CANTON—Turns out you can fish and eat it too at The Overlook.
Literally located on the south side of the dam of Canton Lake, this catfish café first opened for business in the late 1940s.
According to Oklahoma Historical Society, Canton experienced one of the worst floods In October 1923 when the North Canadian River overflowed. Not long after this event local residents began to agitate for flood control. The U.S. Congress finally listened and in 1938 authorized the Canton Lake project.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started work on the Canton Lake dam prior to World War II and completed the structure in 1948.
“It’s been here since the dam was finished,” said The Overlook’s current owner Carol Gilchrist.
The original part of the building where the café sits that was founded by Alvin Adams still exists today. The part of the building where the bait shop sits was moved in later and attached to the café; that structure came from Eagle City, Gilchrist said.
Back then The Overlook was only open to feed the tourists during fishing season. Gilchrist, who bought the café a decade ago, eventually chose to remain open year-round.
The Seiling native has lived in Canton since the mid-1960s and felt there weren’t many places to eat locally which is why The Overlook is no longer just seasonal.
The former schoolteacher retired not long after her husband passed but stayed active in the Canton and Longdale communities.
Gilchrist opened a shop of “this and that” at one location in downtown Canton in 2006 and then a different shop full of clothing at another location downtown in 2011.
“I always wanted to open a restaurant,” she said, but stayed busy with her shop until one day in 2016 when then-The Overlook owner Allen Cox stopped by to chat.
“He told me the restaurant was for sale,” Gilchrist said. She talked to her three adult children, daughters Jean and Sheri and son Charles, about buying it; “the girls said no but my son said yes.”
“My son and I bought it from Allen in 2016,” she said. They re-opened The Overlook for business on Mother’s Day weekend that year, adding “we learned in a hurry” how to run a restaurant.
Her son ultimately determined the restaurant business wasn’t for him so Gilchrist’s chief cook Zach White stepped up two years ago and became her business partner.
“Zach basically has kept us afloat,” she said. “He’s been with us from the get-go.”
White, who grew up on the eastern side of the state, remembers spending his summers in Canton with aunts, uncles, and cousins in the 1980s so it wasn’t a stretch for him to apply for the cook position and work for “Mrs. Gilchrist.”
Gilchrist laughed when White described one of his first encounters with her; “I knocked her down and plowed over her,” he said about rushing around in the kitchen back in those early days.
“Never a dull moment when he’s around,” she said with a grin.
Something smells fishy
The Overlook has been hopping for nearly 80 years.
“This season has been busier than in the past,” Gilchrist said. When the lake fills up, her café does too.
The staff braces for May, because it is the month when The Overlook is the fullest all year with three major events: Mother’s Day (this weekend), the annual Walleye Rodeo (which is next weekend), and Memorial Day (the weekend after).
The café, of course, serves fried catfish on the menu, but customers can order haystack burgers, chicken strips, brisket and barbecue dishes, chicken fry steaks, nachos, hot dogs, salads, or even the daily special which might be meatloaf, chili, or ham and beans. Gilchrist also has a contract for Hunt Brothers Pizza and alcohol, so Thursday’s special is two sloppy beers and a pizza.
She said burgers are fresh not frozen, and they hand cut the catfish (which is not sourced locally) into strips before hand-battering it with a special catfish batter.
“We make our own dressings too,” Gilchrist said.
Sales at the bait shop, which is located to the right of the front entrance and café space, remain steady all summer long until Labor Day weekend which equals to The Overlook being packed to the gills “because it’s the last go of the summer,” Gilchrist said.
Live bait includes minnows, perch, and worms along with frozen livers, shad, and shrimp.
“Anything you need to go fishing, we have,” she said, from fishing poles, lines, and lugs to RV supplies and boating gear such as life jackets.
The Overlook also has a variety of apparel including shirts, hoodies, hats, and even lake shoes.
Last year Gilchrist brought back a fan favorite to adorn merchandise—Spike the fish logo with fists and sunglasses. Much like Eskimo Joe’s Joe and Buffy logo, Spike’s design varies with the theme so he may be holding a mug of beer or an American flag on some shirts.
She’s aiming this winter to expand the café space with a patio to hopefully open next summer. She’s also looking to possibly find more ways to serve the lake area by renting out pontoons and kayaks.
“The energy here is family-oriented,” White said. “The food and the atmosphere, you want to talk to people next to you.”
The Overlook, 4624 Oklahoma 58A, Canton, is open Wednesday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Call (580) 886-2401. Follow the café for daily specials and announcements at Facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550082240881.
Canton Lake Walleye Rodeo set for May 14-17
CANTON—The annual Walleye Rodeo, Oklahoma’s oldest and largest fishing tournament, will be held at Canton Lake next weekend May 14-17.
In the late 1960s, according to Oklahoma Historical Society, the Canton Chamber of Commerce inaugurated a fishing derby called the Walleye Rodeo, which established Canton Lake’s claim as the Walleye Capital of Oklahoma.
Registration to participate in the fishing tournament costs $10; the fishing license is good just for the weekend. Fishermen can register anytime between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Thursday, Friday, or Saturday or 9 a.m. to noon Sunday.
Canton History Day bingo will be held Friday starting at 7 p.m. in the school cafeteria.
Saturday’s festivities include:
- Biscuits and gravy breakfast starting at 7 a.m. at the Canton Fire Station
- Catch Me If You Can 5K/Fun Run with registration at 7 a.m., fun run at 8 a.m., and 5K at 8:30 a.m.
- Walleye Rodeo parade downtown at 10 a.m. on Oklahoma 58 (Main Street)
- Onion burgers lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. with Grand Arts Council on the corner of Main and Broadway
- Inflatables in the park for the kiddos
- 3-on-3 basketball tournament starting at 2 p.m. at Canton High School
- Street dance starting at 8 p.m. on the corner of Main and Washington
The kids’ fishing derby is slated for Sunday from 8 a.m. to noon at the Canadian Day Use Area. Winners may receive lifetime fishing licenses.
Canton Public Schools’ Lady Tigers will host a hamburger fry and Canton Cheer will provide the homemade ice cream at 11 a.m. Sunday at the weigh station with the fishing tournament awards ceremony to follow at 1:30 p.m.
Prizes will be awarded for the five largest walleye, total poundage of walleye for all four days, and the largest fish caught in each of 10 different species: striped bass, drum, buffalo, carp, sunfish, flathead, white bass, channel cat, crappie, black bass, and hybrid. There are also specially tagged fish that are worth $20 to $500 if caught.
Fish must be registered at the official weigh station to be eligible for prizes, and all state game and fishing laws must be observed during the rodeo.
Non-fishermen are invited to try their luck at Canton’s Lucky Star Casino, which is one of the sponsors for event alongside the Canton Lake Association, or throw frisbees at the disc golf course on Big Bend.