Well I really put Tom to the test today. He was put on a lake that doesn't produce very many BIG fish and is STINGY with the size of the fish it does give up.

BUT GIVES UP A LOT OF FISH you will see. LOL

I knew going into today that a 10 LB limit would be tough to locate and very tough trying to scratch out a 3-4 pounder for BIG BASS.

The lake does have a few Monsters in it but are very few and far between.

Starting at 10 OCLOCK in this post I will cut down alot of the write up and highlight catches and MAJOR event's only.

Tom set THREE RECORDS TODAY I will tell you at the end.

I meet Tom this morning and we drove out to LOJO RANCH together, we pulled up to LOJO RANCH a little after 6"00 AM and checked out the place for a few minute be fore we launched into the lake. We finally pulled away from the ramp at 6:30AM.

Tom had from 6:30Am to 2:30PM to figure out and pick apart the tough lake.

With 20+ mph winds and gust 30+ today, mixed with wide open fields it made for a interesting day.

Here's Lake Fork Guide, Tom Redington's "Day On The Water"

6:30
Launches and idles south till he see;s some small points sticking out in some shallow water, Tom pulls up to pints and comments on how shallow the lake is. We only hit 5 feet of water idling to first spot.

6:33
Starts off throwing a White 1/2 spinner bait in 1.3 feet of water 80.5 degrees. Cast to shoreline grass

6:34
Comments again on how shallow and muddy the lake is.

6:35
Raises motor to keep it from dragging

6:36
Cuts off White spinner bait and ties on a 1/2... Chart/White Spinner bait. Chart will show up better today and be the key.

6:37
Cast to fence off shallow point, in 3.5 feet of water

6:38
ties on T-Rig Lake Fork Tackle Flipper, Black Neon on 1/4 weight

6:38
Never casted to T-Rig, and start throwing a Parrot colored 4 foot running square bill.

*6:41
Second Cast on the Crankbait he lands Fish #1 a .7 ounce bass
4.8 feet of water 81.3 degrees

6:42
Talk about if the water is this shallow and muddy , he want to sun to come out and turn the fish on.

6:43
Goes to LFT flipper black neon

6:45
back to crankbait along point

6:46
A small fish slaps at crankbait and misses

*6:47
Sticks Fish #2 a 1.2 lbs bass in 5 feet of water

6:49
Starts throwing a rattle trap Sexy Shad color to shallow point on 3 feet of water.

6:51
Picks up a chatter bait rigged with a Lake Fork Tackle Live magic Shad, casting it to the shallow point bouncing it off bottom.

6:53
Back to Chart/White Spinner Bait

*6:54
Sticks Fish# 3 a .8 ounce Bass in less than a foot of water.

[color:#FF0000]*6:54
Sticks another Fish on same spot this time a 9 ounce bass[/color]

6:55
looks at me and laughs, You have enough paper for today he ask.

6:56
Back to Square bill Crank Bait

6:56
After one cast he goes back to LFT Flipper in 4.2 feet of water

6:58
Back to square bill Crank

7:00
Back to Spinner Bait and exclaims this type of fishing you need to just chunk and chunk some more to locate fish and try to get bigger one's

7:00
Talks about how if this lake has all these small fish the big one's might be a slower bite

7:01
Looks ahead and laughs as he sees another point like the one he just left, I bet I catch a fish there he says.

*7:01
No sooner he said that WHACK A Bass weighing .10 ounces

*7:01
While I'm weighing the last fish he sticks another dink, 6 ounces this time.

7:02
I laugh and tell him he just caught the fastest limit for A Day On The Water.

7:05
Back to Square bill Crank bouncing crank off bottom pulling it through shallow grass

7:06
Shows me why fish really wont relate to the North side of this point and goes to the South Side

7:07
Has a fish grab his crank and shakes off.

