Lake Tenkiller

One river, one dam, a lot of fluctuation

Lake Tenkiller sits on the Illinois River in eastern Oklahoma, about ten miles south of Tahlequah. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation dates the impoundment to 1952 and calls Tenkiller the only controlled impoundment on the Illinois River. The same page warns that the lake “can experience prolonged drastic lake level fluctuations.” That is the most useful fact a first-time visitor can carry. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates the dam, and a cove that was deep enough in spring can be a mudflat by late summer, or the reverse after a wet season upstream.

Use the current reading on this page as a starting point, then look at the specific ramp or swim area you intend to use. A lake-wide elevation cannot tell you whether a particular launch still reaches the water.

Bluffs, depth and unusually clear water

ODWC describes Tenkiller as “a deep, clear lake dominated by a shoreline with rocky bluffs and outcroppings,” set in the Ozark highlands. Clarity is the reason Tenkiller has a reputation that most Oklahoma reservoirs do not: diving. Oklahoma’s state tourism department calls the lake one of the best places in the state for scuba. It describes a dive park at Tenkiller State Park with a sunken airplane fuselage, a school bus, a helicopter and two boats, and notes that divers in some parts of the lake can see remains of homesteads from before the lake was filled.

Visibility is not a fixed number. It changes with runoff, season and algae, so treat any published range as a description rather than a promise. Divers should also remember that a reservoir with boat traffic and changing levels needs a dive flag, a buddy and a check of current conditions with one of the local dive shops before entering the water.

The cold river below the dam

Depth matters below the dam as well as on the lake. ODWC explains that Tenkiller’s depth “provides cool water for the popular year-round trout fishery in the tailwaters.” The department’s trout area information defines that fishery as a 7.75-mile stretch of the Illinois River from Tenkiller Ferry Dam to the U.S. 64 bridge near Gore. It lists several public access points. A pool off the river immediately below the dam allows trout fishing even during high power generation, and the River Road Public Access Area lies about six miles downstream. The Simp and Helen Watts Management Unit is walk-in only, with sections restricted to artificial flies and lures and barbless hooks.

The lower river carries its own trout limits, and they differ by section. Read the current rules on that ODWC page before you keep a fish rather than relying on what someone remembers from last season. Water released for generation can also raise the river quickly, so wading anglers should stay alert to rising water and a strengthening current.

On the lake: species and special rules

ODWC’s Tenkiller page lists largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, black and white crappie, white bass, blue, flathead and channel catfish, walleye and several sunfish. That variety means the lake rewards anglers who decide on a target species first. Tenkiller also has area-specific crappie and method rules for the water downstream from the Horseshoe Bend boat ramp to the dam. Check that section of the same page before fishing that stretch.

Picking a base

ODWC notes that the Corps and Oklahoma State Parks both run campgrounds around the lake, and that private resorts in the Burnt Cabin, Caney Creek and Tenkiller State Park areas operate fishing dock concessions. Tenkiller State Park is the most developed choice. It has several campgrounds ranging from primitive to full hookup, cabins, a paved multi-use trail and Pine Cove Marina. Its Fisherman’s Point area combines a swim beach, the dive park and a boat ramp.

Pick the base by activity. Divers and swimmers will want Fisherman’s Point, trout anglers are better served near the dam and the river accesses, and a quieter campsite may be up-lake. Then confirm that the facility you chose is open at the current elevation.