WOW! 312 Teams and Not one over

That is unbelievable, that many teams and not one was weighed over the slot. That is just hard to believe and no one weighed in one under the slot for BB either.

312 Teams, so about 624 anglers and not one, I am sure someone probably had one on.

Berkley tournament last year had 1200 people and no overs on Saturday

The lake has been fishing VERY tough lately.

'Cue the Fork is dead comments.........

Cajuns been cleaning it out!

Patience Grasshopper............................................................................it's a coming

Always does...the BPT guys and then BASS will swoop in and prove them all wrong. Of course everyone that was saying that the lake is dead will be the same ones that said they knew about the patterns the pros will use to show the lake off and had been catching them like that for weeks......

late cold weather dropped the temp on the west side above the 2946 bridge to 47 a couple of weeks ago, they all headed back out and had lockjaw that weekend.

next weekend and on should pick up pretty good, warming up nicely during daytime and not in the 30s or less at night.

The lake has slowly died for years. Many better lakes in Texas to catch a DD at this point. You’d expect a lot more DD’s considering the amount of anglers that fish there.

I can't help but believe recruitment into the slot and beyond is severely hampered by all the dinkmaster tournaments.

I think the number one problem is the lack of grass. All the constant spraying has ruined a once great lake.

That too, Chris. Plus age and PRESSURE!

10 billion water turkeys up shallow don't help.

I had one! Joker ate my chatterbait off of a stump as I was whippin my rod around! BIG head shakes and pulled like a scalded ape..... Got her to the boat and it was a giant drum

[quote=fouzman]I can't help but believe recruitment into the slot and beyond is severely hampered by all the dinkmaster tournaments.[/


I will agree with you on this .

Over the last three years at tournaments where our live release boat received the fish we have been doing a DNA study for TPWD. We have sent over 294 fin clippings.

So what is this telling us? That the spawns and stocking that took place in 2008 through 2012 were pretty darn good. But in 2010 the lake stopped receiving a lot of water and by 2013 was going down a whole lot. And by the winter of 2015-16 it was down 7'. Then we had the big rainfall and it filled back up.

Those bad spawns in 2012-2015 are the 8 to 5 year old fish that we are not going to catch because they were never born do to low water.

It must have been GLOBAL WARMING! LOL

The 80 anglers coming to town in a couple weeks will show us how dead the lake is!

They need to quit killing the hydrilla. Apparently they haven't learned that killing of the grass in a lake ruins the lake. They should have learned that many years ago with Conroe, but they didn't.
Idoits.

BINGO

Its always been that way with tpwd back in the late 70s Cedar Creek had hydrilla all over the lake they killed it and it took a while for they lake to come back from that,

Some of us have to learn that Hydrilla is a invasive species. That don’t want it in Texas . It chokes out native vegetation. And fishing in all lakes in Texas is not priority #1

What native vegetation?
Weed/grass killers don't discriminate!

While I completely agree there are a stupid amount of tournaments on Fork... I’ve always been told the “Trophy Slot” only works properly if people keep unders. Hardly anyone does anymore, so wouldn’t that tournament mortality of all the little fish actually be a good thing?

Yes, way too many little fish in Fork. In a private lake I help manage, we double gill everything under 14 inches and release them back in deeper water

Cedar Creek NEVER “came back from that”!

Agreed. It was not why Fork was built....but fishing was kept a much higher priority in the development and management of the reservoir from inception. From leaving the standing timber, to the filling in stages.....fishing was allowed to be a higher priority than any Texas lake I’m aware of.....until Purtis Creek came along. It was built by the state(ME) and it’s NUMBER ONE purpose was recreation. Namely FISHING and the state single handedly spent my money building it and ruining it. True, hydrilla is not an indigenous species. Neither are Florida strain largemouth bass. Common sense would make most individuals want to balance what’s beneficial to MOST and try to keep this balance. It’s the knee jerk “all or nothing” approach that drives most sportsmen crazy. Fork is a great fishing lake but it’s 40 yrs old, timber continues to decline, heavy pressure......and yes it does not have heavy grass anymore.

We had a huge cold front last Wednesday and Thursday night. Those Florida's don't like cold weather. Be patient guys, Fork will blow your mind in the next 60 days with all the giants coming.

Fork is great but not what it once was. Not even sure why some try to make that claim...

LOL yup.

The "Hydrilla" is an invasive species argument has killed more bass and ruined more lakes that all of the other stupid things that TPWD has done combined.

makes me want to load up and come fight the crowds.

Question? If TPWD hates hydrilla so much and spends so much time and money supposedly trying to kill it. Why are they so interested now in growing it at Fork?

According to them the hydrilla is in the soil and will grow on it's own. We have proved that by the cages that we've installed in the lake.

Inside the cages is the hydrilla doing just fine. But around the edges below the water line for about an inch or two there is nothing. BECAUSE the turtles like nothing better to eat than immature hydrilla.

So there in lies part of the problem. I have a solution that no one in charge likes.

Every lake goes through cycles. Fork is in a tough one right now. Anyone that has fished there for any amount of time over the last few years should be able to see that. Outside of March, April, and May it has become a brutal place to fish. The post spawn offshore schools get idled over by 700 boats a day and just scatter by about the end of May. The summer, fall, and winter fishing the last few years has been nothing short of horrible. The list of lakes I would fish ahead of Fork now is long, and that is probably a good thing. The lake needs less pressure. Hopefully better days are ahead for ol Fork.

