Fished Bells Branch, Long Branch, and Williams yesterday. We managed 12 fish, Nothing over 2 pounds. I fished mostly 8-18 ft of water. Back of creek channels in the morning, main points and docks in the afternoon. I have fished FORK probably 20 times, and caught 1 fish over 7lbs, and numbers are usually low. I love the lake, but has not lived up to all the hype for me so far. I get really excited on the ride out, and disappointed on the ride home. Any advice would be greatly appreciated (other than stay at Hubbard)

I was catching good size and numbers out there until about 2 weeks ago. Now its been about how you have described it. I think its the time of year. The people I have talked to are doing about the same.

Go shallow, fish are moving ahead of schedule I am told.

i been catching most of my fish on rattle traps (sexy shad) ripping it thru the grass and over in the glades i been pitching the lilly pads with the beaver tail and getting a few...i been fishing 8' and less..oh yeah black on the beaver tails have been working the best for me

dont get discouraged ...it takes most people years to figure that lake out ...i fished it for 5+ years before i got comfortable out there... when you do though it is every bit of what people build it up to be.

The trap bite right now is crazy. Fishing was pretty good the past 3 days, we had a bunch of 4 to 8lb fish.

Ya, also heard about the trap bite...I had about 20 fish yesterday on dropshot though....

Fished main lake humps with a flutter spoon yesterday and caught about 20 from 5-7:30 with the largest 6 1/4. First 3 spots I checked/fished didn't have any fish that were ready to hit. Spot 4 did. That seems to be the way with Fork. Have multiple spots to check and don't spend a lot of time in an area where you don't get bit.

You will never hear me brag about high numbers because I am a trophy hunter. But, the last two weeks, 40 - 80 fish in 8 or 10 hours is common with several being close to 10 pounds. Once again, I don't brag about high numbers but you were not in the right place! We had over 50 yesterday during the Heart tournament and 35 or 40 in two hours the evening before (Friday).

They were biting Saturday for sure, but not every place we fished.

trap bite was so good i caught 2lb channle cat

Increase your level of skill.

one day you could possibly reach the level of the rookie FZ1.

That is a stretch David, but something we can all aspire to.

Fork can be frustrating. I had the same experience when I first started fishing Fork. It gets better as you get experience with it. Fished Friday and caught 32 most late in the afternoon. Caught them on chrome traps, shad colored whacky rigged finesse worms, weighted flukes and CR junebug senkos. It was all good because the bass were actively feeding. They were bustin shad along the grass on the main lake points. Don't give up. Invest even more time on the water and here on TFF. I have grown to love this lake. Still haven't caught my double digit but have several 6s and a couple of 7s.

Hire a guide, you will be pumped with anticipation on the ride out and smiling all the way in. get one of the guys who post here, split the cost with a friend and you will not only have a great day on the water but the knowledge you gain will last you for years to come. Couple of hundred bucks apiece is really cheap in the whole scheme of things.

+1 A day on the water with one of the top guides could save you years of doing it yourself.

I found a spot in timber in 18-22ft Sat. evening that had several big fish, I only got one to the boat then lost it and my wife got one in the boat that was about 6.5.
We were using jigs and could not keep a fish on the hook,they were hitting so hard that the pole would just about come out of our hands and would we just about break the rod on hook set but still could not get the hook in one very well.
We had about twelve in the boat for the day some were on rattlesnakes some were on spoons some rattletraps and jigs.

HA!

I what you are going threw this is my first year of really fishing fork. sometime I catch about 2 to 4 fish sometimes 0 out more often 0 out but I keep going tring new things. I've been thinging hard on guide just to help me out more. I like going to thid lake myself. Don't care about DD fish but just the numbers that you here about on here. time will bring the DD fish.

Elrod, that is the right attitude. This lake will really humble you and then all of a sudden it will reward you big time. Think about that guide idea. You will be amazed at what these guys can do. email several of them and find out a good time to go. i am guessing mid to late Oct. for a great fall bite. You will be so glad you did. and just keep chunkn' and windn'n'.

My brother and I hit Fork caught around 15. We had three around 6 lbs and a few unders. It's a great time to check out new spots while the lakes down.