Hey guys I am planning the first annual three generation bass outing this year in east Texas
We do travel to Canada each year but never largemouth.
So East Texas it is:)

Traveling from Kansas City and just getting started in the planning

Any help is appreciated and reciprocated if I can

Looking mainly to stay at 1-2 lakes, and will be there Monday-Friday only.
Early April

Prior to Covid we were going to make this trip last April to Fork and Athens

Before I start searching on my own, any lake I should look into more for a mix of numbers and possible size?
My uneducated opinion has me looking at:
Sam Rayburn
Toledo Bend
Caddo
Fork

Thanks for any help

You are on the right track, and my instinct would be Caddo.

Fork would not make the list for me right now. Something is just off with it. There's always people who find and catch them out there but coming in "blind" that is one of the last places I would pick. One the positive for it, there are tons of hotels, restaurants, bait shops, etc. You won't get that with other areas.

If it was me, I would find a location central to Caddo, Lake of the Pines and maybe Bob Sandlin. There was a tourney on Pines last week that was won with 34# and it took 20# to crack the top 8 and 17# was last in the money. And that was a small tourney with only 57 boats. April can be a BLAST in NE Texas because you can find fish in all stages of the spawn especially if its early April.

I'm not a fan of Fork. Yes you COULD catch a double digit or even a share a lunker but the odds are very small. Face it, Fork fishes tough. Fork will be VERY busy that time of year. Are you planning on getting a guide for at least a day?

I would also recommend Sandlin. You could stay at Luck Lure (trailers) and fish many different lakes within a hour or so from there. Sandlin, Cypress Springs, Fork (if you really want to), Caddo, Lake of the Pines, Lone Star, Hawkins, Holbrook, Quitman, and Gilmer to name a few. There are others.

PM me if you have other questions.

Pines
Lone Star
Caddo
Bob Sandlin
Gilmer
If you want to fish NE Texas

They are all relatively close and provide good fishing.

Get a vrbo on Athens. 1 hr from fork and Palestine is 30 min south.

Good plan!
I’ve got a great place to stay on the north end of Pines and Caddo and Lone Star are easy to get to from there.

Writing off fork in April is a mistake. Feel free to pm me for details.

Lake O' the Pines

[quote=

I would also recommend Sandlin. You could stay at Luck Lure (trailers) and fish many different lakes within a hour or so from there. Sandlin, Cypress Springs, Fork (if you really want to), Caddo, Lake of the Pines, Lone Star, Hawkins, Holbrook, Quitman, and Gilmer to name a few. There are others.

PM me if you have other questions. [/quote]


This^^^^^^^

Sam Rayburn
Nacogdoches
Naconiche

great idea

Caddo is a must do. It will be like no other place you’ve ever been. All the lakes mentioned will all be good. But Caddo is something every outdoorsman needs to see.

I heard the Giant Salvina is really bad at Caddo this year.. I know they have been trying to collect it at Pines so it won't go downstream..

Pretty cool to see the help here. It doesnt work like that everywhere.
We added a Sunday so figured Caddo would have more spots and less crowded on the weekend???

It looks like Caddo Sunday and Monday leaving 4 days to split between Pines, Fork, Palestine, Sandlin, Or Athens.

I would hate to leave the area without fishing Fork.