Call Cam at Lake Fork Marina they have really good rooms and he can get you in touch with some guides.

Same with Ivie, unless you are fishing for a couple of bites Ivie is a tough lake for numbers.

[quote=Nick From Minnesota Thanks for the information! Mostly the normal things we do up here. What size chatter bait? Jig? We use mostly 1/2 oz. I guess we will have 5 or 6 days to fish so hopefully we will figure it out.

Last year, we went to Florida and fished Lake Toho. That was tough fishing. It was extremely cold around the middle of Feburary and nothing wanted to bite. We were used to fishing with big jigs, big lures and braid up here. Down there it is small lures, small jigs (if any) and everything is pretty much weightless/fluorocarbon. Extremely different than what we were used to.


Any suggestions on what to use on Fork? [/quote]


Nick, Everything you use up here will work down there. No need to go small on the line, your going to want to use no less than 20lb mono or 30lb braid. As far as jig weights I'd say experiment. I'm planning on using 1/4 and 3/8 ounce most of the time. 1/2 oz will probably be ok too. I don't think your going to need anything bigger, shouldn't be any grass matts to punch through. I also like 3/8 oz chatterbaits in shallow water.

Also, PM sent.

Boat lanes is in addition to Navionics, here is the site and yes you can download to you sd card and upload.

http://www.boatlanes.com/index.html

Good luck.

Will do, Thanks for the help big guy.


Do these guys own businesses or should I just google their names? I will look into Cameron at Lake Fork Marina. Great info!


That is what I have been hearing about the lake being crowded. I have been hearing that the lake has massive size so it is kind of hard to think of the lake being very crowded but if the fish are all up in certain spots, that is very understandable. Not to mention all of the pros that are going to be on the lake.

That is great information. We have a Fluke expert on hand. I am sure we will be throwing a lot of those.

All of those colors sound like they are the exact same thing we use up here. Mostly natural colors seem to be the ticket.



I just checked it out and it seems like those guys over there have a positive attitude about the lake. I am having mixed emotions about that lake now. I guess maybe we will take a break from Fork when it starts to get crowded.


Is that a bay on Fork?


I will give him a call for sure. I am thinking it is going to be hard to get a guide and a place to stay on such short notice with the lake being so popular at this point in the season.


I don't think we are going to Ivie, but if I catch one massive pig on the trip, I will be happy. Like I said, a 6 lb'er is pretty much trophy fish around here. Numbers is fun, but I am looking for the big one. I don't think I am any different than anyone else though.



That is awesome information! Thanks again! We use 1/2 for the most part up here. We fish a lot of mil-foil also though. So we will go bigger like 3/4 to 1 oz jigs. Kind of excited I don't have to lunk those big jigs around with me on the trip. The truck will be better gas mileage now...

As for line. 17 - 20 lb Flouro and 50 - 65 lb braid is what we use up here for the most part. That might be a little over kill considering you guys don't have to pull fish out of heavy cover. Well, I am not sure if you do or don't but I haven't heard anything about it.


Thanks! I am going to grab one of these. I know SD cards but I am curious if anyone know if I can stick the file on my navonics card and it will read both the boat lanes and the lake contour?

I would seriously consider spending a couple days at Caddo Lake. There is no other lake like it in Texas. It produced the biggest bass caught in Texas last year, and is in the lead again this year, with the same fish ironically. It's the only natural lake in Texas, and a lake you will enjoy, even if the bite is off. It's an awesome lake.

PM YOU.

You CAN NOT add the boat lanes info to your Navionics card, it must be done on a blank SD card, however once you load them into your machine the info will overlay on the Navionics map and you will have both. The boat lanes info will be stored in your machine's hard drive.

Yeah, I should have been clearer on that part.

Hey guys. Just got back from the Lake Fork fishing trip and it was tough but it was fun! We learned a lot of things and we are not looking forward to fishing stumps anytime soon here in Minnesota.

So thank you to everyone that helped. You made a difference from 3 guys that have never fished a massive lake and probably would have caught minimal fish to a fishing trip that turned out extremely well.

We stayed at Lake Fork Marina for 3 days and then at the relatives place for a day or 2.

The wind on this lake is pretty amazing. We fought wind 3 out of the 4 days and that made fishing tough. The boat took a beating but it was well worth it.

Here are some pictures:


This was a around 5 lbs 12 oz. This was one of the big fish of the weekend. There weren't to many of the big ones like this. This one was caught in Birch down by the power lines.






This was about 4 lbs. If I remember right, this fish came off of wood and a swimming Senko.




This is one was about a 4 lb'er. There were quite a few of these. One morning, we found a point off of the main lake and it looked like a perfect spot for fishing (One of those spots where you look and it just feels right.) Well, we were one of the first ones on the lake every morning and we found a place where they were feeding. After a little while, they shut off but we caught about 10 - 12 3 - 3.5 lb'ers there a few mornings. This was about the size.




This one is me. This is the big fish of the weekend. This one was moving around on the scale, but it was fluctuating around 6'8' - 6'10'. I should have held the fish higher to get a better picture, but I was just thinking about getting her back in the water. We weighed it, took a quick picture, and wanted to get her back out.






We have learned that we do not have big fish up here but we can get numbers. After the school moved out in the morning, the bass turned off and it was few and far between for fish. We have been humbled that we have decent sized fish and we have numbers up here. You guys have some tough fishing down there. So thanks again for the help guys. The uncles and I really appreciate everyone with some tips for us!

Nick, thnks for the update on your trip. If you really want an unencumbered Texas trip you and your fishin buddies should plan a trip to Falcon. There you'll get numbers and size.

I've fished northern tier lakes and can se where you come from on your assessment of your trip. I lived in Maine for a couple of years and still make occassional trips back there mostly for the smallies (had a fewe 100 fish/day trips there) but have gotten into some chunk LM there.

Coming to Texas doesn't guarantee a trophy but they are here. You fish a lake like Fork and with its national reputation and its proximity to 6.5 million folks in the Dallas area plus another 1/2 million in Shreveport and the end result are some highly pressured fish that are wary. I'll also venture to say (according to my experience in Maine) that bass fishing is way down on the sportsmens list and thus you get some pretty "dumb" fish. In Maine the fishing is typically easier with more willing and aggressive fish.

Go to Falcon or even Amistad. Further from major metro areas, on the Mexican border (scares some folks away) and even longer growing seasons for the fish. For a party of 3 on a 4 day trip I'd be surprised if one double digit fish isn't snagged.

One last thing. On Falcon you gotta think BIG baits and heavy line. Fork is fun and I'm sure y'all enjoyed the break from cabin fever. I'd advise y'all to try again with a different plan.

Good job Nick! You should have called when we were down there. Sounds like you did ok on numbers anyway. That wind sure was tough. Nice fish!