“Historically, Fort Gibson and Grand Lake have the reputation of being the two best crappie lakes in northeast Oklahoma,” said the ODWC’s Cliff Sager. “In fact, Bernice State Park, on the northwest side of Grand Lake, bills itself as ‘the Crappie Fishing Capital of Oklahoma.’”

Grand, which covers 46,500 surface-acres, is the head of a chain of lakes including Hudson and Fort Gibson. The banks of this deep, rocky lake are quite steep. The ODWC has improved the lake’s fishing with the addition of brushpiles and aquatic habitat enhancements.

Fishing guide Ivan Martin -- (918) 257-4265 -- can attest to the quality of the lake’s crappie. Fishing the lake more than 200 days each year, Martin has found that crappie spawn first in the northern areas of the lake and then move south as the water warms. He catches some nice crappie almost daily, with his biggest slabs weighing close to 2 pounds.

Fishing entirely with jigs, Martin sometimes targets crappie in deep water. He mentioned Duck Creek and Honey Creek as two hotspots. “Much of Grand Lake is private, so access to many of the boat docks is limited,” he advised. “Most people do better by fishing from a boat.”

The ODWC’s Sager named the Horse Creek and Elk River arms and the midlake area as his favorite spots for crappie. “The riprap area near the Bernice Bridge is also a good springtime crappie spot,” he offered.

Grand has a 10-inch length limit on crappie. Catching 12- to 13-inch slabs is not uncommon, with some as long as 16 inches. Lake limit is 15 daily.

According to Sager, the ODWC has a free resource that marks the locations of all of the brushpiles on Grand, thus helping anglers fishing there. For more information, contact the ODWC’s northeast office at (918) 683-1031.

Another resource for anglers is the Web site Grandfishingreport. com , which has up-to-the-minute fishing and weather reports for Grand Lake and the surround area.

FORT GIBSON
This 19,900-acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hydropower lake resembles Grand in being rocky, but has fewer steep vertical banks. The water in the upper part of the lake is stained or murky, while that in the lower end is clear.

The lake is home to a prolific black crappie population, many of which have attained super-sized proportions. Todd Huckabee, a professional crappie angler and guide, regularly catches black crappie there approaching 3 pounds.

According to Sager, anglers should target the middle to back of necks and coves while paying close attention to riprap areas or gravel banks. Crappie should be found in 2 to 10 feet of water in these long-recognized spawning areas. Sager also recommended that crappie anglers try Flat Rock Creek, found in the middle to upper area of the lake.

“Historically, Fort Gibson and Grand Lake have the reputation of being the two best crappie lakes in northeast Oklahoma. In fact, Bernice State Park, on the northwest side of Grand Lake, bills itself as ‘the Crappie Fishing Capital of Oklahoma.’” --Cliff Sager, ODWC

Huckabee’s favorite areas are the Toppers Area, 14-Mile Creek, Ranger Creek, Clear Creek, Jane Dennis, and Spring Creek. “If the water is warm, there will be crappie spawning in the shallows,” offered Huckabee. “My favorite soft-plastic jig colors for clear water are pumpkin/chartreuse and black/chartreuse, and for stained or muddy water I use black/pink and pearl/chartreuse colors.”

Lake regulations mandate a 10-inch minimum-size limit on crappie, with 15 allowed daily.