Texas Fishing Forum

Humbled by Fork

Posted By: Roll Tide Ranger

Humbled by Fork - 07/05/15 10:53 PM

I would not say that I am an expert angler by any means but I think between me and my fishing partner we are good enough to find a few fish here and there even on our bad days....until today!! This was our first trip to Fork and to say the fishing was tough was an understatement. I am not sure between us we had 5 bites all day and neither of us put a fish in the boat. We threw everything in the boat at them and just were not on any fish. Could be that we were just in the wrong parts of the lake but from what we could determine the lake is pretty well the same everywhere. I can't recall the last time a watermelon red trick worm wouldn't put at least a dink in the boat. I know this lake produces huge fish but man it sure makes a guy want to stay home after a day like that!!
Posted By: Drop_shot_king

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/05/15 11:12 PM

Happens to the best of us man. Some days are just not your day.
Posted By: 1dbaughman

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/05/15 11:25 PM

We were there for our first time saturday and we could not find them either.
Posted By: bloo_rainger

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/05/15 11:49 PM

Extremely tough this weekend for me as well.
Posted By: Lake Fork Guide Marc Mitchell

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 12:00 AM

Fork can be brutal ! Try being a guide sometimes. We try our best and sometimes she slaps us in the face and knocks our teeth out ! LOL.

I noticed Friday the day bite was off a bit. I had a couple of guys I know fished Thursday night and they said they killed them so when they feed at night it sure makes it hard to catch in the day time.

Some days are made for fishing and some days are for catching is what I always say.

Next time the bite gets tough try more moving baits cause even if they dont bite sometimes you can still get a reaction strike. IMO

Sorry to hear about your bad luck.
Posted By: scott82

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 12:04 AM

I am glad I am not the only one that struggles today
I fished from 515 until 2 today. I had 5-6 bites all day and only boated 1 little 6-7 inch bass pitching trees along grass line.
The other bites came in deep water. Pretty sure the other bites where sand bass tearing up my c rig brush hog
Posted By: Roll Tide Ranger

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 12:11 AM

Marc...Maybe the whole night feeding theory explains everything and means I am not the world's worst fisherman. Ha

We threw swim jigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, kitchen sink baits....just was not our day.

Here are the two bright sides of our first trip to Fork.

#1....The boat still has a lower unit.
#2....We got plenty of casting experience.
Posted By: txmasterpo

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 12:15 AM

Bright moon.....night bite..... Happens a the time......they are not going to eat 24/7
Posted By: Phototex

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 12:22 AM

You're not alone, Tarbaby. I got skunked on Fork last week for the first time ever! Not even one "for-sure" bass hit. Sometimes it just happens - even to the best (which I certainly am not)!
Posted By: lakeforkfishon

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 12:24 AM

Before I lived here I only fished Fork at night during a full moon..they were always feeding.
Posted By: Roll Tide Ranger

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 12:28 AM

Tex...I know the feeling. I would not swear to you that of our five bites any of them were bass.

This night feeding theory does make me feel a little better that it was not just us not knowing how or where to find fish. We didn't really do any research on the lake it was pretty well a spur of the moment hey lets go to fork thought. Lesson learned!!!
Posted By: Mark Perry

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 12:32 AM

We fished Fork a couple of hours on Thursday evening and had 5-6 bites. Fished from 6:00AM-2:00PM on Friday and had close to 20 bites. They are scattered but seem to be in small packs when you find them. None were deeper than 2-3' probably. Had a blast with a good friend out there.

Just a couple of days prior I fished hard for 4-5 hours and had 2 bites total. Its Fork. Some days its incredible and some days it kicks your arse. You need thick skin and a short memory out there at times.
Posted By: Roll Tide Ranger

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 12:41 AM

Yeah Mark, It is definitely not Ray Roberts. However, Roberts is our home lake so when fishing gets tough we know a few spots where we can go boat a few fish. Admittedly, I think our expectations were set too high because everyone knows Fork is a big bass lake so we just automatically assumed we would show up and catch a few fish without knowing one thing about the lake. I am not a tournament fisherman and today we learned a whole new respect for the guys that are.
Posted By: Mark Perry

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 12:44 AM

Originally Posted By: tarbaby
Yeah Mark, It is definitely not Ray Roberts. However, Roberts is our home lake so when fishing gets tough we know a few spots where we can go boat a few fish. Admittedly, I think our expectations were set too high because everyone knows Fork is a big bass lake so we just automatically assumed we would show up and catch a few fish without knowing one thing about the lake. I am not a tournament fisherman and today we learned a whole new respect for the guys that are.


