This is part of our advance coverage of the 2016 Bassmaster Classic fishing tournament to be held on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake.

With the tournament coming back to Grand Lake (was here in 2013) we decided to take an early look at the facilities layout back in May 2015. I arrived on site at Wolf Creek Ramp on Grand Lake the morning of 4 May 2015. It was a very nice day. I hope the weather is this nice come tournament time (early March 2016).

I grew up about 30 miles from Wolf Creek Ramp. Many of my ancestors lived where the lake now is a far back as the Civil War.

Wolf Creek Park regularly hosts bass tournaments and has has wonderful facilities for doing so. Several agencies and Grand River Dam Authority planned significant facility upgrades in advance of the tournament. Most of those upgrades have been completed, but Grand Lake was flooded in late December 2015 and crews are still cleaning up in the aftermath.

The base of the boat ramps was sandbagged to prevent erosion during the flooding.

The park has a large nice parking lot nearby the ramps.

Large parking lot at Wolf Creek Park, Grand Lake, Grove Oklahoma in May 2015

In the distance you can see a nice building (red roof) containing restrooms.

They have a nice building containing large spacious restrooms within walking distance of the boat ramps. The photo below was actually taken in September 2015 as it came out much better than some I shot in May.

Restroom building at Wolf Creek boat ramp, Grand Lake, Grove Oklahoma

As you walk on down past the restroom building you enter the area with some trailer parking near the ramps. The trailer parking was left open to allow staging for rapidly launching in advance of a tournament I observed in September 2015. A much larger area for parking trailers is nearby.

Below is the dock most often shown representing Wolf Creek boat ramp. It splits into two moderate length and runs out into the lake. Locally it is known as the “Tuning Fork” dock (looks like a piano tuning fork from the air).

Docks at Wolf Creek boat ramp, Grand Lake, Grove Oklahoma in May 2015

The park is very nice with life jacket loaner stations and a multiple fishing line recycle stations.

Life Jacket loaner stand at Wolf Creek boat ramp, Grand Lake, Grove Oklahoma

Reel In and Recycle! station near dock at Wolf Creek boat ramp, Grand Lake, Grove Oklahoma

Wolf Creek Park has nice weigh in facilities for smaller bass tournaments. They even have cement tank to keep the fish in.

Weigh in station at Wolf Creek boat ramp, Grand Lake, Grove Oklahoma

Tournament tank for holding fish at Wolf Creek Ramp, Grand Lake, Grove Oklahoma

I am a firm believer in Restrooms being a thermometer of the condition of a park. On my September 2015 visit to Wolf Creek ramp I happened to be the only one in the men’s restroom so I snapped the photo below. I dare you to compare that with most lake park restrooms. This is a place we can be proud of.

Men’s Restroom at Wolf Creek Park near the boat ramps. September 2015.

We borrowed a December 15, 2015 aerial photo from Wolf Creek Park’s FaceBook page showing some paving improvements near the ramps before the flood.

Wolf Creek boat ramp improvements 15 December 2015
photo courtesy Wolf Creek Park FaceBook page

Other recent facility updates include:

• New sidewalks & storm water drainage.
• Streamlining the entrance from Highway 59.
• The existing boat ramps (as shown in the May 2015 photos above) were ripped out and replaced by Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA). The new ramps have a more appropriate slope.
• Parking near the ramps now better blends with the slope of the ramps.
• Additional parking has been added to the south of the existing parking near the ramps

Its great to see our state pulling together to make improvements in advance of the tournament during challenging economic times (our state economy is heavily dependent on oil money).

We cover a large bass tournament at Wolf Creek boat ramp in September 2015 in our next post.