New KGVE sponsor
Mike at Excalibur Sporting Goods is now the sponsor of the Grand Lake Outdoor Report on KGVE. Jeff has been out there several times for ammo and guns. Mike is very knowledgeable, likes to work with you, carries ammo and has a nice shooting range. (L&L Outdoors in Jay does a great job too.)
Memorial Day safety
It's a big holiday weekend, and many anglers will go early before the big boats and WaveRunners pile in. Thunderstorm chances are nothing new for Memorial Day in Oklahoma. Living at the point of Shangri-La, Jeff and Patricia have seen some crazy scenes when a storm rolls in at 3 p.m. on a Saturday or Sunday and everybody leaves Courthouse Hollow and Woodard Hollow at once. Novices rent or buy boats, people get lost, confused and panicked, and that's how accidents happen. Pay attention to everything around you.
Honey Creek Bridge
Jeff fished the Honey Creek Bridge over the weekend with friends Ken Rains and Mike Murray. They kept about 30 keeper Crappie, released maybe 15 small ones and caught well over 50 White Bass, all on the 2½-inch Luck E Strike Swimming Minnow with 1/8 oz heads. Jeff threw black-and-chartreuse (Old School), and Ken and Mike threw Knockout (clear chartreuse). They fished all around the bridge, in the sun and under it, alongside trollers and pontoons anchored under the bridge fishing minnows.
Bernice Bridge
Jeff took Patricia to Bernice Bridge and they got into a bunch of great big Sand Bass on the same 2½-inch Swimming Minnow in Old School, Moonshine and Knockout with 1/8 oz heads. Patricia had a great time casting and catching, and some fish were surfacing. Main-lake brush piles held Crappie, but it was too windy to stay. That's big water from Governor's Island to the Bernice Bridge and around Blackberry and Snake islands.
Holiday trolling
Trolling should be great around Sweetwater, Governor's Island, the islands around Shangri-La and Goat Island, with lots of White Bass and some Crappie mixed in. Go early or late, because some of these are high-traffic areas when the big boats run.
Weekend plans
Barbecue ribs, a couple of adult beverages, maybe a cigar on the back deck, and people- and boat-watching, which is sometimes as fun as being out there.
OnGrandTime.com
Visit Patricia's new print-on-demand site, OnGrandTime.com, for custom-designed Grand Lake apparel and gifts: pillows, blankets, towels, t-shirts, caps, stickers and coasters. It's original artwork, not recycled designs. And check out what Toby Keith and Jeff are doing with American-made hard baits at LuckEStrike.com.