First Time On Lake Fork

Hello everyone!
I am getting to fish Lake Fork this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday and I am super excited. I was hoping some of you might be willing to possible recommend some baits, lake locations or just anything that might be of some help. Any advice would be great. Thanks in advance.

I would not fish Fork this weekend! There is a big tournament their this weekend. Gonna be a ton of people.

Might want to reschedule.

Well unfortunately I can not reschedule due to having to work all the time. So any other input other than not to fish this weekend?

Expect a lot of boats on the water. Id say throw a popping frog in flooded grass, back in the nasty stuff. Senkos might not be a bad idea either. Not too sure on the deep fish. Best of luck!!

Go and have fun, big lake.
http://ets-systems.com/lakefork/services/fishreport.htm

I can only find 2 tournaments on the lake this weekend the Toyota one and a lake Fork open on Sunday and Monday. Are these the ones you guys are talking about?

Have fun, be courteous, be safe. Don't worry too much about the crowd. I have had some good days with lots of other people on the lake, been humbled plenty too lol. Enjoy!

Don't worry about the crowds...most boats will be following the pros. Most pros will be out deep. Pick some spots and take your time figuring them out.

Justin the Toyota Bass Classic is what they're talking about. It brings out the top pros from a few different circuits and they all compete. It'll bring out a lot of people, not to mention the country bands that are going to be playing there will bring more. Go and have fun.

I am not to concerned about the traffic. I am used to fishing heavy traffic lakes back in Arkansas but I am just unfamiliar with what baits work the best on Fork

stuntmandave I appreciate your service sir

From legends tourney 10ft and less was the ticket... throw the frog in the dirt, fluke typically not bad shallow. Look at map lots of deep stuff.

And be ready, this is a "major" tornament is the industry gona be a lot of lookie lues.

Get ready to see some proes too, Ike there, KVD, Combs, Christie... etc

use search function TONS of talk about the lake this year

Just be careful ,, there will be ALOT of boats following the Pros and then a lot of Camera boats running around videoing the Event . And with the few Thousand boats running around trying to see there favorite pro it can get crazy..

Thanks Justin I appreciate that, catslayer said it best by throw the frog in the dirt. Those fish are shallow, but the frog bite seems to be on fire for everyone. Best of luck bud!

Are you talking about hollow body frogs like the spro or more like the horny toad?

Just one other thing to remember those 30 + Pros are fishing for $500K ,, it's a public lake but if you show those guys respect on the water they will do the same.. Have a fun and safe trip

Last I heard, the frog bite in general was on. However, a buddy of mine and his partner caught 30 on the first day of the legend tournament last weekend on a hollow body. Mostly slots.

thanks man i appreciate the info

Flooded willow trees were the ticket last weekend. Check out glade creek for sure

If you are gonna go shallow in the backs of coves, you shouldn't be bothered much by the traffic following pros and camera boats. Just fish your strengths and fish commons sense like the frog bite in the slop. You'll get bit.

Where will the launch be at for the tournament? I want to make sure I launch at a different location.

It will not be as crowded as some of these guys are stating, it has never been in the past and I do not see it being a problem this year. If you want to fish shallow there are some up shallow, few fish eating early, but best bite is afternoon till dark. Some good fish are starting to show up deep If you want to get off the bank. FYI, get off the beaten path and you will have a ball.

I'll make this very simple. Frog, swimbait, chatterbait and Texas Rig. Hold on.

I have planned to launch from the public ramp over in the Lake Fork Marina area. Is this the best place or should I chose to drive somewhere else?

Ranger1 is spot on. Go where everyone else isn't and you will catch em. Where I fish I rarely see a lot of boats.

Sent you a PM

Lots of bass still shallow guarding freshly hatched fry. Small willow leaf spinner baits in white will catch them. 1/4 oz... No lie. Also frog it in all the brush and grass u can find. We seemed to catch ours anywhere there were flooded willow trees. Watermelon red trick worm and senko wacky rigged weightless or T-rigged with all bullet weights worked good too. 5" worms. I don't fish deep so I don't have any advice there.

It was my first time on this lake too and u can follow the boat lanes fairly easily. Id recommend idling and trimming up high once out of the lanes, but that's just my preference for piece of mind.

That should be a good spot to put in. The TTBC is at the SRA ramp. It is down towards the damn on the East side of the lake. Putting in at the public ramp on the west side of the lake shouldn't be too bad. Like stated before stick to the boat lanes. The water is at full pool right now, so you won't realize this, but the lake is about 90% standing timber (or it feels that way when it's down), so don't hit anything.

Still looking for suggestions on the lake. Getting pumped up about getting to fish this lake. I have already gotten some good input but if any of you other guys have ANY input that would be great

Are you fishing the ttbc? Sure are asking lots of questions lol.

I wish I could say yes but sadly no I am not. I am asking so many questions because I have been stuck in Odessa for the last two years and have not been able to fish due to work and now I am finally getting a chance to go.

Good luck, J/K with ya!

Thanks

If you want to shrink the lake a bit, consider fishing Little Caney. It has several good coves, shallow and deep-water fishing. Chaney can be good this time of year, too.

Last weekend everyone was throwing frogs. Right now the frog bite is on. Easiest to catch fish as well when you don't know the lake. Just find some flooded grass and cast it in there as shallow as you can. Twitch it 2 times aggressively if the water is muddy/choppy water if it's calm and sort of clear just 2 easy twitches and a pause then keep that going till your out of the grass/pads then reel it back in and do the same thing. Fish it slow and fast and see what the bass want. Remember to wait 2 seconds before setting the hook ten hold on! Good luck man!

Texas rigs can be hard to throw with the amount of vegetation on fork right now. But remember there are fish everywhere on fork just work a small stretch and you will get bit.

Fishing after dark there will not be a crowd, may even be the one of the most exciting Fishing trips you have ever done..Public Ramp close to Lake Fork Marina is the best ramp on the lake ..imho

Night fishing has been spectacular the last few nights.

Gman

I just spent 3 days on Lake Fork. Any humps in 30'+ water use deep diving cranks, BIG spoons, frogs early right next to bank in grass. Green Pumpkin, Black Power Worms off & on 1'-3' any bank.
Watch out for stumps, Only going to be like 30 boats in the Toyota classic but the folks following will be many. It's out of Oak Ridge.
FISH ON!!!

Man I have only been on this forum but I would just to state that this place is great. I have received several PM and lots of quality information. Thanks so much and I hope I am able to help out anyone that needs it.

Pros will be off by 3:00 and you'll have plenty of water to fish. Good luck.

frog and wacky rigged finesse worm/senko.

Fished Thursday and Friday last week and the pattern probably hasn't changed much. Popping frogs ( darker colors seemed to be better with a little orange or chartreuse), fished in the grass and lily pads. Flukes and Senkos fished same place in chartreuse pumpkin or dipping tail of fluke in chartreuse dipping dye. Fish it as slowwww as you can.
Believe it or not, I caught my best fish on an orange spinner bait in stained to slightly muddy water. The fish were shallow, we couldn't find deep fish - but I bet there are some.
Good luck !

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