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Welcome to The Lake Lodge At Grand Lake O' The Cherokees Blog: Golfin'-Fishin' Beat Down, Big Bass Bash and Noah's first tourney edition!
- Jon Stewart
- Jun 23
- 5 min read
It’s been a while — longer than I intended — since my last post, and for that, I sincerely apologize. Life has a way of rushing in like spring rain, full of distractions and demands, and before I knew it, the weeks had slipped past. Thank you for sticking around and checking in; your patience means the world.
Speaking of spring rain, it certainly didn’t hold back this year. I am told the lake rose higher than seen in years, swollen from relentless downpours that turned trails into streams and left ramps and docks underwater. But now, at last, summer is here. The sun has returned, the water is settling, and everything will soon be back to "normal" — ready for new memories, new stories, and the lake time we’ve all been craving.
Because I've been away a while, there is a lot to cover. Too much really for one blog, so I'll hit the highlights!
In May, this rough looking crew (my dad and his buddies) visited from Colorado (and KY) and stayed 5 days or so.
They wanted to fish (have a tourney) and golf, so we combined the two and had the first annual Fishin'-Golfin' Beat Down event. It was a three day event. Fishing safelight till noon each day and golfing 9 holes each afternoon. Three of the four guys golf pretty regularly but only one, maybe 1 1/2, had much bass fishing experience. Our friend Jerry Pape came over and was a boater, I was the other boater. We drew for partners day one, swapped day two and drew again for day three.
Scoring consisted of your boat weight (3 guys fishing as a team for the best 5 fish) for the day, and then your team (same three guys playing the best ball) golf scramble based on how you did each hole. Triple Bogey or worse = -1 pound, Double Bogey = even (no weight added or subtracted, Bogey = +1 pound, Par = + 2 Pounds, Birdie = + 3 pounds and an Eagle was + 4 pounds.
Day one, Jerry's team had 10.10 pounds and +14 on the golf, Jon's team struggled fishing with 5.9 pounds and +14 on golf. Day 2, Jon's team had 19.10 fishing and +11 golfing and Jerry's team had 10.15 fishing but +18 on the golf! Day three, Jon's team again struggled fishing with 6.90 and +13 on the golf. Jerry's team had 12.11 fishing (very consistent) and another great day golfing with + 19.
Now, remember when I said three of the four had golfed before and only one had bass fished before?(also, these guys are all in their 70's and 80's!) Well, the winner was Mike Smith (the one below with the Cabela's bag and forever to be known moving forward as Aqua Man.....I think you can figure out why...) he won and had never golfed or bass fished other than a few times! A great time was had by all with lots of great memories and they are already planning the second annual Fishin' Golfin' Beat Down! Here are some pics of the event....
Next we had the annual Grand Lake Big Bass Bash!
Our church had a silent auction on FB to raise money for Project 7, a part of our church that uses the money for charities and to just help when and where needed. I offered up a fishing trip with me in a tournament of some kind this year. One of our Pastors, Jonathan Whitney, won the bid so we fished the Big Bass Bass together and had a great time. Its not your typical tourney. They have 4 time periods and pay out 20 places in each of those periods, plus some other unique ways to get a check like exact 3 pound or 4 pound fish gets you a check. Exact 6.87 wins a new truck and the overall biggest fish is $100K! Its a fun event with lots of strategy. Neither one of us won $100K or a Truck, but I did take 6th in the 10am-12pm period on Saturday with a 4.82! We both weighed in a few more times but came up a little short. I think the pastor is "hooked" a little, and wants to do some Monday or Thursday nighters.... we'll do that!
One of my favorite things to do, is take people, especially kids out for their first tourney. The scary part for me is, you never know how its gonna go. Tournament fishing is different... It can be tough, you rarely win or even get your money back and its just not for everybody. There was a Monday nighter last week. I asked a couple of buddies, including pastor Jonathan, but they were both busy. Pastor Jonathan's boys (Parker and Noah) both love fishing and specifically watching tourney fishing on tv or you tube. Neither one had fished a tourney before, so I told Jonathan, if he and his wife were ok with me taking one of them, I would be glad to. They were ok with it and Noah Whitney fished his first tourney with me in the Monday nighter last week. Monday nighters are different 2 1/2 to 3 hours to fish and if you haven't been in a few days, you just have to go fish your best stuff and hope they're there. So Noah and I went and Carolina rigged a couple points then moved up to flip bushes and trees which I am most comfortable doing. We didn't win or place but we had fun! We caught a couple fish, had a train wreck of a net job on one and Noah caught one off a dock throwing a spinner bait. I was very impressed with Noah's pitching and flipping in the bushes and especially the dock pitching. That will com in handy on Grand Lake! Thank You Noah, for going with me!
This week, the TBF High School World Finals are here and we are full! We may have some of them on the Idle Zone Syndicate Podcast tomorrow night (June 24) 7 PM central time. You can find us on the Idle Zone Syndicate YouTube channel! I think there will be 300-400 boats out there. We want to wish them all well and Gods protection while they're out there. Well talk more about it, in the next blog....
Grand Lake, Oklahoma, Tournament Results, Lake Level, Area Info
We have had a lot of rain, well, everyone around here has. The lake has finally started to drop. Right now it is at 751.4. That's about 8 or so feet above normal.
The water temps are all in the upper 70's to low 80's. Lake is stained to muddy in some areas but clearing, clear in the lower end.
Fish are being caught in the bushes and willow trees on Jigs, creature baits, brush hogs etc.. and on the points with big crankbaits and Carolina rigs.
Lodging Grand Lake Oklahoma for upcoming events
If you are looking to book, we have 10 rooms and fill up pretty quickly. Need to call early.
The Serenity Point Monday (every other Monday) and Thursday nighters have begun (info on their FB page) as well as the Owasso bass club Friday nighters (FB Page) and the Grand Lake Bass club Saturday nighters (GrandFishingReport.com FB Page) .
June:
6/23-28 - TBF High School World Finals
FULL
July
July 4th weekend
6 rooms left -
7/16 - American Bass Anglers Grand Lake
Ten (10) rooms available
7/20 - Future Bass
Nine (9) rooms available
7/26 - Future Bass
All American Kayak Series
Seven (7) rooms available
7/27-31 - Lady Bass Angler Association
Two (2) rooms available
To Book: www.thelakelodgegrandlake.com or call 918-314-9968
Also check out our local podcast the Idle Zone Syndicate, Tuesday nights, 7pm central
Come visit us!
Jon and Valerie
The Lake Lodge at Grand Lake O' the Cherokees
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