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Top lures at Lake Tenkiller 2025

See the top lures used by the pros for shad spawns and flipping tactics.

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Photography by
Dalton Tumblin
Photography by
Logan Crumley
Photography by
Andy Crawford
Photography by
Shane Durrance
Captions by
Craig Lamb
High water conditions produced favorable bass fishing at the 2025 Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Lake Tenkiller. It was downright fun for the top anglers, who capitalized on early morning shad spawns centered around marinas on the eastern Oklahoma impoundment. Photo: Craig Lamb
When that bite dwindled, the action shifted to flooded shoreline cover for flipping tactics. Photo: Craig Lamb
Capitalizing on both tactics, Wes Logan mounted a magnificent comeback victory with a four-day total of 63 pounds. The Alabama pro took home his second career big blue trophy with a winning margin of 1 ounce.  
Logan and the top anglers mastered the fluctuating water conditions after dramatically rising water during practice gave way to falling and then rising water again by Championship Sunday. See the top lures used for these varying conditions. 
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Jordan Lee (10th; 52-9)
Lee punch flooded shoreline cover and fished mid-depth strike zones with flooded and submerged bushes and trees. 
A key bait was a 10- or 14-gram jig with a bulky-bodied creature bait. 
Alternatively, his punch rig was this Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Creature Hawg, fished on a 4/0 hook. Lee rigged it with 3/8- or 1/2-ounce weights, depending on thickness of surface cover. 
Logan Latuso (9th; 54-4)
Latuso heavied up on his tackle package for fishing heavy cover in flooded shorelines. 
A key bait was this Missie Baits D Bomb in white, rigged on a 5/0 Hayabusa FPP Straight Hook, with a 1/2-ounce weight. 
Alternatively, he used this Missile Baits D Bomb in Okeechobee Craw, rigged on a 5/0 Hayabusa Straight Hook, with a 5/16-ounce weight.
KJ Queen (8th; 54-7)
Queen fished flooded shoreline cover and other midrange strike zones. 
His key bait was this 1/2-ounce Queen Tackle Switch Blade Jig with a Zoom Fluke for a trailer. 
Keith Combs (7th; 55-15)
Combs keyed on flooded shoreline cover and other mid-depth transitional strike zones with a crankbait and flipping setup. 
Key baits for covering water were a Strike King KVD Squarebill in the 1.5 and 2.5 models. 
For heavy cover, Combs used this Strike King Rage Bug, rigged on a 3/0 Owner 4X Jungle Flipping Hook, with a 3/8-ounce weight. 
Trey McKinney (6th; 56-1)
McKinney fished shallow cover and midrange strike zones with a jig and minnow. 
A key bait was this 5/16-ounce 6th Sense prototype jig with a 6th Sense Bongo Craw 3.7 for a trailer. 
Alternatively, he used this 6th Sense prototype minnow on a 3/16-ounce ball head jig. 
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Bob Downey (5th; 56-9)
Downey began each day with a swim jig, then gradually shifted to shoreline cover with a flipping package. 
A top bait was this 3/8-ounce swim jig with a CrushCity Cleanup Craw for a trailer. 
For heavy cover he used this Caleb Kuphall jig with a CrushCity Cleanup Craw for a trailer. 
Brandon Card (4th; 59-0)
Card rotated between a topwater and flipping setup. 
A top bait was this Zoom Bait Brush Hog rigged on 4/0 straight shank hook, with 3/8- and 1/2-ounce weights. 
For early topwater action he used this Yo-Zuri 3DB Pencil. 
Kyle Welcher (3rd; 60-5)
Welcher capitalized on an early morning shad spawn around marinas and then switched later in the day to a flipping package. 
For the shad spawn, he used this 4-inch CrushCity The Mayor, rigged on a 5/0, 1/8-ounce Gamakatsu Extra Wide Gap Weighted Hook. Welcher skipped the bait into boat slips of marina docks. 
When that bite subsided, Welcher switched to this CrushCity Bronco Bug, rigged on a 4/0 Gamakatsu G-Power Heavy Cover Worm Flip and Punch Hook, with a 1/2-ounce tungsten weight. 
Andrew Loberg (2nd; 62-15)
Loberg initially focused on flooded shoreline cover with a flipping package, until he noticed the bass backing off to follow and feed upon baitfish. Making those key adjustments proved key to his success — and choices of lures. 
For heavy-cover flipping, he used a Strike King Rage Bug, rigged on a 4/0 hook with a 1/2-ounce tungsten weight. 
Alternatively, he relied on this 3/8-ounce Beast Coast Fishing Swim Jig, with a white trailer. 
For covering water in mid-ange strike zones, he used this 1st Gen Mini Copperhead vibrating jig, with a Missile Baits Spunk Shad for a trailer. 
Wes Logan (1st; 63-0)
Logan focused on flooded bushes and shallow water cover featuring a variety of laydowns and other cover ideal for flipping. He began each day capitalizing on a shad spawn centered around a marina. 
For the shad spawn he used this 1/2-ounce Z-Man ChatterBait JackHammer with a Zoom Shimmer Shad for a trailer. 
The flipping setup consisted of this Ark Fishing Randal Tharp Signature Flipping Jig, with a Zoom Super Chunk for a trailer. 

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