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Fishing Lake Fork, Texas
Tom Redington
December 22, 2005
Lake Fork - Freshwater Fishing Report
Lake Fork Report
As I wrap up a wonderful year on Lake Fork, I would first like to give a big thanks to all of my customers in 2005. Best wishes to all in the coming New Year and may the blessings of good health, prosperity, and big bass be visited upon you in 2006.
If you’re like me, you’ll be greedily trying to cram a few more big bass memories into your memory bank for ‘05. I’m happy to report that although winter officially arrived yesterday, the bass are feeding on a regular basis and big fish are already starting to show up shallow on Lake Fork. Most bass are in a winter pattern now and a few are showing up in early prespawn staging areas. Numbers run lower this time of year; however, now through February is an excellent time to catch a lunker prespawn bass.
Lake Conditions: Lake Fork’s water level continues to drop, sitting at 398.89’, or 4’1” below full pool. The water clarity is clear and water temps were registering from 47 to 50 degrees yesterday afternoon, with the south end of the lake being the warmest. 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: From late-December through February, I concentrate on prespawn and staging fish on points and along edges of flats or creek channels. Areas with submerged vegetation (primarily hydrilla, milfoil or coontail) for cover will typically have the most active fish. Key on stumps, docks, and laydowns within the grassbeds or on any irregular places along the edge of the grass. While about any grassy area will hold a few fish, start your search in areas that have lots of spawning fish in late February and through March. It stands to reason that the coves that hold the most spawning fish in early spring will have the most prespawn fish in the winter. Main lake grass beds near the mouths of these coves are holding a lot of fish now, as are main and secondary points inside the coves, provided there is deep water nearby. During warming trends, follow bass back into the creeks and check the edges of grass flats and creek channels.
Keep in mind, too, that the absolute water temperature is not nearly as important now as the recent water temperature trend. For instance, water temps that are showing 52 degrees can result in slow fishing if the temps were 58 a couple days ago. In contrast, fishing can be great if the temps warm up to 50 while they were 44 a few days before. In general, look for bass on the flats and farther back in creeks during warming trends; conversely, drop back to points and main lake grassbeds after cold fronts. Finally, the day of and the day after cold fronts can be absolutely miserable to fish, but these frontal days after a long warming trend are usually the most productive times to fish.
For deep structure enthusiasts, points, roadbeds, humps, flats and ledges in 18’ to 40’ will produce some big fish during the winter months as well. Use your electronics to find the schools of bass and baitfish and work them over with spoons and dropshots.
Presentation Pattern: My wintertime arsenal is pretty simple for fishing along grasslines and creek channels. First and foremost are red lipless crankbaits in ½ or ¾ oz. Stick with the ½ for grass that is near the surface and go with the ¾ for grass that is deeper. Buzzing these over the top of the grass on a quick retrieve is working best now, but once the water cools a little more, letting the trap fall and ripping these out of the grass will trigger most of the bites. ¼ to ½ oz spinnerbaits with double willow blades in white, red, or chartreuse and white will produce some really large bass in the same areas that the lipless cranks work, especially on windy and cloudy days. When the bite slows or the conditions are sunny and calm, I’ll switch to a suspending jerkbait or a jig. Gold jerkbaits with orange bellies and black backs are my primary color. Work these with long pauses over the grass and along the edges. For jigs, I go with the lightest weight I can use for the conditions, from 1/8th or ¼ oz on calm days to ½ oz on windy ones. Black and blue or watermelon jigs with matching Lake Fork Pig Claws or Fork Craws will do the job.
Cover lots of water until you get bit. Once you catch one, work the area over thoroughly with multiple passes, employing several different baits. Fish tend to stack up in key staging areas during the winter and these spots will replenish themselves with more fish during the prespawn as more and more big bass move shallow. Find some good staging spots and you’ll have a milk run of honey holes now through February.
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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