LAKE FORK

There are various reports, make sure you check them all!

Report by Lake Fork Day and Night Guide Service
Guide Clint Wright
www.siteskins.com/lakeforkdayandnight
20+ years of Lake Fork experience

"Lets go fishing"

Lake Fork and local Hot Water Lakes: November 22, 2008
Lake Levels: Fork - Full, Monticello - Full, Welsh - Full
Water Clarity: All lakes are clear.
Water temp: Fork - 60’s, Hot water lakes – cold side - 70’s hot side - 80’s
Weather: This coming week will have highs in the 60’s with lows in the 40’s.

News: The Lake Fork Grudge Match went without a hitch this past Saturday. $3,000.00 was raised by Texas Anglers to benefit the Wish to Fish Foundation. The Wish to Fish Foundation provides fishing trips to terminally ill children. Thanks to the Texas Fishing Forum and Don Hampton with The Fishermans Guide.

Christmas is only one month away. Lake Fork is set up perfect for a great spring spawn. I still have a few open days available. I will be teaming up with a few local guides for the 2009 season. The reason I have decided to do this is to ensure my clients are able to go fishing anytime they want to, not just around my busy schedule.

I have been invited to join the Wave Fishing Team for the 2009 season. I feel very confident endorsing Wave products and have caught many fish on their new baits. Today we had about 100 bass many on Wave products. Check out www.wavefishing.com.

Fishing Report

Lake Fork: Fishing Lake Fork is simple in November and December. You will only need two rods on the deck. One with a Sebile Onduspoon and the other with a Revenge jig and a Wave swim bug as a trailer. Use your electronics and find these trophy bass feeding on gizzard shad, barfish and crappie. Once found it can be Awesome. If you do not feel confident with off shore deep water, put on an Arkie u - bolt with a Reaction Innovations Flirt and go to work on the outside grass line.

For the deep bite look for road beds, under water bridges, and mainlake points in sight of the Dam. Chaney Point, Little Boy, Bird Island and SRA are all good places to start searching. For the shallow bite look at Glade, Birch, Little Caney and Long Branch creeks.

Hot Water Lakes: This is where you will find me 90% of the time in November, December and January. These lakes give up great numbers and size. On a half day trip we average 50 fish. On a full day trip often numbers are exceeding 100. Many of these fish are 3 - 6 lbs. Today we caught fish all over. The females are swollen with eggs and in a pre-spawn pattern. These fish are not picky. The smaller the bait you throw the more fish you will catch. The topwater bite will be picking up in a week or so. Today we caught good numbers on a Revenge buzz bait, Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver, Wave Swim Bug and a lipless bait. These lakes are full of stumps, brush and Lilly pads. I fish 25 lb. Seaguar Fluorocarbon and 65 lb Power Pro braid on my Custom Angle 7’0 Heavy or Medium Heavy rods to haul these big fish out of cover. On Lake Monticello try Blundell and Smith creeks. On Lake Welsh try Swannano Creek. The fish will be pulling up out of deeper water in a week or two. Look for humps and mainlake points. With the spawn only a few weeks away, now is a good time to break out the polarized Costa Del Mar Sunglasses. These glasses will protect your eyes and provide a whole new fishing experience for you.

I would like to invite you out to Lake Fork on a professional guided fishing trip. All you really need to go fishing with me is a fishing license. I provide rods, reels, tackle etc. at no extra charge. Digital Photos of your fish will be taken and will be emailed to you at no charge.

Thanks to my sponsors Gotcha Distributing, Reaction Innovations, Revenge Jigs, Sebile, Arkie, Power Pro Fishing Line, Seagaur Fishing Line, Gene Lareu, Custom Angle Moby bass rods Oak Ridge Marina and Hideaway Harbor Marina. I must also thank the Texas Parks and Wildlife for their efforts in keeping this lake great.

Feel free to contact me anytime via email lakeforkdayandnight@yahoo.com or by phone 903-918-9469 if you ever have any questions about Lake Fork or to book your next guided fishing trip on this fine fishery. We hope to see you soon!

