THE STATE OF GRAND LAKE
Lakes go through cycles – peaks and valleys in fish populations and fishing quality – and the three Oklahomans in the field believe that Grand Lake is in an excellent point in its cycle as a top-flight tournament fishery .
“ It ’ s in great shape right now . The lake is full of 2 1 / 2- to 3 1 / 2-pound bass with some bigger ones mixed in ,” Evers says . “ There are plenty of quality fish in there , and I ’ d say a good day on Grand in late March would be 15 scorable bass over 2 pounds .”
Grand receives plenty of fishing pressure from recreational and tournament anglers alike , and both Birge and Elam have paid attention to tournament results to gauge the fishing quality .
“ I haven ’ t fished Grand as much regularly as I used to , but I still watch what ’ s going on ,” Elam says . “ It looks like it ’ s fishing pretty good this last year . It ’ s not to the level it was years ago , but after a few down years , it ’ s picking back up .” Elam believes that coaxing quality bites will be critical because big numbers of fish are not as likely to be available in late March .
“ Late winter and early spring are not the best times of year for sheer numbers of fish , but we ’ ll see some nice ones caught ,” he adds . “ I ’ m guessing a day with seven or eight bass will get you over 20 pounds and that ’ ll be enough to advance to the next round . Then , whoever makes the right
calls in the Championship Round and gets on them will take the win . I wouldn ’ t be surprised if it ’ s someone who barely gets into the Knockout and Championship rounds and then puts it all together after the weights are zeroed on the final day .”
Birge also believes Grand is on an upward swing for fishing quality based on recent tournament results .
“ This fall was really good ; [ people ] were catching solid bags ,” he says of recent history on Grand , including from the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Okie Division finale in September . “ I think the lake is getting better and we ’ re in a good part of the cycle right now .”
Recent science seems to back up those tournament results . Bardin is also part of the committee that decides the minimum weight for each Bass Pro Tour event . The goal is to showcase each fishery while setting the minimum for each tournament to be obtainable – but not easy .
“ A 14-inch fish on Grand Lake is the minimum legal keeper and , on average , weighs 1.42 pounds ,” Bardin explains . “ Through the most recent data available , we found that 74 percent of the legal fish in the lake were over 2 pounds , with fish between 2 and 3 pounds accounting for 35 percent of the fish . The lake is very healthy and is a testament to the forage base and resiliency after two years of spring flooding . Those floods allowed for great recruitment of young bass after the spawn . There will be a huge influx of catchable bass in the coming years .”
Zack Birge is one of a handful of Oklahoma pros who expects Grand Lake to fish large during the late-March time frame of REDCREST .
PHOTO BY PHOENIX MOORE
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2022 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 41