Grand Lake, B.C. (Before Classic)

You’ll struggle to find any aquatic vegetation in Grand Lake. Instead, you’ll find 1,300 miles of rocky shoreline like this.

Mike Iaconelli reviews "screen grabs" he saved during five very long days of scouting Grand Lake in early December. His Uncle Don patiently rode along just "taking it all in" on the exploratory trip.

Alan McGuckin, a fishing industry marketer for the past 18 years, is an avid angler on Grand Lake. Note the small patch of snow on the shoreline behind him.

Bluff walls like this one will see lots of lures thrown at them during the 2013 Bassmaster Classic.

Docked next to Sailboat Bridge, The Cherokee Queen paddlewheel riverboat has long been a fixture on Grand Lake, and has hosted many dinner and party cruises.

Mike McClelland unhooks a small Grand Lake largemouth inside a small pocket near the mid-region of Horse Creek.

McClelland graciously shares a look at lures he’ll depend on to help him try to win the Bassmaster Classic on Grand Lake. McStick jerkbaits will dominate Mike’s arsenal.

Carhartt College Series Classic qualifier Matt Lee, a 23-year-old engineering major from Auburn, slings a spinnerbait in the back of a cove near Tera Miranda.

Backed by millions of dollars in funding, work has been happening at a pressured pace to make the city of Grove, Oklahoma’s Wolf Creek boat ramp a top-notch facility before the Classic competitors arrive.

An old Sunray DX oil sign marks the entrance to Scotty’s Cove, a very popular late winter/early Spring area near Grand’s Pensacola Dam.

Perhaps the most famous of all Grand Lake marinas, Shangri-La Marina and Resort was home to some of the coldest Bassmaster weigh-ins ever back in 1991 and 1992.

Located in Duck Creek, Spinnaker Point is sure to have a number of lures cast at it.

Few locals have cashed more paychecks on Grand Lake over the past 30 years than Tulsa’s Wayne Diffee, a hard-working machinist by trade.

Completed 73 years ago, the Pensacola Dam is nearly a mile long and holds back 46,500 surface acres of water.

Debris from the May 22, 2011 tornado still hangs high in a tree on the shores of Grand. The same tornado headed 60 miles northeast that afternoon and devastated Joplin, Mo..

A Toyota Tundra backs a boat down the hugely popular Martin Landing launch ramp located in the back of Echo Bay.

Originally home to two trees that appeared to stick up in the middle of the lake, “Two Tree Island” no longer has two trees -- but it does have plenty of birds, including Grand’s famous late autumn pelicans.

Fans who find their way to Grand Lake O' the Cherokees during the Bassmaster Classic should try hard to schedule a fast tour of historic Har-Ber Village located on the shoreline near Grove, Okla.

Mike McClelland holds a bass that fell victim to a McStick jerkbait. Most agree that a suspending jerkbait has won more late February and March tournaments than any other lure over the past 30 years on Grand Lake.

Local angler Mitch Webb reaches far to prevent a bass --which he hooked near the mouth of Drowning Creek -- from getting away.

There’s no shortage of million-dollar properties along the shores of Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees.

Sailboat Bridge is by far the largest and most recognizable bridge on Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees. Originally completed in 1939, it was almost totally reconstructed in 2001.

Terry “Big Show” Scroggins depended on a Carhartt rainsuit to help keep him warm during the long, cold, early December practice days on Grand Lake.

A Sunoco sign serves as a ‘can’t-miss’ landmark in what will surely be one of the more popular coves among Classic competitors -- Ketchum Cove.

A thin layer of ice covered a cove on Grand Lake in this photo from early January. It’s extremely rare for major portions of the Grand to freeze solid, but it has happened as recently as 2010.