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Fishing Lake Fork, Texas
Tom Redington
June 29, 2006
Lake Fork - Freshwater Fishing Report
Lake Fork Report
The summertime fishing at Lake Fork continues to be very good most days for size and numbers. Depending on your preference, you can catch over 30 keeper-sized fish most days on a drop shot, or catch good numbers of slot fish and some real hogs on Carolina rigs, Texas rigs and crankbaits, no matter how hot and sunny the days are. My customers and I have added lots of pictures of 5, 6, 7, and 8 lb bass in the past two weeks. Check them out for yourself at www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com . For numbers of quality fish and a shot at a true trophy, it’s hard to beat structure fishing on Lake Fork in the summertime.
Lake Conditions: Another round of storms on Friday and Saturday brought cooler temps and some wind, but once again did very little to stop the dropping water levels. Lake Fork’s water level is currently 399.99, or 3’ below full pool. As we are heading into our dry season, Fork will likely be very low by the end of the summer. Although this makes for tougher navigation, the bass will be consolidated and easier to catch once you get to them. The water is clear in many places, although some areas are a stained brown green due to algae blooms and wave action. Water temps cooled down to the low 80s following the storms, climbing back into the mid-80s once again by midweek. Submerged vegetation, including hydrilla, milfoil and coontail, is growing rapidly in many new areas and already starting to canopy in some areas, which will make for some great jig flippin’ later this summer. Finally, there are still no signs of a thermocline, and as a result, we’ve been catching some fish in very deep water. Look for it to develop in about 28’ around mid-July.
Location Pattern: Until the thermocline develops, my location and presentation patterns will remain the same. As bass move farther away from postspawn patterns and solidly into summertime ones, I’m concentrating on main lake points and main lake humps, ridges, ledges, and roads. Big bass can still be caught in the creeks around grass and wood cover early and late; however, during most of the day, I prefer to fish deep structure for schools of big bass. Structure fishing is simply a matter of using your graph to find deep cover like brushpiles or timber, then working over the cover thoroughly. For faster action, find areas with schools of bass and bait around the cover and get the net handy. Even big schools of bass sometimes take coaxing to get a bite, so being able to interpret your electronics accurately is the key. Keep in mind that a lot of fish are suspended right now, further making electronics interpretation essential to good catches.
Presentation Pattern: I’ve been concentrating on the deep bite, so my presentation pattern reflects this. For suspended bass, deep diving crankbaits like a Norman DD 22 in shad or bluegill patterns fished over points, bounced over cover, and through treetops have been very productive. I rig one rod with 10 lb test to hit deep cover, to about 18’, while another cranking rod is rigged with 20 lb test for heavier cover that tops out closer to 10’. After I’ve cranked the area thoroughly, I’ll switch to a swimbait, jig and/or a spoon. Either count down these lures to the depth of the fish and swim them through the schools or aggressively rip them off the bottom to catch the suspenders. If your graph is showing bass on or near the bottom, Texas and Carolina rigs, as well as drop shot rigs are catching lots of big fish in 12’ to 38’. For the Texas rig, I’ll go with a bulky ringed worm like a 10” Lake Fork Worm for aggressive bass, while a 6” Twitch Worm will work better for inactive bass. Watermelon red, green pumpkin and blue fleck have been our top colors. The Texas rig has worked best in heavy cover, fished very slowly and twitched in place. For more open areas, the Carolina rig with a green pumpkin/red & green flake, watermelon/red flake, or green pumpkin colored Baby Fork Creature on a 4’ leader has been our staple bait. Work these baits along the bottom at a steady pace until you come across a piece of cover, then slow way down and leave it there as long as possible. Often, a big bass will do you a favor and pull it out for you! Finally, for big numbers of keeper sized bass, go with a drop shot rig. I’m using a Twitch Worm in any shade of green, rigged on a 1/0 hook about 2’ above a ½ oz sinker. For active bass, a constantly quivering wacky rigged Twitch Worm works best. Conversely, if the bass are sluggish, a weedless Texas rigged drop shot held almost motionless around cover is too much for even the most finicky bass to withstand. On 10 lb test and a medium action spinning rod, a 4 lb bass in 30’ deep timber is quite an exciting challenge.
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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