie
Stacks on deep brush and bridge pilings, and bites steadily on minnows.
Where. Eufaula, Grand, Fort Gibson and Tenkiller, and the clear, wooded lakes of the southeast, Broken Bow and McGee Creek among them.
The crappie waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Lake Eufaula about 65F Best Fri, Nov 6, A+Today's forecast Lake Thunderbird about 61F Best Sat, Nov 14, A+Today's forecast Rainbow Trout
Planted in the trout areas, where the cold releases keep them feeding all winter.
Where. The Lower Illinois below Tenkiller Dam, the Lower Mountain Fork below Broken Bow, the spring-fed Blue River, and Oklahoma City's Close To Home ponds.
The rainbow trout waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Lower Illinois River near Gore about 62F Best Sat, Nov 14, BToday's forecast Lower Mountain Fork near Eagletown not modeled Best Tue, Nov 17, AToday's forecast Blue Catfish
Feeds through the coldest weeks, the big ones often under the gulls working shad.
Where. Lake Texoma, Kaw and the big eastern reservoirs.
White Bass
Schools on the shad through the cold on the reservoirs, and in the rivers above them it is the one game fish the winter gigging season takes.
Where. Grand, Kaw and Keystone, and the rivers that feed them.
Usual water now is that water's normal for this point in the season: a lake's modeled seasonal curve or a river gauge's long-run average, not this year's reading. The forecast link reads this week's.
What changes soon
The next six weeks of this report's calendar for Oklahoma.
- Tue December 1In Oklahoma gigs and spears open in rivers and streams, to March 31, and Oklahoma City's Close To Home trout season opens.
Every date for Oklahoma from November to February (3)
- Tue December 1In Oklahoma gigs and spears open in rivers and streams, to March 31, and Oklahoma City's Close To Home trout season opens.
- Thu December 31Oklahoma's Lake Texoma licenses and paddlefish permits expire.
- Sun February 28Last day of Oklahoma City's Close To Home trout season.
This week's fishing reports
This report covers the season. For what was caught this week, read the people who report on this water.
Oklahoma is reported by its own Department of Wildlife Conservation, water by water from its game wardens, and the reports ran all last winter, eight to eleven a month, though anglers' reports are required only from March to June. Local papers and a newsletter repost them. Lake Texoma's guides post mostly on a booking site.
Where to fish in Oklahoma, area by area
Each water links to its live forecast. The engine outlook in these areas was generated November 3, 2026, for the 14 days from that date; good hours are the hours at or above a B+.
Lake Texoma
Lake Texoma · Denison Dam tailwater · Red River
The big reservoir on the Red River behind Denison Dam, shared with Texas, with a striped bass population that reproduces on its own and a tailwater below the dam that draws stripers and catfish.
Who reports here. ODWC's weekly reports cover Texoma along with the rest of the state, and Texas Parks and Wildlife reports the Texas side. The lake's striper guides post their trips mostly on a booking site.
Engine outlook
- Best: Tue, Nov 10, A+14 good hours70F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 14h
The trout areas
Lower Illinois River · Lower Mountain Fork River · Blue River · Oklahoma City Close To Home waters
The cold tailwaters below Tenkiller and Broken Bow dams on the Lower Illinois and Lower Mountain Fork, the spring-fed Blue River, and the city ponds Oklahoma City stocks with trout in winter.
Who reports here. ODWC's warden reports include the Lower Illinois below the dam in winter, with the water and the trout bite, and Oklahoma City's Close To Home season runs from December through February.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sat, Nov 14, B7 good hours70F measured Nov 3 at Illinois River near Gore, OKbest run 3h35 cfsat Illinois River near Gore, OKon this water
- Best: Tue, Nov 17, A8 good hours69F measured Nov 3 at Mountain Fork near Eagletown, OKbest run 4h213 cfsat Mountain Fork near Eagletown, OKon this water
The northeast lakes
Grand Lake · Fort Gibson Lake · Lake Tenkiller · Keystone Lake · Kaw Lake
The big reservoirs of the green country, Grand Lake o' the Cherokees and Fort Gibson on the Neosho, Kaw and Keystone on the Arkansas, Tenkiller on the Illinois and Eufaula on the Canadian, crappie, bass, white bass and striper water that stays open through the winter.
Who reports here. The Department of Wildlife Conservation's lake reports, many filed by its game wardens, carried Grand, Kaw and Keystone in every winter month, each with the water level and temperature.
Engine outlook
- Best: Fri, Nov 6, A+13 good hours70F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 13h
The southeast lakes
Broken Bow Lake · Sardis Lake · McGee Creek Reservoir · Hugo Lake · Wister Lake
The lakes of the Kiamichi and Ouachita country in the southeast, Broken Bow in the pines above the trout tailwater, Sardis, McGee Creek, Hugo and Wister, clear, deep and wooded water for bass and crappie.
Who reports here. The Department of Wildlife Conservation's lake reports carried four of these lakes in the winter months last season, filed by its game wardens with the water level and temperature.
Engine outlook
- Best: Thu, Nov 12, A+13 good hours70F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 13h
The Oklahoma City lakes
Lake Hefner · Lake Overholser · Arcadia Lake · Lake Thunderbird · Konawa Reservoir
The lakes around Oklahoma City and south of it, Hefner, Overholser, Arcadia and Thunderbird near the city, and Konawa to the southeast, a power-plant lake that stays warm in the cold months.
