There are very few fishermen on Fork now. 3 trailers at the 154 public ramp, 3 or 4 at the new Caney Creek Rec Area ramps. It is the same distance to go to Bois d'Arc from Dallas as it is to go to Fork and Bois d'Arc, being a brand new lake, is fishing off the chart good. Fork is really tough to catch fish on, period. The guides on Fork want to charge $600/day plus you buy their lunch and they expect a tip and they're probably not catching many fish either. Some guides advertising they will do a phone consultation with you for $200 an hour. Good luck with that!
Im not finding schools of bass off the points and everyone is running points now. But I am picking off the ones and twos sitting out in 16-22 ft. Set a way point, spot lock down and fish for those fish. Also not finding a frog bite in the pads yet. That is what is working for me now anyway on Fork. Good Luck!

Bart

What the pros show us is that fishing history doesnt work. You have to continually look for new spots or new fish. Going out and throwing the same red worm on the same 3 points isnt a recipe for success. It may have worked when there wasnt near the amount of people on the lakes but now you have to be searching for something new all the time.

just read that fish are much smarter than has been given credit by science in the past... they can do math/count

I am by no means a biologist. but 10-15 years ago (can't remember exact year) Toledo Bend dropped 12 feet below full pool or so for a summer then lake filled up and grass every where. They got the new lake effect and it was number 1 in country for 2 years or so straight. That may be what is needed at Fork, however at Toledo it dropped so low very few boats could launch and fishing was basically done for that summer, When it filled back up man what a fishery. It was incredible. Now in turn it did hurt industry around the area that relies on it so that's a two fold deal. I believe the lakes that are fed by major rivers should drop there lake level 12 feet every 10 years for 2-3 months. then let it fill up and get the new lake effect, again I'm no biologist but from experienced, and what happened on Toledo and it was amazing.

You would hope so since they are in schools most their lives. Duh!

You know that's funny. We faked that. lol. After owning a fishing lodge here on Fork for 30 years, I'll tell you my observations. We have groups of fishermen come to fish the tourney's or during prime times and here's how they do it. Arrive the first afternoon (usually Friday) and check-in. The next day, they get up whenever and are sitting in the boat on the trailer jacking with their stuff until about 10 am. They launch and have their boat back on the trailer by mid afternoon. On the big tourney's, they usually do get out early on the first day, but the rest is the same. On check out day they don't hit the water and are gone mid morning. I've seen it for years. Always the same. I ask them how the fishing was and they say it was tough. On the same note, I've been invited for three years by a friend/customer of mine to go with him on a guided trip by one of the all time most well known/famous guides here on the lake. Each year, we launch about 2 hours after daylight, fish for a few hours, come in for lunch, go back out for a couple of hours and are on the ramp by 3:00. We fish the same water, in the same order with the same results and I'll bet we don't run two miles. Most is in the creek where the marina that we launched in is located. I think we've caught 5 fish total in the three trips. Last spring I told him I couldn't go.

I guess it's like the cowboys next year is the year and so on.

Just spent 3 days on Fork
I can tell you it is tough…it’s still Fork and there are some big fish, but man, out of 3 boats and 6 guys fishing for 3 days we had several unders and 2 slots first day, one slot about 6lbs second day and one slot third day about 7lbs….
That’s not worth driving to Fork for us anymore…too many other lakes that you can have great days on

I’m over it

Fork was amazing in her heyday, now just a normal to below normal lake. There are still some really good fish, but the normal angler and even some guides will never figure out how to catch them or where they live. The elites are really that much better than the rest of us, even the really good anglers. The electronics and their proficiency with them is a huge deal at Fork now.

Used to be many big fish lived in 0-12 feet of water when they had grass as cover and the lake was fertile and vibrant. The timber was a lot different then and was not just rotted off stumps. The pros will show up, the ones that do well will figure out where the fish are and how to catch them. 20 or so will make it look easy and others you do not see will struggle.

In the 80's and 90's I could stand on the bank at lake fork marina and cast a spinner bait, T-rig and trap and catch fish almost 100% of the times I would go. There was a resurgence around 2008-2012, but ever since she is stingy and many knowledgable people say there just isn't a huge population of giant fish or big schools of 3-9 pound fish like in the old days...

I think this is true for most social media anglers.

Can you blame em for dragging their feet!!! After all it’s bass fishing!!!

I put many a day in on Fork back in the 90's and I was almost always going to catch some fish every time I showed up; and yes I was fishing out of a bass boat, and I'd usually catch two or three in a year over or near the slot. When I was was fishing it out of my jon boat 3 to 5 years ago most trips I'd put fish in the boat.
Since I got my bass boat I've been on it probably over a half a dozen times or more and can't recall that I've boated a single fish. My HS team caught one slot fish and had a few chase ups last fall. If the chasers had hit their lures we might would have weighed in a limit of unders. I think the main reason they saw activity was the bass were starting to go into the fall fatten up mode so they were a little more active.
Another thing that I noticed as soon as I started fishing it again back about 5 years ago was the amount of development around the lake. Most of the places I used to fish back in the 90's were mostly surrounded by woods now most of those areas are nearly solid with houses and boat docks.
Water clarity is also different from the 90's and that can probably be tied to all this development. It just seems to be muddy compared to what it was like in the 90's.

That's shocking. We went 4 years with Tom Redington and I don't think we hit the same spot twice ever. My dad caught a DD on the first trip and we probably had 4-5 others over 5 lbs. First time either dad or I had ever caught a DD. I didn't have much money but gave him all the cash in my wallet as a tip - and now 10 years later with dad passed away my only regret was we didn't book 2-3 trips a year. Our best overall trip was the 3rd one that we did in early May and the smallest fish in our best 5 was 7 lbs. Nothing but 5-9 lbs fish all day long. Wish he still guided out there.

I've had a great year on Fork. It's a fertile fishery. It does get a ton of pressure - especially pre spawn / spawn / post spawn. The fish are certainly educated. I also think the FL strain are more temperamental.

To have success on Fork - you really have to be open minded and be willing to adjust - even a couple of times throughout the day. If you're "hole" fishing vs pattern fishing - you might struggle if the fish aren't there. If you're throwing your favorite lure vs "matching the hatch" - you're probably going to struggle.

I fish Fork on average 2X per week. It is full of slot fish. Does it have or produce as many 13lb+ fish as Ivie or JB Thomas - probably not the last 3-4 years, but can you catch 25lb+ stringers on Fork - absolutely.

This guy is spot on. It’s not the lake it was in the 90’s for giants. But still a solid 25-40 lbs bag lake pretty consistently in my book. Now, does it have its tough days…for sure. Every lake does.
But for years I hear guys complaining about the lake but yet these are the same guys beating the banks with spinner baits and not thinking outside the box or able to adjust to a pattern and put it together on other spots on the lake.