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Fishing Lake Fork, Texas
Tom Redington
April 4, 2005
Lake Fork - Freshwater Fishing Report
Lake Fork Weekly Report
With the full moon last week and plenty of warm sunny days, a major wave of spawners moved up on Lake Fork. Lots of big fish are being caught right now and we caught two 9.5s (on a day with wind gusts to 38 mph) and several fish in the 7 lb range in the last few days. With the New Moon on 4/8, we should see another big wave of spawning fish, especially on the south end and on main lake spawning flats.
Fork’s water level is holding steady at 402.74’, about 3” below full pool. The recent windy days and rain has some coves stained but most of the lake is clear to lightly stained. Water temps are holding in the upper 50s with protected pockets warming into the low to mid-60s on sunny afternoons.
Some of the coves on the north end of Lake Fork already have post spawn fish that are feeding regularly, while most of the fish on the south end are still prespawn. Meanwhile, there are a lot of spawning fish in the mid to north end of the lake, but the number of fish on bed varies by cove and seems to be effected daily by the weather. For those of you looking for bed fish, I’d suggest starting in the backs of coves and checking protected pockets as well. If you are looking for an oversized prespawn fish, concentrate your efforts on points and creek channels on the southern half of the lake and fish around any grass or wood cover you can find.
Since the pattern is pretty much the same as last week, the lure choices remain similar as well. In areas with spawning fish, throw weightless soft plastic jerkbaits like the Lake Fork Tackle Zig Zag or Magic Shad and wacky rigged Twitch Worms and Ring Fries in shades of watermelon and green pumpkin. Cast to light spots, holes in the grass, inside and outside weed edges and any wood cover that is about 8’ or shallower and you’ll be in business. For bedding fish, Texas rigged Ring Fries, Craw Tubes and Baby Fork Craws in white make it easy to see the bite; however, these same baits in more natural colors will spook less fish and often get you bit quicker. For the prespawn fish, work inside and outside grass edges on points, tree lines, and creek channels leading into spawning flats with lizards, spinnerbaits and suspending jerkbaits. Some days the bass will be tight to the bottom and other times they will be suspended near cover. Texas rig a Lake Fork Tackle Top Dog lizard in watermelon or black neon and pitch it to any cover available for those fish on the bottom. For the suspended bass, go with a ½ oz white or white and chartreuse double willow spinnerbait on overcast days or suspending jerkbaits in gold or chrome the sunny days. Finally, in areas with post spawn fish, topwater baits and floating jerkbaits worked over the grass can produce some fast action for keeper-sized fish.
Here’s hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 (days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com where your satisfaction is guaranteed.
Good Fishing,
Tom
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