Reality is on some days Fork can be about the toughest lake to get a bite on. When you have guys like Marc Mitchell telling you they have bad days out there that says a lot. Even local spares like me that spend most of their time on the water at Fork struggle a lot at times.

Just clear your mind and get back at it next chance you get. Fork will give up one of those days that is magical and get you coming back again and again.
Posted By: Roll Tide Ranger

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 12:49 AM

Once again, I truly appreciate all the comments here. I'm sure I am not the only one that has ever left Fork saying well I am not coming back here after a bad day but the comments and support provided from this forum eases your mind a little bit. Thanks guys!!
Posted By: Gamblinman

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 12:59 AM

I was looking back on my records and I've never had a good bite during the 4th of July. That goes back 22 years.
Posted By: Okie Poke

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 01:11 AM

Originally Posted By: tarbaby
Once again, I truly appreciate all the comments here. I'm sure I am not the only one that has ever left Fork saying well I am not coming back here after a bad day but the comments and support provided from this forum eases your mind a little bit. Thanks guys!!


Every time I leave Fork I say I'll never go back......then, in a short while I turn around and I'm back on that mutha! She's a humbler. Love-hate relationship to say the least. Mostly hate. Stay at it, though. I can't truly say that she'll pay off cuz she never does for me. Just go fishing a lot and your luck will change for the good.

I whooped that lake from 1988-1995. She's whooped me back now for 20 years. mad
Posted By: whopper22

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 01:17 AM

I was with Tarbaby today, and hes not kidding i threw every bait i have haha. Rough tough day
Posted By: Txduckhunter

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 01:18 AM

Fished from 6-1 today. Had zero bites and my partner caught 2 small ones. It was tough for us for sure.
Posted By: Roll Tide Ranger

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 01:44 AM

Originally Posted By: Okie Poke
Originally Posted By: tarbaby
Once again, I truly appreciate all the comments here. I'm sure I am not the only one that has ever left Fork saying well I am not coming back here after a bad day but the comments and support provided from this forum eases your mind a little bit. Thanks guys!!


Every time I leave Fork I say I'll never go back......then, in a short while I turn around and I'm back on that mutha! She's a humbler. Love-hate relationship to say the least. Mostly hate. Stay at it, though. I can't truly say that she'll pay off cuz she never does for me. Just go fishing a lot and your luck will change for the good.

I whooped that lake from 1988-1995. She's whooped me back now for 20 years. mad


Touche
Posted By: BassColonel

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 01:58 AM

Caught this one on Saturday on a spot we fished with Marc Mitchell 3 weeks ago. Caught this one on a 10" worm. Caught a couple more on a chatter bait shallow. Had another solid fish on a 8XD that pulled me down into a tree and hung me up, ended up breaking the line trying to get it free. Fished briefly this morning and got a couple more small fish on a chatter bait but didn't get any bites deep. Wind was really blowing hard this morning which made it hard to fish out deep. Fireworks were awesome on Saturday night up in Mustang creek!

Posted By: Der Vorsteher

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 02:42 AM

Originally Posted By: Mark Perry
Originally Posted By: tarbaby
Yeah Mark, It is definitely not Ray Roberts. However, Roberts is our home lake so when fishing gets tough we know a few spots where we can go boat a few fish. Admittedly, I think our expectations were set too high because everyone knows Fork is a big bass lake so we just automatically assumed we would show up and catch a few fish without knowing one thing about the lake. I am not a tournament fisherman and today we learned a whole new respect for the guys that are.


Reality is on some days Fork can be about the toughest lake to get a bite on. When you have guys like Marc Mitchell telling you they have bad days out there that says a lot. Even local spares like me that spend most of their time on the water at Fork struggle a lot at times.

Just clear your mind and get back at it next chance you get. Fork will give up one of those days that is magical and get you coming back again and again.



