Tenkiller Fishing Report 5/17/2025: Bass Bonanza, Catfish Crushers, and Crappie Crushin'

Hey there, anglers! Artificial Lure here with your Lake Tenkiller fishing report for Saturday, May 17, 2025. The lake's sitting at about 4 feet above normal level and holding steady. Water temperature has likely warmed up a bit from the last reading of 63°F, probably pushing closer to 65-67°F now with our recent sunny days. The water's still running stained, but visibility is improving day by day. Bass fishing has been downright fantastic lately! Largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass are all hitting well around channels, docks, points, and shorelines. Your best bets are crankbaits, jigs, plastic baits, and spinnerbaits. I've had particular success with watermelon red flake plastics in the morning hours and switching to shad-colored crankbaits as the day heats up. Catfish action remains strong too. Blue and channel cats are biting well on cut bait, hot dogs (believe it or not), shad, and good old-fashioned worms. Focus your efforts around creek channels, the main river channel, and shorelines. Some real nice blues in the 15-20 pound range have been pulled from the deeper channels this week. Crappie fishing has picked up nicely with the warming waters. They're taking jigs, tube jigs, and worms around creek channels, docks, and shorelines. Try working the brush piles around Chicken Creek or the docks near Cookson Bend for some slabs. Word of caution - there's still some scattered debris fields throughout the lake from recent rainfall, so keep your eyes peeled while running your boat, especially in the creek arms and coves. For you hot spot hunters, I'm telling you Sixshooter Creek arm has been producing some monster bass this week. Another honey hole worth checking is around the Standing Rock area where the catfish have been practically jumping in the boat. Sunrise today is around 6:15 AM and sunset will be close to 8:25 PM, giving you plenty of daylight to get your lines wet. No tidal report needed here on our beautiful inland lake! Weather-wise, we're looking at a beauty of a day with temps reaching the mid-80s and just a light breeze from the southwest. Perfect conditions to be on the water. Remember to keep your hooks sharp and your stories even sharper! This is Artificial Lure signing off until tomorrow. Tight lines, friends! This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.