Lake-wide
The busiest weekend at Grand Lake is over. Monkey Island and Shangri-La, from Littlefield's Corner to the Shangri-La point, had more people than Jeff has ever seen, maybe because of the weather or the country's 250th anniversary. Places were standing room only around the Shangri-La fireworks, though a thunderstorm rolled in on some other fireworks shows.
Below the dam
Drifting for cats below the turbines, between the cable and the bridge, is a lot of fun. Shad are easy to find down there. Drift down with the current, run back up and repeat. Use little weight so your shad ticks along the bottom or down through the water column. The water coming out of the turbines is cooler than on the upper lake. Injured baitfish and debris come through after generation, and opportunistic fish feed on them, so match the hatch and the current. There will be tons of White Bass, and Crappie in the slack water. Don't snag Paddlefish above the bridge, between the bridge and the cable. If you accidentally hook one that's fine, but special restrictions apply.
White Bass
Haydn is catching tons of White Bass, mainly in the middle of the lake from Honey Creek down past Goat Island.
Water clarity
Water is clearing nicely at Shangri-La. Without much more inflow, clear water from the Elk and Spring rivers should start pulling better-colored water under the Shangri-La bridge, and with steady generation the backs of Honey Creek, Duck Creek and Horse Creek will clear fast. Crappie on brush piles will get really good once the lake clears.
Crappie
Fish the shade this time of year. In a dock, get to the darkest spot; from a boat, cast to the darkest spot in the dock. Jeff loves swimming minnows on a 1/16- or 1/8-ounce head, pitched or shot into dark spots with a flexible little rod like the Toby Keith microscope — a great rod for shooting docks. Littlefield's Bait & Tackle has those, plus the push-button combos.
Bottom line
It's July in Oklahoma and hot. Troll a Dinner Spinner in the evenings, maybe around Governor's Island.
Dealers
Littlefield's Bait & Tackle, Grove Walmart, and Fish Lucke World's Luckiest Tackle.