Top Tulsa Fishing Spots

Oklahoma has fishing opportunities all across the state, and the city of Tulsa is no exception. Bring the family and get in some summer fishing fun at these top spots in the Tulsa vicinity.

Zinc Lake
Formed by a small spillway dam on the Arkansas River, Zing Lake is surrounded by a wonderful walking, jogging and biking trail, river scenic and historical spots, and parts of downtown Tulsa. The waters are considerably deeper in this lake than in the Arkansas River further south, and fishing opportunities abound. Enormous catfish, gar and carp are caught here, at the dam and in the lake, year-round (unless it freezes over). Bass, sunfish and other popular warmwater species may be caught on lures, bait or flies. I prefer fishing small plastic grubs on jigheads from the shore in this easily-accessible lake in Tulsa. Do take note of the no-fishing area on the eastern platform by the dam, it is well-marked and park rangers will not take kindly to anglers fishing from it.

Hunter Park
Need a swell place to take the kids and fish? Hunter Park offers just that. Just about the entire pond in this park is accessible from the bank, with three fishing platforms (small docks with nice railings) located around it. Catfish fishing for bullheads is supposed to be excellent here, bring a can of worms and a fish them on the bottom to catch these whiskered creatures. Or, float a bobber near the shoreline to catch green sunfish, bluegill and other panfish found in the area. A few largemotuh bass are also caught here. It's a pretty small pond, so don't expect any wild trophies, but it is a great place to take kids for some summer fishing action.

Lake Yahola and Mohawk Park
Mohawk Park, better known as the location of the Tulsa Zoo, has severa large bodies of water in it. The creek that flows through it and borders a golf course offers great fishing with lots of bank access, parking and picnic tables. Water tends to be fairly muddy here, so either use flashy and loud lures, or throw stinky stuff for the catfish. There is two main lakes in Mohawk Park, with the largest being Lake Yahola, to the west of the zoo. This is one of the largest lakes in Tulsa and has a lot of different types of fish to catch. White bass are often caught here, along with channel catfish and largemouth bass. Sunfish can also probably be found here, including the popular green sunfish. Unfortunately, boats are not allowed on this lake (at least when I last checked) and anglers are limited to fishing from the shore. Try out a variety of lures here and see what works best. Start with jigs, then throw plastics for bass, switch it up to small crankbaits and stickbaits if the others don't seem to work. Live bait is also a good choice for this lake and most local tackle shops sell different types, including the ever-popular nightcrawlers.