Tenkiller Tackle Talk: Deep Drops, Shad Runs, and Seasonal Shifts for Bass, Crappie, and Stripers

Artificial Lure here with your Lake Tenkiller fishing rundown, straight from the hills.

## Conditions and timing
Lake Tenkiller is sitting a touch below normal pool, with steady generation keeping a light pull on the main river channel. Expect a chilly start, calm to light winds, and mild afternoon temps with clear skies. Sunrise is right around seven in the morning with sunset late afternoon, so that first-light and last-hour window is prime.

## Fish activity and what’s biting
The cold nights have pushed a lot of fish deeper, but the bite is steady if you slow down. Largemouth and spots are staging on main-lake points, bluff ends, and the first breaks outside creek mouths in 12–25 feet. Smallmouth are tighter to rock, relating to steeper banks and channel swings. Crappie are stacked on brush and standing timber off mid-depth points, and stripers/hybrids are roaming the lower end and near the dam when shad bunch up.

## Lures and bait
- Bass: Finesse jigs, green pumpkin or brown, with a compact trailer dragged slow on rock. Shad-colored Alabama rigs and 3–4 inch swimbaits over 15–30 feet on main-lake points. Jerkbaits in transparent shad patterns when the sun is high and the water’s clear.
- Crappie: Small tube jigs or 1/16–1/8 ounce marabou jigs in chartreuse/white or monkey milk, dropped right on their nose with forward-facing sonar or tight-lining.
- Stripers/hybrids: One- to two-ounce jigging spoons in chrome or white, or soft flukes on a 1/2 ounce head. Live shad will out-fish everything if you can get them; rig them on downlines over deep bait schools.
- Catfish: Cut shad or punch bait on channel bends and below the dam when current’s up.

## Bait choices and patterns
If you’re a live bait angler, minnows for crappie and shad for stripers and cats are the ticket. For artificials, think “subtle and natural”: fluorocarbon, lighter heads, and long pauses on the jerkbait. Midday, work deeper with jigs and spoons; early and late, don’t be afraid to throw a spinnerbait or squarebill around rock and laydowns in the creeks.

## Local hot spots
Two spots to circle on the map:
- The Chicken Creek area and the nearby main-lake points are producing mixed bags of bass and crappie off brush and rock breaks.
- Down by the dam and the Illinois River channel swings near Cookson Bend, folks are boating stripers, smallmouth, and the occasional big spot when they find shad.

That’s the word from around Tenkiller today. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for more reports. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI