THE LATEST NEWS
Local Experts Preview Lake Tenkiller Elite Series
Former Bassmaster Elite Series competitor Chip Porché began fishing Lake Tenkiller with his dad at age 8. He now works for Tulsa-based Dynamic Sponsorships, and continues to fish Tenkiller regularly. Recent high school national bass fishing champ Jeremy Tolle is now a Carhartt College Series angler from nearby Northeastern State. Tolle’s family has had cabins on Tenkiller since the 1970s, and Jeremy estimates he fishes there 100 days a year.
And then there’s local boy Cooper Hall. He has lived his entire life in the Ozark terrain that surrounds the gorgeous reservoir. Hall was once neighbors with Tenkiller resident and top pro Jason Christie, and fishes Tenkiller 120 days a year.
These three relatively young bucks share an exceptional in-depth knowledge of Tenkiller, and they were excited to offer their take on what fans and Bassmaster Elite Series pros can expect this week on the Eastern Oklahoma reservoir that was impounded 66 years ago.
Q: Lake Tenkiller is one of the greatest smallmouth fisheries in Oklahoma. What percentage of all the bass weighed-in during the Elite Series this week do you think will be smallmouth?
Porché: 35%
Tolle: 20%
Hall: 40%
Q: This tournament features a rare and challenging 16” minimum length limit for largemouth and smallmouth. How challenging will it be to catch a 5-bass limit each day with a rather lofty minimum length rule?
Porché: It’s for sure tough to catch five that big in September on Tenkiller. Let’s just say they’ll be a ton of 15” fish caught and thrown back that never see the weigh in.
Tolle: There will be lots of 14 and 15” caught, but 16-inch fish are definitely tougher to catch here at this time of year.
Hall: To be honest, I’m so used the 16” minimum here; it’s no big deal. But I’ll say this; it forces you to utilize patterns that target bigger fish.
Q: Tenkiller was 20 to 30 feet above normal pool throughout much of the summer, but it’s finally dropped rapidly to near normal. How will the drastic change in water levels affect this tournament?
Porché: It will make this week better, because the water was so high that fishing pressure was very limited most of this summer. Plus, it’s added a healthy stain to a normally pretty clear reservoir.
Tolle: The falling water will keep the deep water summer patterns more in play, rather than spreading the fish out in flooded shoreline bushes.
Hall: The falling water creates current and that makes smallmouth chew! Plus, the high water took a ton of fishing pressure off this lake most of the summer.
Q: Tenkiller is 35 miles long, but it’s upper portion is very river like, compared to the mostly Ozark Mountain looking reservoir that comprises most of it’s 13,000 surface acres. How much will the upper river-like portion play a factor this week?
Porché: There will be fish caught in the river for sure, but I think the guy who wins will have productive areas from the river all the way down to the dam.
Tolle: I’ll guess that two of the Top 10 anglers will catch most of their weight in the river this week.
Hall: There’s fewer fish up in the river, but the quality size sure lives up there. So if you get the right five bites in the river, it could be magical.
Q: Name two lures you wouldn’t leave the official launch ramp at Chicken Creek without this week?
Porche: Whopper Plopper, and a ¾ ounce football jig.
Tolle: Zoom redbug trick worm, and a 10” blue fleck worm.
Hall: Pop R, and a ½ ounce green pumpkin football jig.
Q: How much weight will an Elite Series pro need to average each day this week to make Sunday’s Top 10 championship round?
Porché: 11 or 12 pounds per day.
Tolle: I’d say 15 or 16 pounds a day to make the Top 10.
Hall: I’ll say 14 pounds a day for a Top 10.
Top Lures for Fall Trophy Bass
As we ease into autumn, largemouth bass all across the country are priming up to feed. Here, some of our top Power-Pole pros provide insights into their favorite baits to throw when targeting the largest of the brawny bucketmouth bass:
“All the conditions start to change in fall,” says tournament pro Dean Rojas. “Water temps start dropping down into the 50s, and that sparks gizzard shad to move up into the shallows to feed on algae. The run of shad really sets off bass fishing.”
Rojas’ top big-bass lure is the Spro Squarebill Crankbait.
“I throw the Squarebill with a 6:1 ratio reel and present a moderate retrieve. I’ll focus on fishing areas of transition where banks slide down into deeper water,” Rojas says. “As well, the lure works anywhere in the low country and around rock piles.”
“In fall, big fish are lookin’ for big baits,” notes 2012 Bassmaster Classic winner Chris Lane. “The gizzard shad are really running in October, and they tend to hang all up on the banks around the grasslines — and that’s where you’ll intercept bass.”
Lane’s go-to offering to mimic gizzard shad is the River2Sea Top Notch and Big Mistake lures, notably in the Terminator and Pac-man color patterns. The boisterous prop bait garners aggressive strikes from bigmouths, as its commotion attracts fish from afar to inspect its noise.
“Fish are definitely keying in on topwater baits in fall,” says Bassmaster pro Bobby Lane. “This time of year, they are roaming from the shallows into the depths, and I need something that can cover a ton of water. That’s when I throw the Berkley Choppo. Usually, I go with bone or black color patterns and work it on a heavy rod and reel with an 8:1 retrieve ratio.”
