YOU CAN CHECK Monkey Island end to end and you won’t find a single primate. What you will find is the entertainment epicenter for Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees and a region whose storied past bears an interesting parallel to not only the ups and downs of tournament bass fishing, but the waters hosting the sport’s grand event.
Protruding into the Neosho River, Monkey Island is one of Grand Lake’s most recognized regions — widely known as the reservoir’s playground. Actually a 6-mile-long peninsula, Monkey Island is home to the heralded Shangri-La Resort, with its iconic lighthouse punctuating the southeast-facing tip.
According to TulsaPeople Magazine, the name Monkey Island dates back to 1938, during the lake basin’s preparation. A comment made to a local reporter jokingly compared a prominent area to a moat-surrounded island within the Tulsa Zoo’s monkey enclosure. Once that observation reached the public, the name gained instant acceptance.
LOCAL APPEAL
Rich with terrestrial indulgence, Monkey Island offers a myriad of dining, shopping and recreational opportunities, such as golf courses, horseback riding, bike trails and, of course, boating and fishing. The area’s magnetic appeal once tempted a future Classic champion who’s hoping to add another title on his home lake.
“I’ve been going there since the early ’90s, and there was a time in my life when I was on the verge of moving