7:08
Tells me the hooks on the crank bait might be to wide for today and may need to close them down

7:09
Back to Spinner Bait along point

7:10
Catches another fish on Spinner bait .7 ounce, Man I got to start getting better fish he exclaims

7:11
Talks again about how he wishes the sun will pop out and turn the muddy water fish on

7:13
Sees a lay down along dam and comments on how it should hold fish

7:14
Tells me he wished he could throw straight down bank but can't since it's so shallow

7:15
Still throwing Spinner bait to grass along bank

7:17
When he arrives at lay down on dam tells me it may not be as good as he thought since it's show shallow there

7:18
Points out fish being active along dam

7:19
picks up Flipper and flips lay down very carefully.

7:20
Tells me some time today a fish will be caught of that lay down

7:21
Back to spinner bait around lay down off of dam

7.22
Back to Square bill Crank bait

7:24
Cuts of shad colored crank bait and ties on a fire tiger crank

7:25
Starts casting Fire Tiger shallow crank around lay down and off rocks

7:28
Back to Spinner bait

7:29
Stats water is a little more clearer down by Dam

7:30
Back to square bill crank bait

7:32
Keeps casting down rocks and around another fence in the water

*7:33
FISH ON he calmly says, another small one .8 ounces

7:35
Finds 8 feet of water and tells me to watch out since were really starting to get in deep water, while smiling.

7:36
Back to Square bill crank around old dock pilings.

7:37
Goes back to spinner bait, bumping it into wooden pilings.

7:38
Puts on a LFT Baby Creature bait, Water melon Red/Green and start flipping it around pilings

*7:39
Like you will see him do many times today on his First Cast WHACK
Fish on, a MONSTER .5 ounces, Won't help upgrade I say.

7:44
Starts throwing a 10" LFT worm, Green Pumpkin Red/Green around deep pilings off of old dock. In 10.4 feet of water

7:45
Feels a tap and set's hook, he brings back a weight and hook.
"That was a solid thump he states.

7:46
He goes back to the Black neon flipper trying to pull of a heavy bass out of the deeper water.

7:49
Puts on another 10" LFT Worm Green Pumpkin Red/Green

7:50
Tells me the first fish that hit the 10" Work thumped it and started swimming off, he thinks that may have been a good fish, hard to tell though he states

7:52
Goes back to a LFT Baby Creature Green Pumkin Red/Green flipping around pilings, and slowing way down in his presentation.

7:54
Goes to Baby Creature in Watermelon Red/Green hoping the color will trigger more strikes

7:55
Turns around from dock and flips at isolated grass patches

7:58
Ties on a Chart/White chatter bait and tries to bang it into piling triggering strike.

8:01
Back to square bill crank bait in 12 feet water

8:02
Runs crank down rocks

*8:03
Back to spinner bait casting to grass on dam and sticks another .6 ounce fish

8:06
Still casting Parrot Square down rocks on dam

8:08
Back to Spinner Bait

8:09
Adds a trailer hook hoping the fish short striking his bait will start staying hooked up

8:10
Tells me with it being so muddy they should be active and hit the Chart in the spinner bait

*8:11
Sets hook into a 1 pound bass off grass on dam
That s a little better he stats

8:12
sees a lay down in 5 feet of water and starts casting at it
He says that lay down should hold a bass on this lake

8:15
Back to Square bill along dam

*8:16
Grabs the spinner bait and 1st cast a .9 ounce fish, I tell him he's a great dink catcher.

8:17
Cast to a brush pile along dam and as soon as it hits the water a fish boils on it, but doesn't take the bait

*8:18
Flips a baby creature watermelon Red/Green in to area fish boiled and WHACK a .5 ounce LUNKER in 1 foot of water

8:20
Back to spinner bait along dam

8:25
Unclips fire tiger crank bait and clips on a Baby-1 minus Chart and starts casting over and around grass in 2 feet of water.

8:26 Back to Spinner bait in SHALLOW SHALLOW water less than a foot

*8:30
Cast to bank and runs Spinner bait off shallow mud feels a bass load up on it and SETS THE HOOK, this fish doesn't break water and after swinging it in the boat turns out to be a solid 2.6 LB bass. I wasn't used to catching something like that here I thought it was a catfish. He says laughing.

