Since it's Lake Forks 40th B-Day, tell about the first / worst / and best day on Fork...

My first, the trees in the water still had leaves on them. Me my dad and brothers were in a 1972 VIP ski boat (it was 1980 something). A water snake fell from a tree and was heading to our boat. My little brother ran from one end of the boat to the other. kicked over and crushed the Styrofoam minnow bucket. minners everywhere. Dad was pizzed...

Worst. out with my wife and the low oil level warning came on.....and wouldn't shut off. oil level was fine. Had to go in and disconnect it. (it's still disconnected several years later)

Many best. But one that sticks out is me and a buddy were fishing under the water turkey nest (commorants) We pulled up to one over by Penson bay. my buddy went up front to tie the boat off. A nestling decided to up chuck on his bald head. I almost died laughing. He stunk the rest of the day. BUT, we caught a mess of fish.

Can’t remember the year for my first trip, but we stayed at Axton’s and fished three days with David Vance. Great trip and caught a lot of nice fish. I was hooked. Need to go back.

First, was back in 86 went with a friend from work, went in a 2 man bass buster, and was limited to just one small pocket, caught some small bass.
Worst was back in 2006, I fished a tourney in April and a 25mph cold front hit, it was total misery.
Best was on my 50th birthday, Wife bought me a trip with the best there is, went out with Mark Pack and we caught around 30 to 35 bass with 20 bass over 6lbs, 4 were over 10, one 9, and two eights. It was totally unbelievable.

First trip was in the early 80s, we put in at Oakridge and stayed there as well. The boat ramp was probably 75-100' long at the time. We followed a road into the woods until we found a creek, and proceeded to catch fish after fish after fish. Never caught anything over 3-4 lbs, but probably caught 75 fish that day. There were still some leaves on trees, and red wasps everywhere.

Worst trip? Not sure if it's considered worst, but after catching several fish in the 7 lb range on the ridge going into Dale Creek, I hooked one that headed to the trees, I had to thumb the spool to stop it (I knew it was gone if it made the trees), and 25 lb big game popped, it sounded like a .22 going off. Come to find out our feeding frenzy we were experiencing was due to a Tornado, just south of the dam and headed our way. We ran that 14' flat bottom to the shore, pulled it up a little ways, and got under someone's shed while the storm went over us. The boat took so much water the motor the gas tank was floating and it took a while to bail it all out before we could leave. That fish still haunts me.

Best? too many to mention, too many fun days with lots of friends. Best fishing day was a day by myself, day 1 of the Skeeter Owners in 2011. 2 big slots pushing 10, and probably 8-10 fish in the 7-8 lb range. Best 5 was in the mid 40s. I hadn't been on fork in a long time before that day.

Best...I ran a dairy in Yantis before the lake filled up and everyday after I milked I would drop my bassbuster off and go hit it, had numerous days where it would get tiresome from all the fish.

Worst...I was fishing out of my bassbuster dragging my girlfriend around behind me on her raft and she was sunbathing in a bikini and I caught her in the back of her calf with all treble hooks from a rattle trap. Needless to say it was so deep we had to take her into Quitman hospital and get it taken out. Funny side of the story was watching her walk in with a rattle trap rattling from her leg.

I was fishing the lake right after it opened and like mentioned the trees were still covered with green leaves. It was in March and cold. In fact we suffered through a sleet shower. Very few fish caught, Definitely my first and probably my worst all wrapped up in one trip.

Fished it about 7-8 times. Worst was with a guy that lived there, I think it was 107 degrees, he caught fish and I caught nothing but heatstroke

Best was in a customer tournament, I caught two real nice fish an inch under the upper slot So I couldn’t weigh them, but it was fun

First trip was 1992. There were no boat lanes at that time. I had a brand new to me 15" Tidecraft (paper mache' boat) and had never been on Fork before. I also had never owned a boat so I had no seat time or real knowledge of what I was doing. ran over to White Oak bay and fished there the entire day. Caught a lot of fish and wasn't paying attention to the weather. When it came time to leave, I pulled onto the main lake only to face 25 mile an hour winds and huge waves. (huge to a new boat owner!) I was scared to death getting back to the ramp. When I was in the bottom of the swells in that little boat, all I could see was water on both sides and no land. By the grace of God I made it back and didn't sink. I had half that boat seat sucked up my butt from puckering so hard.

Worst trip - Went out night fishing a few years back. A storm with lightening rolled in about 12:30 AM and I had to run back to the dock. Waited out the storm and put back in. When I was pulling the trailer back up, I hit a pot hole and busted the leaf spring on my trailer. I thought, " oh well. can't do anything tonight, might as well fish." The next morning to my surprise was the Skeeter Owners tournament. There was 100's of trailers in the parking lot surrounding my busted trailer. I had to unhitch, run to Sulpher Springs and try and find a leaf spring on a Sunday morning. I managed to find one, bought some tools and headed back. Here I was on a 104 degree August day, on a black asphalt parking lot trying to bust loose a bunch of rusty bolts. This went on for hours. By this time the tourny was over and everyone was headed back in. I've never seen so many people avoid eye contact as I did that day. Not one person offered to help and one guy even had the nerve to cuss me for tying up one side of the dock. Luckily, a friend from Sulpher Springs came over and helped me with the repair. I finally made it home at 8:00 pm that night.

Best trip - 1994 night fishing with Ken Smith. I caught my PB which was a little over 9 lbs. The next day we were throwing mudbugs and caught fish on every cast. It was an epic day for sure.

Tubed it the first 2 - 3 times in a Fishmaster float tube 89 - 90ish

1990-91ish - First time in a boat - with a guide - caught a 7# sight fishing in the first 5 minutes and thought it was the greatest lake ever. Lots of 3s and 4s.

Never fished for bass there. we sat under the 515 bridge and cleaned up on the crappie.

About 3weeks ago First and Only. Been wanting to try that lake for decades, the Rona made it happen. Kids outta school, so what the hell. Fished 2 days with Cameron, caught 59 crappie with each kid catching 1 over 2lbs. .

first we rented a small aluminum boat and fished out of popes. There was a huge grass bed that we caught 4&5lbers off spooks all day long.

worst DV and I ran out of gas as a storm popped up on us, and we finally got towed back to popes. We caught a bunch of fish that day, but thought we'd die.

Best day was with Clint wright we slayed them on crigs for hours.

February 1995. Went down for a shot at a possible trophy size bass. Cold front blew in with 25 mph and gusting winds, sleet and freezing rain all day. Caught a 5 pounder over a grass bed and that was the only fish caught.


Now the second trip was totally unbelievable.

First trip was a group of us from work late 80;s we camped way back up in Little Caney I think. Worst/ Best kinda a double edge sword . Got caught up in a bad storm fishing some timber on creek channel ,but caught some toads that day. Caught my PB during a 20 something degree cold front miserable day to fish but I was young and dumb. Had a great day fishing roadbeds and humps with David Vance the most solid fish and numbers I ever had in one day for sure. Have a lot great memories on that lake. I don;t bass fish as much now days went back about 6 years ago and had two pushing five. lake seems a lot different now or might be old age

First trip was in 1999. Neighbor and I drove from Jonesboro, AR with a boat and camper. Camped out on hwy. 17 somewhere, stayed three days, bass fished and caught two fish. Dead ones were floating in the lake but fishing was not good. Since retiring and moving back to TX, I have a place on Fork for 15 years and just catfish. Catch a lot of them. I like to catch not chase.