If anyone knows bass fishing from one end of Oklahoma to the other, it just might be Ken Cook, the one-time fisheries biologist turned pro angling legend.

Cook, a Meers-area resident who served as the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation's southwestern regional fisheries biologist during much of his 1969 to 1983 tenure with the agency, eventually decided to turn his hobby of tournament angling into his profession -- a move that he's had little reason to regret. And with the 1991 CITGO Bassmasters Classic title tucked in his back pocket -- not to mention five other BASS wins, a runner-up finish, three third-place finishes, and 31 Top 10 finishes on the circuit -- why would he? Add in four top-five finishes on the FLW Tour, and Cook's winnings as a pro come to more than $750,000 -- much of that won before the current era of big-money angling events began in earnest.

For all of that pro angling success, however, Cook's heart remains very much in Oklahoma, especially during the month of May. In fact, the month is one of his favorite times to target bass on waters found within a reasonable drive of the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas.

"I've always liked (late spring)," Cook said. "It's a good (time) to fish, since the fish are active and they're out running around catching food. It may not be the best time to catch the biggest fish of the year, but it certainly is the time to catch the most active fish of the year, since all of a sudden they're off of the spawning mode and onto a feeding mode. And they're still shallow, too."

With that pronouncement in mind, here's Cook's assessment for the top bass lakes for an OKC- or Tulsa-area angler to consider tackling this month.

GRAND LAKE
"Probably my first choice overall would be Grand," Cook said of 45,500-acre Grand Lake O' the Cherokees near Grove. "It had a little bump from the largemouth bass virus (a few years ago), but it seems to have come back to its old self faster than most lakes affected by the virus. It's got a good fish population, some big fish, and a lot of variety."

What's Cook's recommendation for fishing Grand at this time of the year? "It's a pretty standard thing -- if the water is up, you need to fish the flooded vegetation on Grand," Cook said, noting that willow trees and buttonbush (a.k.a. buckbrush) make up the majority of flooded vegetation here. "If it's not, then you'll have to fish what's there in the water like boat docks, laydowns, crappie holes, and things like that.

"Find the best habitat for bass, and generally, that's where you're going to find the bass."

Taking into consideration the variety of water clarity conditions present on Grand -- Cook says that the lake's lower end is typically clear and its upper end typically muddy -- what would the bass pro pull from his tackle box first?