Game Time at Fort Gibson

WAGONER, Okla. – Day 1 of the Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship got kicked off under blustery conditions at Fort Gibson Lake. With 178 of the best college teams in the country on hand, it’s sure to be a shootout.

Hosted by the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Wagoner, the event is presented by Lowrance. Notably, due to high winds in the forecast, Day 1 has been curtailed a bit, with weigh-in starting at 2 p.m. CT instead of 3 p.m. as originally scheduled. Given a return to more reasonable conditions, you can expect weigh-in to start at 3 p.m. as normal for the final two days.

About the Fishery

An impoundment on the Grand (Neosho) River, Fort Gibson covers about 20,000 surface acres, though that can change with the water level. The third lake on the Neosho River, Fort Gibson sits beneath Hudson Lake and Grand Lake and less than 10 miles upstream of the confluence with the Arkansas River.

Primarily a shallow-water fishery, Gibson has some bluffs and steep sections, but the only water deeper than about 30 feet is in the river channel, and a lot of the creeks and bays are characterized by big, tapering flats less than 10 feet deep. As for the cover, it’s mostly rock or wood, with some laydowns and timber in the water, and a decent amount of rock mixed into the sand, clay and gravel of Oklahoma.

Sporting a healthy population of largemouth, Gibson isn’t known for huge weights, but in the spring, you can expect most of the keepers brought to weigh-in to be solid. For forage, shad are the primary focus, but there are panfish, white bass and crayfish available for food as well.

Current Conditions

As of now, Gibson is on the downside of a rapid rise, with the water dropping back toward normal pool during most of practice, and slightly rising at the tail end. At times, that made the current in the river portion of Fort Gibson pretty dramatic, but what will happen during the event is really up for speculation. Generally, Gibson fluctuates more than Grand and Hudson, so the fish are used to changes, but it will take perfect decision-making to turn the uncertainty into opportunity.

Lee Rose Koza, a junior communications and graphic design major from Carson-Newman University, has reported a pretty tough practice, which is the norm so far.

“It’s been interesting so far,” said Koza. “We thought any more bites we had may hurt us, because every fish counts. It’s probly four to five bites a day, and each day we’ve caught about three fish on average. Each fish has been a keeper, they’ve got fat bellies, they’re solid fish, but it’s definitely been a struggle.”

Reporting mostly dirty water in the mid- to upper-50s, the Carson-Newman team said there’s no definitive bite.

“I think a lot is on the table,” said Caz Anderson, Koza’s partner and a junior studying business marketing. “A lot of people will just be getting in line on those banks leading into spawning pockets, trying to find where the fish are coming to. But, from what we’ve seen, there’s really not an area or bait to get multiple bites on, you’ve just got to burn it down the bank.”

Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit pro Kyle Cortiana has three Top-10 finishes in Toyota Series competition on Fort Gibson and thinks the vibe of a shallow, prespawn oriented event is right on the money.

“The main thing about Fort Gibson is it’s a shallow water fishery,” said Cortiana. “There’s no deep, clear water or LiveScope, I’m not saying guys won’t catch them on LiveScope, but generally that lake will fish shallow any time of year. You can catch a fish 2-foot deep on a Biffle Bug when the water is 48 degrees, that’s just how it fishes. You don’t really have to make it too complex when you fish there, you have to find where they’re at.”

Cortiana expects the fish to be working towards spawning.

“I think it’s the obvious staging areas – the points leading into pockets and creeks,” said Cortiana. “They’ll stage under docks, breaks, stuff like that. As a whole, it fishes quite different depending on what part of the lake you’re on, but it always fishes shallow.”

The mid-lake region is expected to be the most popular, but historically the upriver portion of the lake has a lot of winning potential, which may or may not play this week.

“They get up there big-time, and they spawn in all the creeks up there,” said Cortiana. “Spring Creek is a big player, but it gets a lot of attention. When those fish make the move off the main river, they pile into those creeks. You’re flipping every piece of wood you see, there’s old stump rows they’ll hold on, and you can catch them on a squarebill up there.”

The local favorites from Rogers State University, Tanner Bracken and Tyler Dunlap, have endured a practice full of mechanical challenges. Still, Bracken saw enough up the river to be cautious about the potential.

“If it’s won in the river, it would not surprise me, because that’s where a lot of the tournaments are won, is up in that river,” said Bracken, who graduated in 2021. “But the current is so strong, I don’t think they’ll stay and hang out on the wood [on the banks] like they normally would. If they get caught up there, they’ll get caught in the pockets and creeks.”

Tactics in Play

As for how the fish will bite, you can pencil in plenty of Oklahoma staples. Jigs, crankbaits, and spinnerbaits will get a lot of shine this week, but they’ll have stiff competition from the iconic Gene Larew Biffle Bug and wobble head (or hard head) combo that can reign supreme on Gibson.

“We’ve caught them on a lot of different baits,” said Koza. “We think we have something figured out, but we’ve caught fish on five different baits, moving and slower flipping stuff. I think if you put it in front of their face they’ll bite it.”

Assuming dropping water, Bracken sees the usual suspects playing well.

“I don’t think it’ll stay in the bushes,” he said. “If anyone has a bush bite, I think it’ll leave. So, more than likely it’ll be a crankbait of some sort, a jig or a hard head. A hard head is a staple on Fort Gibson.”

Critical Factors

• The weather – Oklahoma is known for winds sweeping down plains, and Day 1 of this event is going to feature an abundance of wind. Then, there are overnight storms and dropping temperatures in the forecast ahead. So, the odds are good that being adaptable and sharp will be key.
• Limiting out – Five a day doesn’t sound like a lot, but with good average quality in Fort Gibson now, any team that doesn’t catch five will likely be behind the eight ball in the hunt for a win.

Dock Talk

Most of the anglers are anticipating a close tournament, which should mean we’re headed for a dramatic final weigh-in on Day 3.

“I ain’t gonna lie, it’s pretty tough,” said Bracken. “Someone is always catching them, but if nothin’ changes, I think 15 or 16 pounds will be leading it on the first day.”

“I think a limit is gonna place a huge role,” said Koza. “If you have a limit both days, I feel like you’re gonna have a good chance of going into Day 3.”

“Anywhere from 38 to 43 pounds is my best guess,” said Anderson. “I don’t think it’s gonna be anything monumental at all.”

The defending champs from Drury University, Cole Breeden and Cameron Smith are on board with a tight event.

“I think the teams who do good are gonna be the ones who figure out the conditions,” said Breeden, a senior marketing major. “The water level has come down quite a bit the last few days and now it’s on its way back up a little bit. There are fish all over the place, so I think keeping an open mindset and just fishing hard all day is going to be really important.”

Both figure that weights in the low teens could be very good.

“We’ve settled on anywhere from like 16 to 13 pounds [a day], because sometimes it seems like the quality is alright, but then I don’t know if we can get five fish,” said Breeden.

“We’ve got weather headed our way, and we don’t know exactly what they’re going to do with the wind and the rain and the cold,” said Smith, who graduated last year. “It’s hard to say, I think a consistent 14 pounds a day might do it.”

If Smith and Breeden can pull off another W, they’d be the only pair to win two national titles with FLW or MLF since the University of Florida duo of Jake Gipson and Matt Wercinski back in the day.

“It’d mean so much,” said Smith of the prospect. “That last championship, it was such a blessing to win it. It got the name of our school out there, and it really put us on the radar, people realized how good the team is. To do it twice in a row, it would be so special for us and our families, and everybody who has supported us in the past.”