Exploring

[rps]

Went up to the lake after the early morning T-storms. I wanted to explore.

I ran upstream from the dam area about 13 miles.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Skiatook+Lake/@36.3784956,-96.2191624,13z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x87b6d9974d77380f:0xe31d69896beb7a3c!8m2!3d36.3730253!4d-96.1500474

If you find the Tall Chief Rec marker, the marina is in the next pocket to the right. 13 miles is right where the lake forks.

Above the bridge, the lake changes. The water color turns brown with about 2 feet visibility. The lakes becomes acres of rolling flats of 20 to 35 feet deep with wildly wandering channels about 50 feet deep. It appears I will need to become a specialist in channel swings.

From the fork on upstream, much of the area is flooded timber cut by wandering channels. In the Spring, I would imagine the power fishermen flock there. And the crappie folks.

I went under a smaller bridge not shown on the map and followed a 35 foot channel to a inundated road bed beside a flooded pond. The picture is typical of what I found - bait fish with larger fish beneath. Fished there over an hour with a jig, a vertical spoon, and a swimming Keitech. Nada.

Of note, underneath the bridge shown on the map, four boats were tied off and fishing bait. Methinks that must be a hybrid area and I may need to find brooder minnows. And get up earlier than the crowd.

[Ron Burgundy]

My father in law spent a few days on Skiatook with a friend they were after crappie, they fished bridge piers . They caught lots had to go through several shorts until they would get a what keeper..Minnows was the bait that got bit...maybe that’s some of the people you saw were after?

[rps]

10 hours ago, Ron Burgundy said:

My father in law spent a few days on Skiatook with a friend they were after crappie, they fished bridge piers . They caught lots had to go through several shorts until they would get a what keeper..Minnows was the bait that got bit...maybe that’s some of the people you saw were after?

Probably, although the Fishing Hot Spots map I bought marks that area as hybrids as well.