My brother and I are planning on taking my new-to-me boat to Sooner this weekend, I know it has the warm side and cooler intake side, any tips on the best side for fishing it this time of year?
Watch out for rocks and levees, rocks and levees, rocks and levees and don't go at night till you're really familiar with the lake. Other than that, the northeast end is usually best for hybrids, etc. Dennis can fill you in on the rest lol.
Thanks for that, I've got Navionics software, hopefully it's somewhat accurate and complete, but I'll watch out.
The warm water discharge area is always good to check out, especially in winter. That’s on the North end to the West of the dam. You can’t take a boat very far into the channel though. After that check the levees and rocky points, especially for hybrids and walleye/saugeye. I haven’t done much largemouth fishing there but the South and West sides seem to be more popular for that.
Not allowed. They have a cable up across the channel a couple hundred yards in iirc.
Buoys for security reasons in the SW discharge channel. Federal violation to cross the buoys.
You cannot approach the dam structure either or touch ground on the North intake channel or anywhere along the dam. There is a major surveillance system in play to detect violators because of the potential of espionage.
The discharge canal on the SW Is covered in stumps right below the surface with 2’ of water or less that extend out into the canal on turns 100 yards or more into the lake. The first big right hand turn leaving the west boat ramp is a graveyard for lower units.
Traveling North through the narrowest channel there is an old pond dam with stumps on it right when leaving it so one has to steer right.
That old pond dam has yielded many fish btw.
The main lake is open for the most part. Look for lake humps and jig spoons on top of them for stripper, hybrid and white perch. Your navionics should point them out
Do not throw any white perch back into the lake. They are an invasive specie that eats sand bass and crappie as their main diet including their eggs. Pretty good eating too.
The east boat ramp is a stump mine field. Use tremendous caution there.
At certain times of the year the culvert that allows water on the other side of hwy18 from the west ramp is a hotspot on windy days for every species.
The south wind moves the entire lake level to the north creating a current headed north until the weight of the water or the wind slacks off forces it to move back south creating a current in the opposite direction. It’s not a swift current, but water does move back and forth.
Bait/food is funneled through the culvert and the fish sit by and feed. Different specie at different times of the year.
The lake is filled by massive 9000hp electric motor pumps from the Arkansas River a couple miles away. (No natural runoff).
The discharge of those pumps is on the North end of the dam. If it’s running that can be a hotspot.
Good luck and always keep a spare rod rigged with a big shad pattern crank bait for surfacing strippers/hybrids. 1 1/2 oz Acme Castmasters is a go to bait for striper on that lake as well.
You can stand off 60 yards from the school so they won’t get spooked and hit the middle of the school with the lure easily.
23 lb is the biggest striper I’ve seen taken from the lake.
You cannot approach the dam structure either or touch ground on the North intake channel or anywhere along the dam. There is a major surveillance system in play to detect violators because of the potential of espionage.
The discharge canal on the SW Is covered in stumps right below the surface with 2’ of water or less that extend out into the canal on turns 100 yards or more into the lake. The first big right hand turn leaving the west boat ramp is a graveyard for lower units.
Traveling North through the narrowest channel there is an old pond dam with stumps on it right when leaving it so one has to steer right.
That old pond dam has yielded many fish btw.
The main lake is open for the most part. Look for lake humps and jig spoons on top of them for stripper, hybrid and white perch. Your navionics should point them out
Do not throw any white perch back into the lake. They are an invasive specie that eats sand bass and crappie as their main diet including their eggs. Pretty good eating too.
The east boat ramp is a stump mine field. Use tremendous caution there.
At certain times of the year the culvert that allows water on the other side of hwy18 from the west ramp is a hotspot on windy days for every species.
The south wind moves the entire lake level to the north creating a current headed north until the weight of the water or the wind slacks off forces it to move back south creating a current in the opposite direction. It’s not a swift current, but water does move back and forth.
Bait/food is funneled through the culvert and the fish sit by and feed. Different specie at different times of the year.
The lake is filled by massive 9000hp electric motor pumps from the Arkansas River a couple miles away. (No natural runoff).
The discharge of those pumps is on the North end of the dam. If it’s running that can be a hotspot.
Good luck and always keep a spare rod rigged with a big shad pattern crank bait for surfacing strippers/hybrids. 1 1/2 oz Acme Castmasters is a go to bait for striper on that lake as well.
You can stand off 60 yards from the school so they won’t get spooked and hit the middle of the school with the lure easily.
23 lb is the biggest striper I’ve seen taken from the lake.
Can’t offer much advice, but while going to OSU in ‘79 and ‘80 we hiked into the warm water discharge area at daylight many Saturday mornings and wore out a sackful of white Mepps spinners catching white bass and crappie. Good times!
Wow, thanks for the long write-up Dennis. I copied it into my fishing notes.
Sounds like it could be a scary place with all the stumps and stuff.
Sounds like it could be a scary place with all the stumps and stuff.
