Right now, I'm fishing both Lake Fork and Monticello. If you want numbers, I believe Lake Fork is still the best spot. But with another freeze expected, I would assume the bite will slow down for a while. However, the forecast calls for a good warm up soon after that. So, we may not see temps in the 40s for quite a while.
If you want quality fish in the 5 to 8 pound range, I recommend Lake Monticello over Lake Fork from now until well into March. But Fork has tons of 1-2 pound bass and its your best chance for a fish over 10 pounds. And it is more convenient than Monticello.
Monticello, on the other hand, has a power plant to keep it warm. Additionally, it has a slot limit from 14 to 24 inches and is full of nice Florida bass. My last trip, the lake was 70 degrees while Fork was 55. We caught our biggest fish on topwater baits before the sun came up. What a blast!
The main reason for doing a report right now is to inform my clients (and potential clients) about a TV show where I fished Monticello with Steve Quinn from the In-Fisherman. The show airs this week on the Sportsman Channel.
Show Times start tomorrow Central Standard Time:
JANUARY 4 WED - 3:00AM
JANUARY 4 WED - 10:30AM
JANUARY 5 THU - 2:00PM
JANUARY 7 SAT - 3:30AM
JANUARY 8 SUN - 8:30AM
JANUARY 8 SUN - 2:30PM
I want to promote Monticello over Fork, especially from late February through the middle of March - for 2 reasons.
1) We catch a lot more quality fish
2) The lake isn't nearly as crowded as Fork
It seems that a majority of my clients are satisfied with their catch on Monticello and ready to head back by about 2PM. So I decided to promote a 3/4 day trip for a discounted rate on weekdays.
So, if you are interested in a 3/4 day trip for $300, sign up for the AM trip on my calendar.
If you would like to book a trip, call me at 214-549-4644. You can see my schedule and 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.cfm
All 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.cfm
Good fishing and good luck. You can't catch them if you don't go.