I'm still waiting for one of those magical days.
Posted By: CrankBait1007

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 02:54 AM

Originally Posted By: tarbaby
Marc...Maybe the whole night feeding theory explains everything and means I am not the world's worst fisherman. Ha

We threw swim jigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, kitchen sink baits....just was not our day.

Here are the two bright sides of our first trip to Fork.

#1....The boat still has a lower unit.
#2....We got plenty of casting experience.


Kitchen sink baits....ahaaaaaa you did throw everything. Sorry for the bad day on such a good lake...worst feeling in the world imo....you'll get em next round thumb
Posted By: CCTX

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 03:04 AM

Today was extremely tough where we were fishing. We were in the right place--balls of shad everywhere. Got three fish in six hours (one small bass, a hybrid, and a freshwater drum) all on reaction bites--rattle trap.
Threw everything including lots of finesse--drop shot, shaky, ned rig, weightless flukes, wacky worm.
Posted By: Danny L. Weems

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 03:42 AM

Fork is the toughest lake to pattern fish with any consistency. It seems like they will shut down for so many reasons, north wind, full moon, water rising water dropping, Danny fishing. Lol
Like others have said I have a love hate relationship with her, more than not she whips me but then you catch five fish for 28# in thirty minutes and you think you have something figured out, then she just turns off like nothing ever happened.
Keep at it and you'll hang into one of those 8+ slot fish that will make you forget about that skunkin you got today.
Posted By: Jigfish

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 10:38 AM

Fished Friday and caught 4 and lost 2 on swim jigs. Fished Saturday and didn't get a bite.
Posted By: tommyc

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 01:28 PM

Partner and I caught one Thursday. Caught three Friday fishing alone and went back Sunday afternoon and bagged one on the first cast and that was it.........
I am a fish conservationist. I pose no danger whatsoever to the fish population. hammer
Posted By: Slade

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 01:52 PM

I was out there the weekend before last and it was brutal, the worst two days I've ever had out there. But guys where doing good at night. So I don't know if the moon phase the last two weeks has made it tougher or if its just a combination of everything else right now. To me the offshore bite should get better once we really get some hot weather. The weather has been really mild this summer (which is awesome) but combine that with all the new water and I think the fish are just more spread out and probably more zeroed in on bait fish right now.
Posted By: snickers

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 02:14 PM

Just go get some big minnows.
Posted By: RangerBass21

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 02:17 PM

Fork Fish are temper mental, moody.
Posted By: KBB

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 04:40 PM

Very tough on Fork Sunday.. Me and my son fished 7 to 2 couldn't find them anywhere caught one fish 18 inches in 14 feet of water, jigin and old tree if that helps....
Posted By: TexBass89

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/06/15 09:25 PM

It was on at fork Friday, a buddy and I smoked them, we boated at least 20 fish and lost several more. I think we caught 3 fish under 4 pounds, the biggest was 7
Posted By: DEFMP

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/07/15 02:19 PM

Originally Posted By: TexBass89
It was on at fork Friday, a buddy and I smoked them, we boated at least 20 fish and lost several more. I think we caught 3 fish under 4 pounds, the biggest was 7


Great.....how about some tips to help those that struggled?? Or did you just write to boast about your pictureless performance?
Posted By: buton

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/07/15 03:21 PM

fork does not like me... been there 2 times, one with a guide and one alone and just 1 dink....
Posted By: Lake Fork Dave

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/07/15 06:29 PM

Found a few Saturday morning real shallow in the weeds. Caught 4 in about 30 minutes on a baby brush hog throwing up to the bank. I have been skunked my share though! That's just Fork juggle
Posted By: patriot07

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/07/15 06:32 PM

Originally Posted By: DEFMP
Originally Posted By: TexBass89
It was on at fork Friday, a buddy and I smoked them, we boated at least 20 fish and lost several more. I think we caught 3 fish under 4 pounds, the biggest was 7


Great.....how about some tips to help those that struggled?? Or did you just write to boast about your pictureless performance?
I have to agree. This forum is about sharing and helping others...or it should be.
Posted By: criglizard

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/07/15 07:30 PM

Originally Posted By: patriot07
Originally Posted By: DEFMP
Originally Posted By: TexBass89
It was on at fork Friday, a buddy and I smoked them, we boated at least 20 fish and lost several more. I think we caught 3 fish under 4 pounds, the biggest was 7


Great.....how about some tips to help those that struggled?? Or did you just write to boast about your pictureless performance?
I have to agree. This forum is about sharing and helping others...or it should be.


