His favorite method for night-fishing is to throw a large plastic worm or a spinnerbait, around a well-lit boat dock, as he believes that boat docks are big-bass magnets. “You have the perfect nighttime ecosystem around any boat dock with lights,” he explained. “The lights attract insects around the water, which in turn attracts baitfish, which attracts bass. The fishing can be incredible!”

Brent Davis works for the Grand River Dam Authority as fisheries coordinator and tournament director. He has learned what makes this prolific lake tick. It’s the huge shad base that lends itself to the overall success of the fishery.

According to tournament data, the average bass weighed in is 2.4 pounds. Another notable fact: Many professional anglers choose Grand as one of the lakes they prefer to fish on the tournament trail.

Davis said that the lake has phenomenal numbers of largemouths as well as good numbers of spotted bass. Grand holds the distinction of being one of the few lakes to have the Neosho River strain of smallmouth bass. These hearty bronzebacks average 1 1/2 pounds, but a 3-pounder comes to net occasionally.

The best spots for smallmouths are Elk River, Spring River, Honey Creek, and Drowning Creek. The top areas for Kentucky spotted bass are Drowning Creek or anywhere in the downlake area. These areas yield spotted bass approaching 5 pounds, although the average is 2 1/2 to 3 pounds. Spotted bass have a penchant for deep, clear water in rocky areas. Most anglers catch these bass on football jigs or Carolina-rigged plastics, or by drop-shotting finesse worms.

Davis’ best largemouth weighed 10 pounds, 4 ounces and he says the lake typically yields several bass weighing 9 to 10 pounds.

FORT GIBSON
Nestled in the hills of Green Country is Fort Gibson Lake -- a river lake on the Grand River below Grand Lake. As such, Fort Gibson is affected by flow and depth fluctuations. According to lake expert George Toalson, the fish definitely bite better when the water is running.

“Flowing water causes baitfish to be more active, which in turn causes bass to feed and be more receptive to bite a hook,” he observed.

President of the Gene Larew Bait Company, Toalson knows bass fishing, and he rates Gibson as an excellent fishery, having plied its stained green waters most of his life. While he asserts confidently that there’s not a bad spot to fish on the entire lake, he notes that many of the largemouths are caught in shallow water near the edges of flats.

“Having a good set of electronics is essential on Gibson,” he said. “Other than pointing out the dangerously shallow spots that can ruin a boat’s lower unit, good electronics can identify wads of shad, which will certainly have bass nearby.”

According to Toalson, Gibson anglers are apt to catch largemouths in the 3- to 4-pound range, while the lake’s spotted bass average 2 1/2 pounds. His favorite spots on the lake are White Horn Creek, 14 Mile Creek, Jackson Bay, Toppers Area, Clear Creek, Jane Dennis, and Flat Rock Creek.

Toalson, whose best Gibson lunker weighed 8 pounds, advises anglers to use a jig or a 10-inch plastic worm if they are seeking a trophy bass. The most popular colors for plastic worms are red shad and blue fleck, while the best colors for jigs are black and blue, or any combination with green.

One last piece of advice Toalson offered is what he calls a guaranteed method of catching fish in Gibson. “If newcomers to Fort Gibson will use a Carolina rig with a 5-inch Mega Ring Shad in either green pumpkin or watermelon colors, they are almost guaranteed to catch fish,” he said.