8:33
Tom sits down and greases his reels, can't stand the squeaking reel he tells me

8:36
Starts casting spinner bait around old irrigation system in water. 4 feet deep

8:37
Back to Square bill crank and moves back to where he caught the 2 pounder

*8:40
Back to Spinner bait on point where he caught the last bass ans WHACK it's a .5 ounce fish again. Just can't get away from them he stats.

8:42
There honed in on the spinner bait he said that will be the key for the day.

8:44
Reel starts squeaking again and he looks at me and says time for some Lake Fork Lub, and sticks the reel in the water. Not good for it but it works.

*8:45
Catches a small 4 ounce fish on the spinner bait

8:50
Cast to Island and misses a fish , he looks at his depth finder and tells me theres good depth change here this may be a good spot.

*8:53
Chunk up next to grass on island and sticks a 6 ounce fish

8:57
Back to crank bait and tells me he's trying to locate anything under water that might hold fish

8:58
cast to island and sets hook into a monster of a bass in 3.7 feet of water. It tilted the scales at 2 ounces LOL man my bait was bigger than him, I have fin worms bigger than him. Laughing

9:02
tells me if we don't see bigger fish soon we may need to make a big change

9:06
Clips on a Red Eye Green Tomato and start casting around shallow cover. 4.4 feet of water

9:09
Starts throwing Watermelon Red/Green baby Creature bait in shallow water in grass around island

*9:10
On second cast with Baby Creature he stick a 6 ounce fish

9:11
Tells me if the wind wasn't so bad he could wacky worm and he could catch more so I would have to write more

9:12
Tom tells me about the 12.5 MOMMA he caught in Lake Fork and that is his biggest bass ever. He didn't think that was in trouble today.

9:14
Takes off the baby creature and puts on a 8" Lake Fork Tackle worm Watermelon Red and cast it to 6 feet of water

9:17
Keeps casting to drop off around island from 1 foot to 5 feet of water.

9:19
Switches to a June Bug Twitch worm

*9:21
Next cast catches a 9 ounce bass on drop off 4 feet of water

*9:22 sticks another bass this one a little smaller a 5 ounce fish. 4 feet of water

9:26
Puts on a pink twitch worm and tells me how it will glow and hopefully trigger a big bite

9:28
Back to June Bug LFT Twitch worm

9:30
He tells me with the drop off and wind he feels he's in a good area to catch good fish

9:34
Ties on a Chart/White spinner bait with a tandem blade set up to trigger bites

*9:37
Picks up June Bug Twitch worm and cast to island in 2 feet of water. TAP TAP WHACK a solid 4 ounce fish

*9:39
Tom set's hook into a 9 ounce bass located on the wind blown bank of the island

9:40
Tells me he usually doesn't catch a lot of dinks and catch good fish, but this lake is loaded with small bass.

9:47
Back to Square bill Crank bait in 3.6 feet of water and looses a fish that short struck him

9:48
Goes back to June Bug Twitch worm and cast to irrigation system in shallow water, i can't believe there not one there he adds again.

9:51
Back to square bill around old irrigation system in 3.6 feet of water.

9:52
Back to spinner bait along point with rocks in 4 feet of water casting to 1 foot of water

9:55 gets Spinner bait hung up and tells me he will break it off if he need to and get it later, but with the wind and fish there he's not ruining that spot.

9:57
Back to June Bug Twitch worm

*9:58
Catches a 5 ounce fish off of point around rocks in wind blown bank. 2 feet of water.

THIS IS WHERE I WILL START TO BREAK IT DOWN


*10:08
Bass weighing 8 ounces on Spinner Bait 4.2 feet of water

*10:15
Bass weighing 5 ounces on June Bug Twitch worm 2 feet of water

*10:21
bass weighing 6 ounces on June Bug Twitch worm 2 feet water

*10:26
Back to spinner bait and catches a bass weighing 4 ounces

*10:28
bass weighing 13 ounces on spinner bait

*10:37
bass weighing 7 ounces on spinner bait around old bock dock near ramp

*10:38
7 ounce bass on spinner bait 1 foot water

*10:38
next cast another bass 9 ounces

*10:40
bass from under dock 7 ounces on Chart/White spinner bait

*10:45
another spinner bait fish 7 ounces under dock

*10:45
a 8 ounce spinner bait fish

*10:53
Sticks a fish that will go toward hi heavy stringer a 1.14 lb bass on a Chart/White spinner bait in 2 feet of water near ramp

*10:59
He's on to something now a nice solid fish a 1.2 lb bass that will also go toward his sack. He caught it on a piece of isolated grass on west bank in the wind.

