About Grand Lake Today

History of the Grand Fishing Report

The Grand Fishing Report has been helping anglers fish Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees for more than two decades. Here is its story, drawn from the original GrandFishingReport.com pages and Jeff’s own reports.

How it started: Ivan Martin and Lee Jeffery (early 2000s)

GrandFishingReport.com went online in the early 2000s with a simple promise: fishing reports “by the people who fish Oklahoma’s Grand Lake almost every day of the year.” The site was produced at Martin Landing Resort & Guide Service on Monkey Island with Creative Endeavors Group of Disney, Oklahoma, publishers of The Grand Laker, and the earliest pages carry a 2002–2003 date.

Ivan Martin, of Martin Landing Guide Service, was the report’s founding guide. In 2003 he already had 15 years of guiding on Grand Lake behind him, specializing in Black Bass, White Bass, Crappie and Catfish, and his promise to customers was: “Whether you’re a seasoned Bass Tournament Professional wanting to learn the lake, or a beginner who wants to learn how to fish, I will do my best to show you a good time!” He and his crew put out new brush piles weekly for fish habitat.

Lee Jeffery was the report’s other founding voice. The original site describes Lee as the Fishing Editor for the Grove Sun Daily and the host of two fishing radio programs. He also hosted the free monthly “Just Grand Lake Fishing” seminar series on the first Thursday of each month at Martin Landing Resort. His page showed off big Grand Lake Blue Catfish, including a 35-pounder caught at the entrance of East Bay on March 7, 2003.

The Grand Lake Outdoor Report on the radio

The weekly radio fishing report goes back even further. As Jeff tells it on the Grand Lake Outdoor Report, “It started out with Lee Jeffery many years ago,” with Lee driving all over the lake with a black cassette recorder and a little chrome-tipped microphone, interviewing anglers and taking the tapes to the radio station. Ivan Martin, Tony Coatney and others carried the report over the years, and Jeff keeps the tradition going today on the radio and in the weekly Grand Fishing Report audio.

The early GrandFishingReport.com

From the start, the site was a one-stop page for Grand Lake fishermen: weekly guide reports from Ivan, Lee and other local guides (including a young Jeff Williams running Catfish and Spoonbill trips), lake level, ramp status, tournament schedules and results, lake regulations, and reader-submitted fishing reports and photos. Later years added a Thursday Evening League tournament series and a “Who’s Fishing Grand?” reader feature.

A 2019 version of the site credits Ivan Martin as founder and notes that he partnered with web developer Bud Gammell to give anglers the most current lake fishing information. Bud has since passed away, but the report lived on. By 2014, Ivan listed more than 25 years of guiding experience on Grand Lake.

2014 to today: Jeff Williams and GRDA

In 2014, Jeff Williams, Outdoor BrandZ and the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) stepped up to redesign and streamline the Grand Fishing Report. Jeff grew up fishing Grand Lake from docks, banks and boats, bought his first “real boat” at 18 and started guiding for Bass and Crappie, then Blue Catfish and Spoonbill (Paddlefish). GRDA has supported the report ever since, going back to the Ivan Martin and Lee Jeffery days.

Today the Grand Fishing Report lives at grandlaketoday.com/fishing as the fishing section of Grand Lake Today, with weekly reports, audio, tournaments, and a Facebook group of more than 24,000 members.

Honoring the founders

Ivan Martin and Lee Jeffery’s passion for fishing, the outdoors and the Grand Lake community created a trusted place for anglers to connect and stay informed. We’re proud to carry on the tradition they started, and we know they’re still watching over Grand Lake every time an angler reels in another great catch. Thank you, Lee and Ivan.