LAKE TENKILLER
As public relations manager for several outdoor companies, Gary Dollahon works in an environment that affords him the privilege of fishing some of the finest bass waters in the country. Nevertheless, given a choice the Tulsan likes to fish Lake Tenkiller, about an hour’s drive southeast of Tulsa. Dollahon, who fishes the lake often, considers July to be a good month for catching bass.

“This is one of those lakes where you can always have a good day bass fishing,” he said. “Other than catching largemouths, you have a good chance at catching spotted bass and smallmouth bass.”

Dollahon pointed out that several of the big bass weighed in at recent tournaments have been smallmouths.

Dollahon recommends anglers target areas where creeks and underwater cuts form ledges, and prefers sunny areas to fish early and shaded areas later. He says he has his best success using shad-colored lures, and likes Carolina-rigging a 6-inch lizard in green, watermelon, or motor oil colors.

“In July, if I want to target largemouth bass, I generally find them from the midlake area to the north part of the lake,” Dollahon noted. “If I want to fish for spotted bass, I fish from Cookson Bend south toward the dam, and generally find the spots in clear, deep water.

Dollahon said the areas of Carlisle Creek, Sizemore Creek, Chicken Creek, Snake Creek, and Burnt Cabin are good spots for finding surfacing bass activity in summer. Dollahon’s favorite topwater baits are Zara Spooks, and popper-type lures.

When fishing the steep bluffs or the chunk rock banks that surround Tenkiller, Dollahon uses an 8-inch Gene Larew Hook Tail worm or a 4-inch Chub Grub in purple and red or tequila sunrise colors.

Dollahon has caught several largemouths in Tenkiller that weighed 6 to 7 pounds with his best being a 7-pound, 8-ounce trophy.

Tenkiller has a 13- to 16-inch slot limit on both largemouths and smallmouths.

McGEE CREEK: LUNKER-BASS CENTRAL
OK, so why is McGee Creek mentioned in an article highlighting Green Country’s big-bass lakes? Well, this small 5,000-acre lake is nestled in the pine hills east of Atoka, and annually produces some of the biggest bass caught anywhere in the state. Frankly, most of them seem to come on the end of one of Chuck Justice’s rods.

Justice could be the ambassador for McGee Creek. In fact, Justice -- “the big-bass guru” as some call him -- has yanked 110 bass over 10 pounds from this lunker factory, and he has the distinction of being the only angler ever to have multiple entries in the state’s Top 20 Big Bass list. He had four listed there at one time.

Bo may know football, but Justice knows big bass!

So what makes this small lake so prolific for trophy bass? “McGee Creek is the only state lake I know of that is stocked almost exclusively with Florida bass,” said Justice who expects someday to catch a state record from the brushy lake. “The bass here just get bigger because their metabolisms are made for warmer water. When the water heats up, so does the bass fishing.”

Justice is one of the savviest bass experts I have ever interviewed, and he freely shares his knowledge . . . with an ulterior motive.

“I have been blessed with the ability to catch big bass, and I want to share my techniques with other anglers,” Justice said convincingly. “I like to help people.”

Justice’s clients can attest to that fact; one of them, Lewis Chestnut, caught the previous lake record -- a 12-pound, 9-ounce bucketmouth -- on a hot July afternoon when the mercury was hitting 104 degrees.

Five years later on an oppressive 103-degree July night, Justice had a gut feeling that it would be a good night for fishing. The weather had been dangerously hot, with daily temps of 100 degrees or more for over a week. The previous evening, Justice boated three keepers weighing 7 pounds, 6 ounces; 8 pounds, 11 ounces; and 11 pounds, 6 ounces. He had a feeling this night would be good too.