I heard Fork was filled in 3 stages. Does anyone know which years for the last two stages? I'm looking at an old map (1988) and trying to figure out if it precedes the last time the lake level was increased.

I have pics of fork as it was filling

It was full by 1988. It opened in 1980 to the public. Pool level was reached in December, 1985.

I fished it in 85. It was like fishin in a flooded pasture. It was awesome

The best I can remember they starting building in 74-75. Correct Mark on the opening in 80, although fishing started in 77. The lake final level was in 85, in Nov (i think a day before Thanksgiving)of 86 Mark Stevenson caught the new state record 17 lbs something. I can remember that fish".......we never seen anything even close to that"....someone said at the time it was the size of a bed pillow lol. The rest is history !! Never again will I get to see the magic of a Lake Fork.....and so glad I got to see this one.

I fished it the day it officially opened Labor Day 1980. We had to launch a 14 foot metal boat with 9.9 horse off the side of old hwy 154( would be NE side of current hwy) at the opposite end from current public ramp. We putted down the side of the old road and there were alot of people fishing off the old bridge. There is a cut out at the end that allowed us to go over the old road and back to the southeast toward what is now bird island. There was a barb wire fence that had part of the wire cut so we could get through. There was coon tail and spinner bait fishing was great. Buddy caught a five pounder and we had several good smaller ones.Jimmy Houston did a show that was illegal prior to official opening. There was a big stink about it.

Thanks, guys.

I can remember fishing in flooded watermelon patches, around corral fencing and pole barns as well as catching fish around round bales that were flooded. Boat lanes were so narrow that you had to slow down to pass.
It was a beautiful place and time.

We use to fish Quitman every weekeed.As they worked on fork we traveled 515 across old road bed and watched the new bridge being constructed. Couldn't imagine that the little creek could ever back up that much water. One boat lane from the bridge toward the dam.( even then there were a couple visible large trees left. One was where the run from main lane to Lunker Lodge) To the north toward Birch there was flooded timber no boat lane. Not sure of elevation when they cut the lane.

I fished Fork in the fall of 80 when it first opened.You had to fish down a road in some places because the brush was so thick you couldn't get off the road.

Fished it 79 trees still had leaves got to fish in the shade.
Lunker lure under the trees. Best day caught 43 bass.

Got wasp stung many times cutting through the bushes up by Coffee.

I remember backing down old roads to launch before it was completely full. Good times but man was it diificult to navigate with all the flooded trees, brush, fences, etc. It was like fishing in an old stock pond with the dumbest bass around. On one occasion during a cool, light rain, Fall day, me and 2 buddies sat in one spot throwing tx rigged worms and caught over 100 bass between us (we quit counting at 100, lol). Granted, none were big, most around 14"-15" with an occasional 16"-17" but still fun. The 2 guys with me had never fished with soft plastics so they thought it was crazy. The biggest obstacle back then was actually getting to the shoreline during the spawn. Many, many areas were so thick you couldn't penetrate the thick brush and tree limbs to get to the shoreline where the bass were spawning. It was best to have an old boat you didn't mind scratching. Lots of BIG wasp nests in those trees too, lol. Then a few yeasrs later a lot of the branches began to fall off which helped us get to more of the shorelines but it was a bit scary fishing the thick timber areas during days with high winds. On more than one occasion, I would be fishing and have a 20-30 ft tall tree come crashing down into the water close to us. When your boat would bump a standing tree, you would look up to see if it was going to fall on the boat. Good times, good times!

Lets see some of these old pictures.

One thing is for sure. Back in the early days the lanes were very obvious. They looked like FM roads cutting through the thick timber.