Although he might sound like a troll and while sharing is welcomed and appreciated, it should not be expected. Our grandaddys would laugh at us for sharing our secret fishing info online with a bunch of people we don't know.
Posted By: TIM CLINE

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/07/15 09:21 PM

We caught probably 50 on sunday in one spot and caught a few nice Black bass as well biggest being 5 or so pounds. We caught sand bass, yellow bass, channel cat and black bass!
Posted By: txmasterpo

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/07/15 10:15 PM

Originally Posted By: criglizard
Originally Posted By: patriot07
Originally Posted By: DEFMP
Originally Posted By: TexBass89
It was on at fork Friday, a buddy and I smoked them, we boated at least 20 fish and lost several more. I think we caught 3 fish under 4 pounds, the biggest was 7


Great.....how about some tips to help those that struggled?? Or did you just write to boast about your pictureless performance?
I have to agree. This forum is about sharing and helping others...or it should be.


Although he might sound like a troll and while sharing is welcomed and appreciated, it should not be expected. Our grandaddys would laugh at us for sharing our secret fishing info online with a bunch of people we don't know.


No kidding!! Entitlement it seems..... I'll help you in general all day every day....but I'm not telling you a damn thing about where I killed them this day or that!!! But it seems like I'm being an [censored] to some on here..... sarcastic
Posted By: ko bass attack 27

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/07/15 10:37 PM

Yes Fork is feast or famine. Saturday I struggled to get a bite, today put a half dozen nice ones in the boat by 10 a.m. Watch for the schoolers busting shad and throw a Yellow Magic in the middle of them. I seemed to find the biggest schools in Williams Creek.
Posted By: 96speed

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/07/15 10:44 PM

Originally Posted By: RangerBass21
Fork Fish are temper mental, moody.


Not true. There are some male fish in the lake.
Posted By: droemt

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/08/15 12:43 AM

Hit the nail on the head


Originally Posted By: Lake Fork Guide Marc Mitchell
Some days are made for fishing and some days are for catching is what I always say.
Posted By: fouzman

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/08/15 12:54 AM

Originally Posted By: 96speed
Originally Posted By: RangerBass21
Fork Fish are temper mental, moody.


Not true. There are some male fish in the lake.


roflmao

A++
Posted By: RangerBass21

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/08/15 01:04 AM

Originally Posted By: fouzman
Originally Posted By: 96speed
Originally Posted By: RangerBass21
Fork Fish are temper mental, moody.


Not true. There are some male fish in the lake.


roflmao

A++


roflmao
Posted By: TexBass89

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/08/15 01:09 AM

I got a pic of the 7 but I don't take pics of anything smaller than that.. once I figure out how to upload I'll post the pic. And as far as helping I don't mind 2ft to 22ft jigs and rigs.
Posted By: Mybrainisflied

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/08/15 01:10 AM

My impression of Fork is that is waaaay over pressured. Its just my opinion but it feels like every fish in that lake has been caught 50 times over. Was there 2 weekends this year and I swear half the population of Dallas was on the lake. Every bank, point, hump, ditch or any other fishable area had 3 boats at least fighting over it. It was ridiculous. Not ranting here just an observation.
Posted By: TexBass89

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/08/15 01:15 AM






This is my buddy he caught it just after dark. The bite completely died after this.
Posted By: TexBass89

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/08/15 01:19 AM





Also took a pic of one of the little guys cause it was so colored up
Posted By: str1249

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/10/15 05:55 PM

Only big bites I got was fishing a crappie jig tipped with a minnow. Doesn't take long to pull the line off a mini spinning reel, but it sure made my heart thump for a while!!! Grandkids got a good laugh out of it though, so that's the best part! (By the way, we were in 20' of water, but both of these bad boys were about 10 feet down.)
Posted By: Gman72

Re: Humbled by Fork - 07/10/15 07:32 PM

its happened to me several times....very humbling.....builds character smile
© 2024 Texas Fishing Forum