They said that the sprayers they use are very accurate and they don�t expect any appreciable amount to be hitting the water to adversely affect the desirable vegetation in a wide area.

As to the changing the slot questions. TPW said they are not going to try to fix what is not broke. That was pretty much �end of story�.



Agreed, if we get normal rainfall all should be good with no major affect. Drought type conditions are a different story. Dallas draws water from Ray Hubbard first. Dallas will draw from Tawakoni second and then Fork if they need it. Fork is the most expensive water they can draw. It was also stated that Dallas will draw water through the pipe periodically just to keep the pipe clear of sediment.

There are so many factors and different opinions to all this and all I have are opinions based on a lifetime of bass fishing. I just want to hit a few points.

1. LAKE LEVELS. I hate it for the people who may have nice boat houses if the lake gets real low. However, Dallas does own the lake and you should have known that going in to it. I personally believe this pipeline is a blessing in disguise for bass fishing. Lower lake levels cause bass to group up more making them easier to catch and lower lake levels for an extended period of time may in fact allow more hydrilla to take root out in deeper water and if the hycanith is left on dry ground it will surely die.

2. WATER TURKEY. Certainly an issue, but have always been an issue. There are no more water turkeys now than there were in the mid 80s. We just don't have the vegetation to protect our younger fish as much therefore I vote that we have open season on the water turkeys

3. ANGLER'S TECHNIQUES. I am convinced the reason more 13lb plus bass are not caught is due to the way we fish. After Mark Stevenson caught Ethel in 1986 everyone who came to Fork was throwing jigs. Jigs catch big bass. Anglers these day (myself included) are more into numbers so we fish more T-rigs, senko type baits, and wacky rigs.

4. LACK OF ANGLERS ON THE WATER. In the late 80's early 90s it didn't matter how cold it was in February the lake was packed. I remember it well. More lines in the water equals the greater potential of bigger bass to be caught. No one ever got on a school of 13lbers. they are just a one cast deal. Less lines in the lake = less chance of 13lber, and there is a heck of a lot less fisherman out there than there use to be.

5. HABITAT. The biggest issue we face now is the water hycanth taking over our best spawning grounds. If those fish now go to the main lake banks and pockets to spawn they receive more fishing pressure, wind, and lack of vegetation for a better survival rate.

6. TOURNAMENTS. I have mixed feelings. The only tournaments that help my business are the McDonald's or the Skeeter Tournaments. However, the smaller club events and weekend team and individaul events help the local merchants so they need that business. However, the reason this lake has the business and reputation it does is because of trophy bass so it is IMPERATIVE that Lake Fork remains a trophy bass fishery.

I was one of those turned away.

+1 MILLION

Well said Brooks...I am up for an open season on the water turkeys....

What would REDSKEETER do with all his pet 15 3/4" fish. LOL

All I can tell you guides that do not want tournaments is that you are crazy. I fish tournamnets up there and anytime you can catch 100 fish that are under 16 inches in a day you have plenty of fish. In my opinion the lake needs more food sources for the bigger bass.

Non-tournament anglers don't come here to catch 100 fish under 16". They come to catch numbers of quality fish.

It's unfortunate, but it's a fact (studies have been done by TPWD), that over 39% of bass weighed in at tournaments die (and that study was done under ideal conditions). If they die at 2 lbs, they don't have a chance to get to 5, 10, or 15 lbs, and those are the fish they bring people here from all over the country.

There are lots of other lakes in our area that don't have to ability to produce trophy bass like Lake Fork does. Let the tournaments be held there, and let's keep Lake Fork a trophy fishery.

We definitely need to get our base of large forage fish back to where it was. Big bass don't want to chase schools of small shad. They want to eat bluegill, crappie, yellow bass, and crawfish.

Hey, don't mess with my $$$ fish... LOL. However, I do catch a lot of 14" inchers too.

Some of my favorite coves are completely covered with dead hyacinth, just like a carpet on the surface of the water.