Lake Fork Day and Night Guide Service
Guide Clint Wright
www.siteskins.com/lakeforkdayandnight

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Report from Tom Redington
www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com
November 17, 2008

The fall fishing really turned on this past week at Lake Fork with the long awaited end to our warm temps. Even after the cold fronts, numbers of bass have been good to great. Big fish have been hard to come by for my customers and me lately, with regular catches of 5 and 6 lb bass, but we haven't been landing many 7 or bigger for the past few weeks. I know some of you don't want to hear me complaining about "only" catching 5s and 6s, but that's the warped reality we live with at Fork. Big fish have started coming into the marinas more regularly again, including double digits in the last few days, so I expect the big bite to return now that the water is cooling again. Until then, we're having a blast catching loads of quality bass shallow and deep as they feed up for winter.

With the holidays just around the corner, I do have gift certificates available for those looking for a present for their angling buddies. 2008 has been another super year on Fork, with the lake being full and in great shape for the coming season. Prespawn starts in late-December, so it won't be long until my favorite lunker time of the year is here, January through March. If you're looking for a fish of a lifetime, prespawn is the time to head to Fork

Lake Conditions: Nearly 4" of rain and frequent cold fronts are rolling over Fork, which seems to have turned on the fishing. The lake level is currently reading 402.42' (about 7" below full pool). Most of the lake is clear despite the rain, with some stained water on the north ends. Water temps are dropping with the cool nights, reading from 61 to 63 in the main lake on Sunday, while we found temps in the creeks as low as 57 early in the morning.

Location Pattern: Both the shallow and deep fish have bit well some days this past week, but the best pattern depends on the day. Fishing shallow grassbeds on the main lake all the way to the backs of major creeks has produced a lot of fish. Early and late and all day on cloudy and windy days, I'm focusing on shoreline grass, openings in clumps of grass, and the inside weedline. When the sun gets up, concentrate on the deep weed edge in 8' to 15'. Key on points, inside turns, and along ledges and you're likely to find more fish. Most of the shallow fish have been in groups, so you'll fish for a while without getting a bite, and then catch several in a small area. I'm also catching bass back in the coves along creek channel bends. For the deep anglers, concentrate on main lake structure in 18' to 33' and you can load the boat when you find them. The best areas and depths change daily, so you'll need to do some scouting to find the schools each day. Watch your graph closely and key on schools located tight to the bottom if you can find them, because they are normally easier to catch than the suspended schools.

Presentation Pattern: During fall, bass key on shad and most of my lure choices and colors reflect that preference. Shades of white or chrome are always good choices in the fall on Fork. In the shallows, I'm using smaller baits that are about the size of the shad I'm seeing. I'm throwing these lures on the new fluoro/mono hybrid line from Lake Fork Tackle called Fluorohybrid FH. Its zero memory and tiny diameter allow me to boom casts way out there, even with finesse baits. Shallow running crankbaits and lipless cranks, small spinnerbaits, and Lake Fork Tackle's 4" Hyper Worm are all working well, especially on windy banks. When the bite slows, weightless rigged Magic Shads and Live Magic Shads in shades of watermelon or the Magic Shad color are catching less active fish. Work these slowly with a few twitches and a long pause. For bigger fish, a 3/8 oz watermelon red Mega Weight Jig with a matching Fork Craw or a TX rigged watermelon/red or Bama Bug colored Hyper Freak pitched to timber or grass on points or along creek channels are your best bet.

Out deeper, Carolina rigs, drop shots, and jigs will catch bass from schools located near the bottom on deep structure. Watermelon, green pumpkin, or purple haze colored Baby Fork Creatures, Baby Ring Frys, and Magic Shads are on the business end of my Carolina rigs. Drop shots will catch good numbers of fish and the occasional big bass, rigged with a watermelon or Bama Bug Hyper Finesse Worm. When the bass are suspended, Fork Flutter Spoons, and ½ to ¾ oz slab spoons are working best.

Here's hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 (days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through my web site, where your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Good Fishing, Tom

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Report by David Vance
Lake Fork Report: November 5, 2008

The Fishing here on lake fork has been good. The deep bite continues to become much better as the shallow water bite has remained strong. The fishing will continue to get better as it gets closer to winter. Even with the warm weather the fish are starting to bunch up.