Lane notes that bait pushes up on the shallows, and he starts by prospecting with a medium 105-size lure first, but if he’s getting short bit, will graduate to a larger 120 model.
“I can throw the Choppo in 2 feet of water or 50 feet of water — it works to attract fish from all around to strike,” he says. “I literally just got off the water right now from throwing it. It’s the perfect bait for fall bass.”
Put these three lures in your back pocket and watch your hawg catches elevate this fall season.
Bassmaster Elite Series Event Moved From Fort Gibson To Lake Tenkiller
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — B.A.S.S. officials announced Thursday that the Bassmaster Elite Series event scheduled for Sept. 19-22 on Fort Gibson Lake will instead be held on Lake Tenkiller.
Lake Tenkiller will host the Bassmaster Elite Series Sept. 19-22 after high water levels forced a venue change. Photo by: Ronnie Moore/B.A.S.S.
The lakes are located just 40 miles apart in Oklahoma, and Cherokee Casino Tahlequah will still serve as the host for what is to be the final regular-season Elite Series event of the year.
When the 2019 schedule was first announced, the event was scheduled at Fort Gibson for May 16-19. Heavy rain and flash flooding in the region forced its postponement and ultimately forced the change to a different venue.
“The ongoing high water at Fort Gibson Lake and the uncertainty of dam repairs downstream at Webber Falls really left us no choice,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin. “We certainly made every effort to hold the event on Fort Gibson Lake, but the conditions just wouldn’t allow it.”
B.A.S.S. Tournament Director Trip Weldon, who notified the 75 Elite Series anglers of the change by email Thursday afternoon, said it was imperative to complete a full schedule of nine regular-season events. Leaving Fort Gibson as the tournament venue would have created a greater risk for cancellation.
“Anglers have been working hard all year, jockeying for position in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings,” Weldon said. “They’ve been promised nine events and then the Angler of the Year Championship, and we want to make every effort as an organization to make sure all of those events are held.”
The tournament will determine the final order of the Angler of the Year standings, with only the Top 50 anglers advancing to the AOY Championship scheduled for Sept. 28-Oct. 1 on Michigan’s Lake St. Clair.
Takeoffs at Lake Tenkiller will be held at 7 a.m. CT from Chicken Creek Point Public Use Area in Cookson, Okla., and weigh-ins on Days 1 and 2 will also be held in the same area. Weigh-ins on Days 3 and 4 will move to Cherokee Casino Tahlequah at 4 p.m.
Due to the no-information rule governing all Elite Series events, the venue went off-limits the moment the anglers were notified of the change.
This will be B.A.S.S.’s first visit to the 12,900-acre fishery for a major event
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 510,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), radio show (Bassmaster Radio), social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens Series, TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Series, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
Powering Up Your Paddleboard with Bote’s Rob McAbee
These days, paddleboards are much more than just recreational toys. Outfitted correctly, they can be transformed into outstanding fishing platforms. Rob McAbee, creative director at BOTE paddleboards, brings his BOTE board to life with the use of the Power-Pole Micro Driver in the waters off Amelia Island, Florida.
“The appeal of fishing from a paddleboard is all about simplicity,” McAbee says. “I match the Power-Pole Micro Driver on my BOTE board, which eliminates any bulky anchors and ropes and extra weight to carry on the board. It’s a total simplification of the anchoring system.”
McAbee shares three distinct ways he employs the Micro Spike Driver to fish on his board.
“First off, when the flood tides have redfish up on the flats feeding on fiddler crabs, I make my approach, paddling up slowly not to spook the fish,” McAbee notes. “Then I put the pole down super silently to make sight casts to the waving tails. They don’t hear a thing.”
When fish are up on large, expansive flats, McAbee shifts to another tactic.
“Some days, the flats are a football field long, but I don’t want to spook anything by gliding over it,” McAbee says. “I’ll paddle to the edge of the flat, put the pole down to stick it in one spot, then proceed to get off the board and wade the flat, confident my board is anchored in one place when I walk back to it.”
Redfish will push up a creek on a flooding tide, and points of confluence during outgoing tides are a third opportunity to use the Micro Driver.
“On the outgoing water, reds are going to spill out over oyster bars off a point,” McAbee says. “I’ll plant the pole down on the point and wait for the falling tide to cast as they move out through the channel along the point. The Micro Driver fastens me securely in any current.”
Though Micro Driver fishing applications are aplenty, many non-fishing-related uses can be realized on a paddleboard, also.
“We paddle around the freshwater springs, floating down and staking the pole down to hang out,” McAbee says. “It creates a floating island. We don’t need to drag the board up on land — simply put the pole down, and we have a platform we can hang around.”
Anyone who has had to deal with dirty decks from anchors bringing up bay mud will also appreciate the Micro Driver.
“The Micro Driver system is pleasant, as there is no sticky mud getting all over the board. It’s so much cleaner,” McAbee notes. “And there’s no metal anchor to crack the deck or scratch the paint off the board.”
Clean, silent, lightweight and effective — up your fishing game and power up your paddleboard with the Power-Pole Micro Driver system.