I've eaten at Oak Ridge at least a hundred times over the years. The grilled chicken sandwich is hit or miss. I had one a couple of months ago that was tough as hell. They do have great cheeseburgers and their breakfasts are awesome.
Rudeness has never been an issue there for me.

Remember to add 5mph to the wind forecast with most any lake.

Since you have never been here be diligent about staying on path with the boat lanes chip. The buoy's that are in the main boat lanes are not accurate in all cases. There are several of the buoys in nearly every run that are pretty far off the correct path, so if you are running down a lane and a buoy seems to be way out of step with the rest of them, be sure and trust your chip more than the physical buoys anymore.

Cameron marked on the buoys at the mouth of Big Mustang and it is just south of the buoy, but you can see it fairly good with the current lake level. There are a lot of widow makers in this lake so just use caution. There is a very big widow maker right at the last buoy going into Dale, so I would shut down a little early of all boat lane runs.

Good luck, just fish the normal seasonal patters and you should do good.

I've fished both lakes for many years. PM me if you have any questions.

Update:

Schedule is as follows and y'all can bash / applaud me later:

1/22 Arrival and fish Ray Bob for a few hours as it's my home lake
1/23 Squaw (reservations made and approved)
1/24 - 1/25 Lake Fork (Staying overnight at Oak Ridge)
1/26 Fly home

Plan is the following...FISH AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!

I plan to have tied on: sqaurebills, bladed jigs, jerkbaits, and dropshot (it's my go to in colder water)

Colors: White / pale, red, and green pumpkin

What say ye!?

Sounds like the best plan you could have!

From my personal experience (I stay overnight at the lake a bunch) I would stay next door at fishermans inn. WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY cleaner rooms. You can still walk to Oak ridge (its literally 20 ft away). You will also have access to fishermans inn ramp, use the public ramp 40 yards down the road, or pay barry to use the ramp at oak ridge.

Thanks for the heads up...next time we'll stay here. As I know I'll be frequently visiting this lake.

Ray Bob is up 2 1/2' and probably rise again after the rains yesterday and expected today. Let us know how it goes.

pm sent

Will do...I've been driving to Jordan Moore every time I can when there's light and she's definitely on the rise.

Day 1 in the books...not much to report. Will post more later this weekend.

Water temps are around 55-58* in case you're wondering.

how was squaw?

Squaw was a great time. We caught about a dozen 1.5 - 2 lb quality LM. That lake is great, will be going back for sure.

We caught all fish on mostly baby brush hogs in watermelon candy red flake in 8-10' water.

If anyone in here is reading this...I have a post in the Electronics area needing help with Lance Vick lanes on Lowrance units.

Day 1: Ray Bob

Fished Ray Roberts from 2 PM - 6 PM
It was windy, cold, and raining (wind around 15 MPH)
We managed a few short bites while fighting the before calling it...well sort of
We worked our way to Jordan Moore where we launched and decided to fish the floating docks from the marina...I stuck a 2 lbr on a drop shot and my buddy missed one


Day 2: Squaw

Fished Squaw from 7:30 AM - Close (3:30 PM)
Wind wasn't bad if you could find a cove out of it, but it was cold wind (wind around 15 MPH)
We caught in total 10-12 fish, lost count due to ice forming on my noggin
Caught many of our fish on brush hogs in watermelon candy red flake in 8-10'




Eerie photo of buzzards on a bare tree




Day 3 - 4: Fork

Day 3 we got to Fork a little later than expected...fished 10:30 AM - 5:30 PM in Bella & Glade Creek
Wind was blowing around 15+ out the NNW it was cold unless in the sun, then it was bearable
Bella provided us with 2 1-1.5 lb fish
Glade produced several more and the biggest of the trip being 5.15
We used tomato baby brush hogs and red bandit 100
Caught 6-7 in total

Stayed the night at Oak Ridge
Overall impression: Needs some renovations. The food was good, the people were amazing, but the room left more to desire.

Safety note: The HVAC unit should not be showing exposed wires / outlets




Day 4 we started early 7:15 AM - 5:30 PM
Wind was mild around 10 mph out of the S
Fished Birch Creek most of the day then moved back towards the public ramp near Rainswood
Same baits produced our fish
Caught 8 in total (no pictures of my buck bass, so here's what we did take.