Lake Fork had a great spawn this spring. In fact, 2015 may be the best spawn Lake Fork has seen since it was impounded. We had several years of low water, so the weeds and brush grew thick on the bank. Then, it went from over 7 feet low in February to a foot high in May. So all that brush and weed got covered up and gave the bass plenty of cover to thrive. Now, we have more bass in the 6 to 10 inch range than I can recall ever seeing. The future of Lake Fork looks better than ever.
According to TPWD, bass grow 4-6 inches in the first year and 8-12 inches in the second year. Lake Fork is definitely a special lake because these fish are already eating 6" worms and 3/4 oz lures, and I'm pretty sure they are only 5-6 months old.
We also apparently had a great shad and yellow bass (barfish) spawn. I'm seeing big balls of shad just about every where I look and I'm finding more tiny yellow bass than I recall seeing in a long time. Yet, I don't think the white bass had such a good spawn. There are still tons of them from last year and previous years. But I'm not seeing the tiny white bass that I saw last year. Almost every white bass I'm catching this year is a keeper. Last year, we could catch 300 of them in a trip and most would be about 6-9 inches long. This year, those fish are in the 12 inch range, and the older ones are pushing 3 pounds. On my last few trips, the majority of the white bass we caught averaged about 2 pounds. What a blast!
I'm optimistic that in a couple of years most of the white bass we're seeing now will die out and the largemouths will once again be the primary schooling fish. But I like to see my clients to catch fish - and I don't mind taking a bunch white bass off the hook. So I will fish for them. In the Fall, I typically target the deep spots where the majority of fish are white and yellow bass. Normally there will be some big bass feeding with them (or on them). On my last few trips, I got into some big schools of fish. We were throwing my homemade spoons and catching 2-3 pound white bass most every cast. In those schools, we got some 5-7 pound bass and several catfish up to 14 pounds.
I still have lots of openings in October and November. Those are without a doubt the best 2 months of the year for numbers. It is definitely the best time to take a beginner or child. Most of my Saturdays are booked, so book ASAP if you want one in the Fall. I just opened up Sundays for afternoon 1/2 day trips. I don't normally do trips on Sundays because I go to church AM and PM. But this year, I have a new boat payment and both kids need braces - and my 15yo braniac son is a senior in hs. So, I am offering 12:15 PM to 5:15 PM trips between services for additional income.
Book your trip online at
http://www.fishingguidenow.com/bookonline.cfm?guideID=2 I try to post a couple of pictures to my Facebook page every trip. So keeping up with that page is a much better report than what I can do in front of my computer at home. If you follow my Facebook page (actually, the Facebook term is "like"), you can get my posts without delay. I often post pictures as soon as we catch them - and almost always post the same day. So if you see several big fish in the same day, you can rest assured the fishing is good then. If you wait until I post a fishing report, you can be sure that it has slowed down enough for me to leave the lake. Go to
www.Facebook.com/LakeForkFishingGuide and click the "like" option to get the posts.
Here are a few of the things that I put on the Facebook Page:
1) Pictures of clients holding fish (of course)
2) Pictures of landscapes around the lake.
3) Pictures and videos of wildlife around the lake
4) Fishing Reports
5) Updates about pages on my website
6) Updates when someone catches a giant bass on Fork
7) Basslog information
I plan to query the basslog at least once a month and post my results on Facebook. So, if you want to know the best baits to be using (for example) or you just like to see statistics, then you should "like" the Facebook page so you can get instant updates.
The link to remember for my Facebook page is
www.Facebook.com/LakeForkFishingGuide. But now you don't have to remember that because you can just go to any page on
www.bassfishing.org and you will find the feed.
Be sure to "like" the page so you can get the information as soon as it gets posted.
If you would like to receive my fishing report notifications by email, go to
www.bassfishing.org/dbaccess/fishingreportrequests.cfmAll you need is your name and email address. If you are receiving reports by email and wish to discontinue receiving them, simply go to
www.bassfishing.org/reports/unsubscribe.cfmGood fishing and good luck. You can't catch them if you don't go.