Who reports here. The Department of Wildlife Conservation's lake reports carried the power-plant lake in the winter months; the city lakes had none of their own that turned up.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sat, Nov 14, A+13 good hours67F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 13h
The western lakes
Canton Lake · Foss Reservoir · Fort Cobb Reservoir · Lake Lawtonka · Altus-Lugert Lake
The plains reservoirs of the west, Canton and Foss, Fort Cobb with its saugeye, and the lakes of the Wichita Mountains country, Lawtonka and Altus-Lugert, windy water that rarely freezes.
Who reports here. No dated winter report could be found for these lakes.
Engine outlook
- Best: Fri, Nov 6, A+13 good hours65F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 7h
The rules from November to February
What changed this time
- Shell and Bluestem lakes' 18-inch walleye minimum went back to the statewide 14 inches; Eufaula and Atoka crappie are now 20 a day; and several waters, all the Close To Home waters among them, have no crappie limit.
Read on October 20, 2026, from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (its license requirements, exemptions and fees, method of take, statewide limits, and trout and paddlefish regulations).
Licenses, and which state's rules apply
- A license is needed at 18 and older; anyone 17 or younger is exempt, resident or not. Residents pay $31 for 365 days or $11 for a day; nonresidents $81 for 365 days or $26 for a day. Texas residents 65 and older need no Oklahoma license.
- Two permits run by the calendar and lapse on December 31: the Lake Texoma license, $12, which lets an angler fish both the Oklahoma and Texas sides of the lake, though not below the dam, and which anglers 15 and younger do not need and a lifetime license does not cover; and the free paddlefish permit, needed by anyone fishing for paddlefish, at any age. Anglers on the Red River need an Oklahoma license unless exempt.
Bait, gear and fish you cannot keep
- Up to seven rods, unless a water's own rules say fewer. On the state's trout areas in trout season, one rod only and no snagging, and every angler keeps trout on a stringer of their own; a trout once kept cannot be released. Gigs and spears take only nongame fish and white bass, year-round on reservoirs and in rivers and streams from December 1 to March 31. Snagging is for nongame fish with one rod, and is closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. east of I-35 and north of I-40, except in Miami City Park. No more than 25 nongame baitfish from rivers or streams, though 200 shad.
Lakes, ponds and rivers
- Statewide daily limits, with many waters set differently: six largemouth and smallmouth bass, only one longer than 16 inches, and spotted bass unlimited; in rivers and streams six black bass, only one a smallmouth, with largemouth and smallmouth of at least 14 inches; 15 channel and blue catfish, only one blue longer than 30 inches; five flathead catfish; 37 crappie; six walleye, sauger and saugeye of at least 14 inches; five striped bass, Lake Texoma aside; 20 striped bass hybrids, only five longer than 20 inches; three trout on the trout areas, the Blue, Lower Illinois and Lower Mountain Fork rivers aside.
- Paddlefish: one a day and two a year, on one rod with barbless hooks. Once one is kept, snagging stops for the day, the fish is tagged with the angler's customer ID number, and the harvest is reported through E-Check within 24 hours; a kept paddlefish cannot be released.
- Oklahoma City's Close To Home trout waters hold a season from December through February: three trout a day, one rod, no releasing a trout once kept, and bank fishing only, with no wading, tubing or boating. A state license is needed unless exempt, and a city permit may be too.
Read on these agency pages: ODWC: License Requirements, ODWC: License Exemptions, ODWC: License Options & Fees, ODWC: Paddlefish Regulations, ODWC: Method of Take, ODWC: Trout Regulations, ODWC: Statewide Daily & Size Limits.
The season at a glance
What these months usually do
Each lake's own seasonal curve, the one the engine scores the lake on: what these dates usually do, modeled rather than measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broken Bow Lake | 66F | 56F | 48F | 47F | 51F |
| Fort Cobb Reservoir | 61F | 50F | 43F | 43F | 47F |
| Lake Eufaula | 66F | 55F | 47F | 46F | 49F |
| Lake Texoma | 66F | 56F | 48F | 47F | 52F |
| Lake Thunderbird | 62F | 51F | 45F | 44F | 48F |
Each river's own gauge: its average for these dates across the years it has recorded, measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Illinois River near GoreIllinois River near Gore, OK, 1996 to 2023 | 63F | 56F | 49F | 46F | 46F |
The moon from November to February
| Month | New moon | Full moon |
|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | Mon, Nov 9 | Tue, Nov 24 |
| December 2026 | Tue, Dec 8 | Wed, Dec 23 |
| January 2027 | Thu, Jan 7 | Fri, Jan 22 |
| February 2027 | Sat, Feb 6 | Sat, Feb 20 |
The U.S. Naval Observatory's dates, on local time.
Daylight in each area from November to February
Worked out for one place in each area, on its own clock.
| Area | Shortest day | Earliest sunset | Latest sunrise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Texomaat Lake Texoma | 9h 54m, Dec 21 | 5:19pm, around Dec 5 | 7:34am, around Jan 7 |
| The trout areasat Lower Illinois River near Gore | 9h 45m, Dec 21 | 5:08pm, around Dec 5 | 7:31am, around Jan 7 |
| The northeast lakesat Lake Eufaula | 9h 47m, Dec 21 | 5:12pm, around Dec 6 | 7:33am, around Jan 7 |
| The southeast lakesat Broken Bow Lake | 9h 52m, Dec 21 | 5:10pm, around Dec 5 | 7:27am, around Jan 7 |
| The Oklahoma City lakesat Lake Thunderbird | 9h 47m, Dec 21 | 5:18pm, around Dec 5 | 7:39am, around Jan 6 |
| The western lakesat Fort Cobb Reservoir | 9h 47m, Dec 21 | 5:23pm, around Dec 5 | 7:44am, around Jan 7 |