Share your catch

Skiatook Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Osage County clear water: Skiatook holds stripers, spotted bass and crappie in rocky hills north of Tulsa.

1/5
Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.
Gauge
5.39 ft
Air / High
98 / 100 F
Wind
SSE 12 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 07176950, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

1/5Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Skiatook Lake locks in another hot, bright day: the fish know the drill and so should you. Today brings clear skies, wind SSE around 12 mph, rising pressure near 1010 hPa and a high of 100. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassFair

Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel)Fair

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassSlow

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Similar at 101 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from Hominy Creek near Hominy (inflow).

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp98 F
High / Low100 / 76 F
WindSSE 12-14 mph
Pressure1010.1 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:58 / 19:48
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Clear, 100/76 F, wind 13 mph, rain 0%

Slow. 100 F: be on the water at dawn and off by mid-morning, or fish after dark.

Species guide

The species that matter on Skiatook Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall

The reservoir heavyweight. Follows shad and herring schools in open water year-round. Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

When to come: the Skiatook Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Skiatook Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 96 F, wind to 15 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 100 F, wind to 12 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 100 F, wind to 10 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

Oklahoma requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Oklahoma license. Striped bass hybrid, bass and crappie limits per current ODWC regulations.

Access

Tall Chief Cove, Twin Points and Bull Creek Corps ramps and campgrounds.

About this water

A 10,500-acre Corps reservoir on Hominy Creek in Osage County, Oklahoma, northwest of Tulsa.

Fishing Skiatook Lake: the full guide

Prairie hills reservoir

Skiatook Lake covers 10,500 acres in the Osage Hills northwest of Tulsa, a Corps reservoir with rocky shorelines, clear water by Oklahoma standards and a fishery built on structure rather than cover. Striped bass and hybrids school the open water, spotted and largemouth bass work the rock, crappie hold the brush and bridges, and catfish patrol the flats and channel edges.

Stripers and hybrids

The lineside fishery is the draw: fish follow shad across the main lake, surfacing at dawn in summer and fall when topwater and swimbaits produce spectacular action. When they sound, vertical jigging spoons over marked schools or trolling deeper covers the rest of the day. Spring pushes fish toward the upper end and creek mouths as water warms.

Bass on rock

Spotted bass dominate the rocky points and bluff ends: shaky heads, drop-shots and small crankbaits produce year-round in clearer water. Largemouth prefer the brushier coves and any timber. Crappie stack on the marked brush piles and bridge structure at 12-25 feet, with strong spring and fall bites. Catfish work the flats and are reliable on cut bait through the warm months.

Tulsa-area logistics

Corps ramps at Tall Chief Cove, Twin Points and Bull Creek serve the lake, with campgrounds at several. The Osage Hills setting keeps development modest, and traffic is lighter than the lakes closer to Tulsa. Wind sweeps the open basin, as it does everywhere in Oklahoma: fish the protected shorelines when it blows hard.

Common questions

When do stripers surface?

Summer and fall at dawn and dusk: watch for birds and surface flickers on the main lake and be ready to move fast.

Is the water clear?

Clearer than most Oklahoma reservoirs thanks to the rocky Osage Hills watershed, which favors finesse presentations.

How busy is it?

Moderate: less pressure than Keystone or Oologah, with the campgrounds filling on summer weekends.

Is fishing good at Skiatook Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Tough. Pick your battles. Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Nearby waters

Keystone Lake22 miOologah Lake32 miSooner Lake41 miKaw Lake50 miLake Hudson54 miFort Gibson Lake61 mi
Share your catch