Lake Texoma
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Image:Lake texoma map.gifImage:Lake Texoma.JPGLake Texoma is one of the largest reservoirs in the United States, and the 12th largest Corps of Engineers lake. Its surface spreads over 89,000 acres (360 km²) at the confluence of the Red and Washita Rivers, straddling the Texas-Oklahoma border.
It is the second most popular lake in the United States in terms of annual visitors, with 10-12 million visitors a year. This is largely attributed to its sheer size, which allows sports such as windsurfing and sailing, as well as its proximity to the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex about an hour's drive to the south. Notable cities surrounding the lake in Texas are Denison, Sherman and Gainesville. In Oklahoma, notable cities are Durant and Ardmore. The Lake Texoma area, known simply as Texoma or Texomaland to locals, is experiencing a rapid period of economic growth due to its large number of tourists.
In March 2006, a plan was announced by the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department to divest itself from the state-owned Lake Texoma lodge & resort near Kingston in order to sell development rights to a private developer. The deal with a Connecticut developer fell through in May 2006, after a failure to raise $1m in earnest money, forcing the land deal back out onto the open market with a forthcoming bidding process.
[edit] Recreation
[edit] Fishing
Lake Texoma has acquired the reputation as one of the premier fishing lakes in the Southwestern United States. The lake was stocked with striped bass in the late 1960s, and has proven to be an excellent habitat for them. It is one of the seven U.S. inland lakes where the striped bass reproduce naturally, instead of being farmed and released into the waters. The "stripers" feed on large schools of shad, and often reach sizes of 35 pounds.
Catfish abound in the lake, also. In 2004, a blue catfish was pulled from the lake weighing in at 121.5 pounds, temporarily setting a world weight record for rod and reel caught catfish. The fish was moved to a freshwater aquarium in Athens, Texas. More commonly, catfish in Lake Texoma weigh from 5 up to about 70 pounds.
Lake Texoma waters are home to several other species of fish, including crappie, white bass (also called "sand bass"), black bass, bluegill, pike, gar, sunfish, and drum.
Historically, Texas and Oklahoma have not had a reciprocal fishing license agreement, which has posed a problem for anglers. Recent boundary resolutions have given Oklahoma jurisidiction over most of the fishing in Lake Texoma. An Oklahoma fishing license allows fishing most of the lake, up to within 400 yards of Denison Dam. To fish the entire lake, a Lake Texoma fishing license is also available.