I saw maybe 2-3 holes the size of a 2-car garage WAY back, some fish may spawn there.. I promise you there is NO WAY a boat can reach them.
The fish will have to adjust, so will we.
A note on what Brooks said about the fishing when the water level was down, it was the best I've fished prior to the late 90's before the LMBV struck and the grass disappeared.
2007 was a free for all, Fork was showing her numbers and size of fish like none of us has seen in a long time.
The lake--in my opinion does not have a forage problem-- the problem is maybe TO MUCH forage(shad).
I know I'm hoping with the extreme surface temps we've had over the last 2-1/2 mons we get a large shad kill.
That will help the anglers, having aggressive fish is always a plus.

I live a long way from Fork, but take great interest in this discussion. This is exactly why my family comes to Fork. I'd come once a month if I could for those slot fish, with an occasional over.

AMEN Jason

I love to fish tournaments. I have nothing against tournament fishing. But facts are facts like Jason said about the percentage of bass that die that are caught and drug around the lake all day in rough water a high percentage don't survive. There is nothing you can do about it. You can be as careful as possible and use catch and release formulas and tournament directors can be as careful and cautious as possible and there will still be plenty that don't make it. I don't care if they swim off after they are released. I don't claim to be a rocket scientist but a 2 lber that dies can't grow to be 5 lbs.

I was also in attendance at the meeting and all I can say is WOW! Its great to see so many people who care so passionately about this great lake. Standing room only and many people left out who could not even get in the building.

The meeting consisted of an hour of presentations with many facts about water levels and the effects of the new pump station, the status of the bass in the lake through various surveying methods, the problems of noxious weeds in the lake and the need for angler awareness to prevent the spread of invasive species. There was very little discussion about the Share Lunker program, but hats off to guide Clint Wright for stepping up and getting some insight on the subject.

The issues we are currently having with the Water Hyacinth is indirectly related to the spread of Giant Sylvania. Departments responsible for spraying of the weeds are so grossly understaffed (3 people for the entire state of Texas) that when the Giant Salvinia appeared it took their full attention for the last 2 years. This allowed the Water Hyacinth on Fork to run rampant, which until that time had been kept in check by yearly sprayings. To solve this pressing issue they have allocated money to be used towards getting the problem back under control and out source the control efforts on Fork. Money was also donated by the Lake Fork Sportsman�s Association to the TPWD that will be directly applied to this pressing problem. A large portion of talk about the spread of noxious weeds was devoted to angler awareness and being good stewards of our natural recourses. It falls to us all to check our boats and trailers for grasses and weeds when trailering from lakes. As bad as the Hyacinth is I would hate to see Lake Fork with Giant Salvinia taking hold. It is up to us the sportsmen who frequent the lake to be aware and watch for this plant any time we visit the lake because the best way to stop it is as soon as its spotted and that in most cases is at the ramp where its carried in by careless fishermen (and duck hunters).

How are catch and release tournaments going to affect the number of trophy bass caught on Lake Fork? That doesn't make any sense in my opinion. That lake already gets a tremendous amount of pressure and has more guides than any lake. All of them are out there trying to catch trophy bass. Yet it still produces. I really don't see how that slot helps anyway. Most Bass Fishermen catch and release.

I agree!

I'm talking about bringing the population of the fishery as a whole back up. Tournaments have an impact on the fishery due to what I feel are high mortality rates of 39%. We have seen an increase in the number of tournaments held on Lake Fork over the past several years and I think it's having an affect on our fish population as a whole. If the tournament fish die at 2 or 2.5 lbs, they don't make it to be slot fish.

Here's the study by TPWD:
http://www.outdoors.net/site/news/news.aspx+Forum+Fishing+ArticleCode+1486

The 39.1% mortality rate only includes those fish weighed in. Fish that were carried in a livewell for an extended period of time also died at a 14.89% rate.

And remember, these were under ideal conditions. The mortality rate during the late spring and throughout the summer are much higher due to higher water temps.