We found some milfoil in a couple places but no hydrilla. Last year in Little Mustang it was everywhere. I heard a story about hydrilla growing in one area and that area produced well on Saturday...

Yeah, Fork sucks now. All you guys need to go fish other lakes!

She will be a whole different lake in a couple weeks if the temps keep rising!

EXACTLY!!!!!!

March and April on Fork is completely different from January and February!

Turtle soup?

Not really a surprise to me. Great lake but a 24 inch fish is rare. Also you had 300 teams trying their hardest to catch as many little fish as possible. I dont think we had a chance at catching an over how we were fishing. That lake is healthy and watch it show off in a few weeks. You will be surprised.

This is correct and the grass is a mix of milfoil, coontail and hydrilla but hydrilla was most dominant for sure. It was VERY thick in places.

The number of sick looking skinny big fish I snagged on jigging spoons off the bottom this fall/winter says something isn’t right. But we all know we can’t say anything bad about fork.........also weren’t the overs caught in the September big bass T skinny and under weight for their size? I have caught some nice fish this winter and early spring but 4 has been a great day and most days it has been only one fish. Also had seven trips in Nov and Dec that I blanked. I talk to lots of folks around the lake and they are all saying the same......Recently also heard the recent shocking survey showed a 60% reduction in numbers from 10 years ago. May not be dead but it’s not the lake we all came up with and loved. Need to quit spraying the grass for starters........

Interesting, and good post

Personally I don't care what you say about the lake...good or bad...people are entitled to their opinions. I fish out there a lot myself. I have not caught any sick looking fish. Been just the opposite for me. That being said the "Fork is dead" stuff fires up like clockwork every year about this time and then the lake really turns on and shows what it really has. I bet the BPT guys really show us what is swimming around out there right under our noses. They will get there and fish with open minds and sometimes in ways we do not think of. Chances are that will pay off for them.

I'll be curious to see if any of mlf guys zero.

I would be really surprised if this happens. I am sure every single one of them get on the horn and gets the lowdown from the guides that are sharing every little detail of what is happening on the water there.
If any showed up down there and have absolutely no info them I would not be so surprised if I see a zero or two.
But we all know that will not be the case.

I bet MLF guys smash their teeth in and we all look stupid. Happens every year lol

They are going to connect with one of the first big waves of spawning fish.

Guys.....seriously, Ive fished out there a long time. ITS FEBRUARY!!!!! And throw roller coaster weather on top of it. I see it every year. BASS, MLF, FLW all come in the peak times of year. So of course they show out. All the guys I know out there that fished Champs actually had decent days. I know we caught over 20 fish and had about 6 good slots we threw back. All super healthy looking fish. When I say its fishing tough, its tough due to weather, not cause the lake is on a downward slide.

Hard to argue with that.

The lake may need less pressure, but with MLF, Elites and two large Kayak tournaments (Hobbie and BASS), the lake is about to get put on blast. If both trails smash them, then BASSMASTER may list it as #1 or top 5 at least in the country. Then it will get real crazy out there. If you want less pressure, just hope the pro's strike out and Rayburn keeps kicking out 40-50lb stringers.

Well known that Fork fishes tough with current.

SRA has held a gate open dropping the lake below full pool in anticipation for this round of rain. A couple years ago they made a deal with TP&W to hold it 6” above full. Not to sure what happened to that deal.

403 is full and it’s setting at 402.72 right now.

Winter of 16/17 and 18/19 were basically the exact same situation. EVERYONE had a rough time after the shad spawn this year. Many of the guides were running other lakes (and still are). We have always had guides and locals that fished shallow grass almost exclusively and a smaller number that fish deep in the summer...without the grass it was like watching a game of musical chairs everyday on the deep spots. Guides and locals spent the summer rotating the handful of good summer spots.

The only big problem I see is the lack grass is making the lake fish extra small compared to what everyone is used to. I think the shallow fish are just so scattered out you just don't cross paths with enough of them to make it worthwhile. We are undoubtedly missing several year classes of fish, but it isn't as extreme as people are trying to make it. The big fish are still here.

Every bass in the lake is going make the move up over the next couple of months...and like always when it FINALLY fires off everyone will forget the tough fall and winter until after the shad spawn is over.

Yes! Please go to the “many better lakes”... Lake Fork is dead! 🤣

Ole' mutha forker…..I'm looking forward to coming over several times during this year's spawn and sight fish. I love seeing a big girl on a bed....

I will never be able too Un-see that Tom

She used to be “hot” in high school.

East Fork’s Finest!

Only place you can bed fish with no bait!

Didn’t mean that personal to you by the way. Yeah the last two or three falls/winters have been brutal for most and the shad spawn dispels the doom and gloom. I am here now and had 9 yesterday after the rain in 1-2 fow around hydrilla and milfoil. They were all unders but best five would have been 10+. Hope your right and it turns on and big ones start showing up in some numbers.

Only place you can bed fish with no bait! [/quote]


HOLY.....LMAO.....Sinkey gets my vote for OT comment of the year!!!