*11:23
Tom now has went back to the square bill crank bait and has switched to a root beer color and colors the bottom with a spike it pen. on the second cast he sticks a 5 ounce bass

*11:34
Sticks a 5 ounce bass on spinner bait around isolated brush along bank 2 feet water

*11:42
Tom grabs some peanuts and as he muches down makes a cast with his spinner bait one handed and quickly grabs rod with other hand to set the hook on a 5 ounce fish

Tom doesn't get another fish for 38 minutes he quickly turns away unproductive water while moving quickly to locate the fish he's been looking for. He's been using the Square bill Crank, Twitch worm,SPINNER BAIT. LOL

*12:15
Sticks a 5 ounce bass on the Square bill Root Beer crank bait
on point where he caught bass #1

*12:23
Catches another 9 ounce bass on a spinner bait along point


Tom has now made his way back to Dam

*12:37
He's now throwing a green pumpkin Twitch worm around grass along dam, catches a 4 ounce fish.

*12:51
bass 7 ounces on Green Pumpkin Twitch worm off grass patch on dam

*12:54
Bass 10 ounces on Green Pumpkin twitch worm in grass

*1:05
Pitches Twitch worm next to fence along dam and feels a solid thump, reels down and set's the hook on a nice 1.10 lb bass located in 1 foot water.

*1:26
Tom moves around pilings on old dock located along dam, using a spinner bait he sticks a 10 ounce bass

*1:33
He has now went back to a green pumpkin twitch worm ans sticks a small 3 ounce bass in 2 feet of water

*1:44
Catches another bass in 6.4 feet of water 9 ounces on a twitch worm

*1:45
While on camera he's telling me how he knows what they want and WHACK his second biggest fish a 1.15 lbs bass on a Green Pumpkin Twitch worm with the tail chart. It was in 4.6 feet of water.

*2:00
Twitch worm fish 5 ounces on old dock near island drop off in 1 foot of water

*2:01
Sticks another bass in same spot this time a nice 7 ounce fish

Tom has 30 minutes to go and has moved back around ramp area.

*2:19
Catches bass around old dock, 6 ounces spinner bait 2 feet water

*2:21
Small fish on spinner bait 7 ounces

Tom didn't catch another bass and went on a 9 minute dry spell, Im kinda glad, my hand was hurting and I had ran out of paper at 12PM and was recycling paper since then

Tom set 4 NEW RECORDS FOR DAY ON THE WATER

#1 Fastest to a limit, Tom had a limit by 7:01, 31 minutes into the day

#2 Most Fish caught.....52 Bass

#3 Most pages used in Day On The Water,
Tom Used this many pages= 61
Arron= 20 pages
Ken= 14 pages
Mark= 28 pages

#4 Tom switched baits ( could have been picking up another rod or just casting diff lures every time he threw something diff I counted) 186 Times through out the day

TOTAL STRINGER WEIGHT

#1.....2.6 lbs
#2.....1.15 lbs
#3.....1.14 lbs
#4.....1.10 lbs
#5.....1.02 lbs

TOTAL.......... 8.15 LBS

Here are some pics of Tom at LOJO Ranch, there are some great videos at the end.


Tom with a normal LOJO bass




A nice crank bait bass



Fishing the dam





Tom locates a good drop off




His biggest bass of the day 2.6 lbs




Another nice bass




He's getting the right combo





Tom's truck in the parking lot, well pasture





Fishing around biggest point on lake





And now the Video's


With 2 minutes to go Tom thinks he's stuck on 49 fish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA3rqJoh-lQ

Tom talking about twitch worm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEqF-YmslFI

Tom catches spinner bait fish off dam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYvxCrl4Yzk

Tom sticks two bass on this video and calls his shot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENbLqzcwAwY

Well done Tom and as always, great write up Casey!

great job....

