By B.A.S.S. Communications Staff
COOKSON, Okla. — Multiple patterns could be at play during the Bassmaster Elite Series event at Lake Tenkiller, but which ones perform best will be determined by potentially high water levels and current generation, according to Elite Series rookie Blake Capps.
“It will be a really fun tournament to watch live. Just going out and fun-fishing, this is one of the best lakes to go to,” the Muskogee native said. “I have been over there plenty of times with the water up, and you’ll be flipping trees and catching smallmouth. That’s not something you see all the time.
“This is the smallest lake we are going to this year, and having the water up will help spread us out.”
Tournament days are set for Thursday through Sunday with daily takeoffs starting at 6:30 a.m. at Cherokee Landing State Park. Weigh-in time is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday back at State Park, while the weigh-ins on Saturday and Sunday will take place at Cherokee Casino Tahlequah starting at 3 p.m.
The full field will fish Day 1 and 2, while only the Top 50 will fish on Saturday. The Top 10 anglers following the Day 3 weigh-in will compete for a blue trophy and the $100,000 first-place prize.
Often overshadowed by the larger reservoirs in the state like Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees and Lake Eufaula, the 12,900-acre Illinois River reservoir has a history of producing quality largemouth, smallmouth and even spotted bass. The Elite Series made its first trip to Tenkiller in late September of 2019, an event originally scheduled to be held at Fort Gibson Lake. Australia native Carl Jocumsen won that event with 54 pounds, 15 ounces.
This go-round, Capps expects the weights to be tight throughout the field with the winner averaging 18 pounds per day.
“It is hard to win on smallmouth alone. You need a largemouth or two in your bag to win,” Capps said. “The guys with mixed bags or just largemouth are hard to beat.”
Heavy rains have inundated eastern Oklahoma throughout the spring. Just two weeks ago, as anglers were practicing for the Bassmaster Kayak Series event at Tenkiller, the lake rose over 8 feet above full pool. By the end of the tournament, which was won by Kristine Fischer with mostly largemouth, the Corp of Engineers brought the lake level down several feet.
While water fluctuation moved the bass around, the kayak anglers still reported catching promising numbers and quality of both largemouth and smallmouth.
“The rain and current will be our biggest curveballs,” Capps said. "Generally speaking, Tenkiller is one of the cleanest lakes in Oklahoma. With this much rain and current, I don’t expect it to be as clean as usual.”
With higher lake levels, buckbrush and flooded wood on the bank will be the main cover the bass will use. Capps expects anglers who fish shallow to catch fish with creature baits and topwaters. There is also the potential for an angler to stumble upon a bluegill spawn.
Capps also believes there will be a good offshore bite. Rockpiles and brushpiles will be key targets. Channel-swing banks are also plentiful. Football jigs and topwaters have also been historically productive offshore presentations this time of the year.
“They have had current running through the lake for a month straight now,” Capps said. “I don’t know if they will be as deep as they normally are. We don’t normally have this much current this late in the year.”
With conditions likely to change from day to day, Capps envisions the winner executing several different patterns over the course of the four-day tournament.
“I don’t think anyone is going to win it on one spot. It will be the guys who move around and change it up. Things are changing, and it is going to be a tournament where you need to keep an open mind.”
Live coverage will be available on Bassmaster.com Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET. Roku will have coverage on Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and noon to 3 p.m. Coverage on Saturday will be available on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. before moving to Bassmaster.com from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday’s coverage will be available on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. before FOX takes the reins from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
