Holidays and thanks
Jeff hopes everyone had a Merry Christmas (he missed last week's report) and wishes them a happy New Year. Thanks for tuning in to the Grand Lake Outdoor Report on KGVE 99.3, and thanks to the GRDA and other sponsors who have supported the Grand Fishing Report and Grand Lake Outdoor Report for many years.
Deer season wrap-up
Antlerless season is winding up, and Oklahoma hunters had a fantastic year. Check out the Oklahoma Bowhunter group on Facebook. Some of the bucks taken this year are outstanding, and the state's deer-herd management really seems to be working. Congratulations to everyone who got a buck or a doe. Jeff will archery hunt until January 15, trying for one more doe for summer sausage, then plans to get back in the saddle and fish a lot.
Paddlefish / Williams Guide Service
Haydn has had some really easy Paddlefish trips this past week. Most of his calls now are for Paddlefish, so he hasn't switched to Crappie yet. He's trolling mostly around Sailboat Bridge, and his clients really appreciate the heated enclosure on his boat. Look up Williams Guide Service Grand Lake on Facebook for lots of pictures of happy clients. Other guides are doing well too. The typical winter hot spot runs from the east side of Shangri-La back to the Gray's Ranch area north of Sailboat Bridge. It's a tug of war: warmer water and air move the fish up the lake to stage, and big cold fronts push them back toward deeper, bigger water down the lake. Somewhere between Sailboat Bridge and Shangri-La is usually great in January and February.
Crappie
It's been really great around Monkey Island, west toward the dam and at some of the big marinas. John Lewis has been catching really nice Crappie on a 2-inch soft-plastic jig with a clear body and red, white and blue flakes. In Grand Lake's clear winter water, blues, clears, pearls and Monkey Milk–type colors really shine. People were at the Twin Bridges ramp when Jeff drove through on the way to see his mom in Joplin for Christmas. A couple of weeks ago Haydn caught really nice roaming Crappie on Spring River. It took him a while to find them, but once he did, he pitched a jig and watched it fall on LiveScope.
Catfish
Good friends Matt and Christy Watson caught some really, really nice Blue Cats over the weekend. It was cold, but fishing deep water and deep ledges with Shad paid off.
Shad kill watch
It hasn't been cold enough for a shad kill yet, but the first hard, sustained, windy cold front could change things fast. Threadfin Shad usually die before Gizzard Shad, and that changes the Catfishing. When you see gulls diving at all hours, that's usually what's happening, and the shad kill typically sets in during January and February.