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Fishing Lake Fork, Texas
Tom Redington
November 3, 2005
Lake Fork - Freshwater Fishing Report
Lake Fork Report
With a relatively stable weather pattern for the last several weeks, the fishing at Lake Fork is very predictable. Bass are following the shad and feeding up before winter, so the location and depth changes slightly from day-to-day, but the how to’s and when’s are at their most consistent levels since early summer. With sunny days and light to moderate winds forecasted again for the coming week, look for fishing patterns to remain the same.
Lake Conditions: Halloween’s storms only brought Fork’s level up 2.5” and now it has returned to slowly dropping, sitting at 399.46’, about 3’6” below full pool. The water clarity is still slightly stained in the main lake from the turnover while it is crystal clear in coves with abundant vegetation. Water temps are down again with the cooler nights, now sitting in the mid-60’s but are on the rise with our latest warming trend. The height and coverage of grass has been reduced during the draw down, but the grassy areas you find are still holding a lot of fish.
Location Pattern: We’ve been catching both numbers and size from shallow and deep water in the past week. In the shallows, the presence of grass in most any area is holding at least some small fish. To catch big fish, deep water access nearby has been the key. Creek channels running through grass and timber covered flats and main lake and secondary points with grass are the top examples. As the lake level continues to drop, the bass will only become more concentrated in these key areas.
While we have been catching good numbers of fish up to 7 lbs in the shallows, deep water is your best shot right now for a true lunker. Points, roadbeds, humps, flats and ledges in 14’ to 38’ have produced fish in the last couple of weeks. With the bass liable to be about anywhere out deep right now, just pulling up to your favorite honey hole and fishing is a shot in the dark. Dropping a buoy at the first place you mark a school of bait is about as unproductive. Wait to find schools of bait with signatures from bass chasing them and you’ll catch a lot more.
Presentation Pattern: At first light and late in the evening, wacky rigged baits like Lake Fork Twitch Worms in shades of watermelon have produced some nice bass around main lake weedbeds. Once the sun comes up, I’m focusing on creek channels and points until mid-morning. Position your boat in the middle of the creek channel and throw your bait to the grass edges and/or stumps near the edge of the creek, while working the middle of the creek as well. Some days they’ll be on the edge and others they’ll be in the middle of the creek. Small shad colored spinnerbaits and crankbaits have produced best on most days, while a slowly worked ¼ oz black/blue jig or a Texas rigged Lake Fork Baby Creature in Blue Bruiser color has also picked up a few fish. The same baits, along with a Carolina rigged Baby Ring Fry in Watermelon Chartreuse, will work on main lake and secondary points in 6’ to 15’. Again, points with grass have been most productive, although the fish are not necessarily always holding in the grass on these points.
Out deeper, I’ve been using two different categories of baits, depending if the bass are feeding on the bottom or feeding up chasing shad. For those on the bottom, Carolina rigged Baby Ring Frys in Chartreuse Fire and Purple Haze or Baby Creatures in Chartreuse Pepper is my first option. If the C-rig isn’t working, a watermelon Twitch Worm on a drop shot rig is catching big numbers of small fish, along with the occasional 5 to 8 lb bass. Productive areas typically have a lot of active yellow bass as well, so don’t set the hook when the yellows peck at your weight or lure, wait for a bass to take it. For bass that are suspended or feeding up while chasing shad and yellow bass, jigging spoons, tail spinners and swimbaits will catch big numbers of bass and some true giants as well. Experiment with your retrieve with these lures. Productive retrieves range from dragging along the bottom or holding a bait in place several feet over the bottom to vigorously snapping the bait off the bottom or counting it down to the proper depth and swimming the bait through the bass. Once you get the correct retrieve down for a given area, you’ll typically reduce the number of barfish hooked and primarily start catching bass.
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 http://www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com , where your satisfaction is guaranteed.
Good Fishing,
Tom
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