Thanks for the entertainment Tom and Casey. Sure do enjoy reading these. Tom must be a fishing machine.

Must have been a bizarre day for someone used to catching fish the size they are on average at Fork. Sounds like a great place to break out the ultra light gear! Great write up Casey as usual. Good job Tom.

Sounds like you went fishing at my former apartment complex. Good read but disappointing quality for a private tank.

fasted limit of the day??
Is a 6 ounce fish a keeper?

Great write up Casey, you may need to take a day off and recoup after that write up.
Well done Tom, way to break those records.

Great Job Casey!!

Sounds like y'all had a fun day on the water.

What does it cost to fish the pond?

You sure you guys didn't fish in a hatchery? Thats a TON of small fish If bigger fish were in it Tom would have caught them

Always trying to throw a wrench in the spokes,

We weigh every thing and i was typing late last night and was beat down,

Did you fish Fork with you company yesterday?

Casey

Tom is a great fisherman, he can really fish out a spot, LOL

I was tired of watching him catch fish by 2:30, he's really fun to be in the boat with and theres never a dull moment.

Casey

Yea I figured you would be down with Loyd.

I got 3rd place, and a killer sunburn on my feet. First time wearing flip flops this year.

Where is this place you guys went fishing yesterday? Talk about a bunch of little fish.

We went to LOJO Ranch,

Jeremy said back when he was setting up the tournament I couldn't fish. LOL

Casey

he had to leave at noon anyways for a shotgun wedding he said

Thanks guys. For catching 50 bass in a day, the fishing was a real grind. I fished hard just like I was in a tourney, trying to figure out how to get better ones to bite. Fishing with the entire TFF community following the results kept the adrenaline flowing. That made the day exciting, just like the pressure of tourney fishing or delivering for guide customers. The Day on the Water is a neat excercise and a really fun challenge.

There seemed to be somewhat of a forage problem on the lake, as almost all of the bass had sunken concave bellies and were paper thin, like they were starving. Most weighed pretty small for their length as a result. I never really caught a "chunk" the entire day.

I felt like I put together a pretty solid pattern and was able to call my shot on a lot of the fish. They seemed to be located around isolated weed patches on the shoreline where bluegills were spawning. There was some good looking hard cover like rocks, docks, and wood, but very few fish related to these. As a result, I threw bluegill oriented baits and colors and had the best success with bright crankbaits, spinnerbaits and june bug or green pumpkin worms with chartreuse tails. I felt like I was throwing the right baits because I could turn around and refish an area that was productive and really couldn't pick up additional bass by using a variety of different baits or finesse tactics. I tried to fish deeper, slower, and with finesse tactics, but could never hit on a tactic to catch any big bass. It would have been interesting to have a few other boats on the water to see if I missed something or if the pattern I found was the best for the muddy and windy conditions on a lake with seemingly small fish.

A special thanks to Casey for including me in the Day on the Water series and for producing these for the TFF. Casey gets no compensation for doing these and even insisted on splitting the gas money when we carpooled to the lake. He met me at my house at 4:30 AM, took notes at the lake all day, got back here at 4 PM and went home and worked on writing this up until midnight. He's still working on the videos and pictures and will have them out soon as well.

I hope you enjoy Casey's write up as much as I enjoyed being involved with it.

Good Fishing,

Tom

Good job Tom and Casey. I can relate to the dink-fest as my Day on the Water was similar at Alvarado. Still a fun day and I urge everyone that is interested to give it a go.

You guys and Gals get ready, I have some awesome video and pics to put up, and lets just say you will LOVE the videos.

I will have them up as soon as I can.

Casey

Another great write up!!!

Nice job guys. Casey it doesn't appears as though writer's block was a problem for you last weekend. Thats a lot of ink!
I am sure you had a good time Tom. Catching that many fish is often as much fun as catching a few big bites.
Aaron

Videos turned out nicely. I thought cameras ad 10 lbs--apparently not to the fish...

They do didn't you see the guy fishing?

Casey

Naaaa,,

just to the fisherman!!!