GROVE, Okla. — Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees is no stranger to the big stage. The Oklahoma fishery has hosted a whopping 114 events across all levels of MLF/FLW competition over the years, the most recent being the Toyota Series Championship last November. But rarely have those visits come during the summer months. In fact, only once has a national trail visited Grand in June, when the FLW Tour did so back in 2013.
So, when the Bass Pro Tour heads to Grand for the penultimate event of the 2026 season, slated for June 18-21, anglers might find a different fishery than they’re used to. Oklahoma native James Elam expects the lake to surprise some people, although different conditions could drastically change how this event unfolds.
What to expect
Elam, who lives in nearby Tulsa, has been waiting for a top-level tournament to come to Grand in the early summer. He said it’s one of his two favorite times to be on the fishery, along with late November to early December.
“I’ve always hoped that a tournament would go there in June,” he said.
While there might not be much national history on Grand in summertime, we did get a glimpse at how good the fishing could be at this time last year. The Abu Garcia High School Fishing national championship took place on Grand last June, and the duo of Carson Holbert and Cooper Moon totaled more than 44 pounds on three three-bass limits – an average of almost 5 pounds per keeper. All of the top six teams topped 35 pounds.
Elam thinks we could see another strong bite when the Bass Pro Tour visits, but how it goes down could vary wildly. If the water level is high, this could turn into an old-school Oklahoma bush-flipping derby. That’s how Jason Christie won on Grand back in 2013. If the conditions are more normal, offshore tactics could dominate. We could also see plenty of postspawn bass caught around the lake’s many boat docks and other shallow cover.
“It’s a big wild card,” Elam said. “There’s all kinds of variables, like if there was a late spawn or an early spawn, or if the water’s high or if the water’s muddy or if it’s super clear and it’s low. There’s a lot of things that will matter that kind of dictate how it fishes.”
Regardless of the prevailing pattern, Elam thinks catch rates will be solid. He noted that the BPT’s every-fish-counts format should show off the healthy number of 2- to 3-pound bass currently swimming in Grand.
While most anglers probably don’t have much, if any, experience on Grand in the summer, Elam doesn’t anticipate having much of a local advantage. He noted that just about everyone should be familiar with the fishery, and this is the type of event where fishing history could get an angler in trouble. Given the transitional time of year, he expects the most productive tactics to evolve as the event progresses.
“The level we fish at, they all tend to figure it out so fast,” he said. “It almost plays in the hands of the guys now that see things from a fresher perspective and concentrate on the here and now.”
Storylines to watch
- For whatever reason, Grand seems to have a knack for producing close tournaments. Look no further than two most recent MLF championship events on the lake for proof. Bobby Lane caught a last-minute 2-pounder to win REDCREST on Grand in 2022, and two anglers finished within 2 pounds of his total. Then, at the Toyota Series Championship, only 17 ounces separated the top seven finishers, and Roger Fitzpatrick beat Drew Gill via tiebreaker.
- Three Oklahoma natives (Elam, Zack Birge and Edwin Evers) will compete in their home state, and all three have won on Grand before.
- In all, six anglers in this field have notched victories on Grand: Birge, Elam, Evers, Lane, Mark Daniels Jr. and Nick LeBrun. You could make a strong case that three of those anglers will revisit the site of their biggest career wins at Stage 6. Lane won his REDCREST title on Grand; Evers won the 2016 Bassmaster Classic; and Daniels won the 2013 TBF National Championship, which launched his touring career.