I have found most of my big fish holding in 20 to 30 feet of water. The best places have been humps, points, ridges, and roadbeds. Your electronics will be a big key as to how successful your day on the water will be. Watch for balls of shad and bass stacked up on the screen. To catch these deep fish I have been using a Carolina Rig and a Smoking Shad Fluke on a 1/4oz-Football Jig Head. On my Carolina Rig I am using a 7 foot medium heavy action Lake Fork Pro Series Rod, a 3 to 4 foot leader, and a 1oz weight. Dragging behind it on a 3/0 hook will be a Super Fluke. My best colors have been Watermelon, and Watermelon/Red. You can play with different variations of speed during your cast. They seem to hit it good, moving slowly. The bite has been pretty hard so it is easy to tell when you get a bite. A drop shot is also taking some good numbers of fish. I have been fishing it with a 12 to 24 inch leader with a Trick Worm or a Fineness Worm in Watermelon, and Watermelon/Red.

The shallow water bite has really turned on for some good fish. The fish have been stacking up along the grass beds. The best depths have been 2 to 4 feet. If you like top water fishing the bass have been very aggressive. The Frog bite has been good; Stanley Ribbet or Frog type baits have been excellent around the grass. Yesterday we put 36 bass in the boat and four were over seven pounds. More than half of these bass came on the Carolina Rig and the rest early on a Trick Worm. Good places to try right now are the tire reef off the SRA point at dam, the old road bed at the mouth of Chaney Branch, the road bed at the mouth of Wolfe creek, 515 East road bed. These areas always produce good fish this time of year.

I always look forward to this time of year, the weather is great and the big fish are starting to turn on. If you would like to book a trip and get in on some great fall fishing you can reach me at 903-629-5085

Check out my web site http://www.lakeforktexasfishingreports.com

Good Fishing
David Vance

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Lake Fork Trophy Bass Fishing Report
By Lake Fork Guide James Caldemeyer
Submitted November 4, 2008

November is here and the fishing on Lake Fork during this month is AWESOME! As the bass prepare for the coming winter, you will find plenty of feeding activity on all parts of the lake and have an opportunity to catch some real giants.

Water conditions at Lake Fork are good with most of the lake fair to clear and lake levels at 402.25 about 9 inches low. Temperatures have been ranging from mid to upper 60’s lately and even low 70’s on the warmer days.

The bass fishing over the past several days has been up and down. One day you go out and catch high numbers of some real nice fish and the next day struggle for a bite in those same areas. I attribute this to the continuing fluctuation in temperatures. As we get away from these 80 degree days and the weather the cold fronts move in, those big bass will put their feed bags on.

The shallow bite has been good from the mouths of the creeks to the backs of some of them. Top water frogs, buzz baits and poppers have been good early and late. Wacky worms and Tiki Sticks are also doing well in the grass. Best colors have been watermelon red and green pumpkin. Shad colored shallow running crank baits, chrome lipless cranks and spinner baits are also catching fish up shallow slow rolled over the grass. Especially on wind blown grass beds with baitfish present. Good grass and the presence of shad are key in finding the bass in the shallows.

The deep fishing for those big Lake Fork trophies is also starting to kick into gear. Deep humps, road beds, points, ridges and old pond dams in 16-30+ feet will all hold schools of fish feeding on shad, bar fish and even crappie this time of year. When the weather cools, the fish will be ganging up on the deep structure areas and gorge! If you are on one of these spots at the right time, you can load the boat with some pigs!! A carolina rigged centipede, creature bait, or fluke rigged on a Shimano 7’6” rod with 20lb Gamma fluorocarbon line, 4-5 foot leader and a 2/0 or 3/0 wide gap hook is what I’m using. Best bait colors have been watermelon red, green pumpkin, sour grape or chart. pepper. The Talon 3/4 oz. football head jig is still catching a lot of big fish out deep so you’ll want to keep one of these tied on at all times. They will catch some of the biggest fish in the school. The Talon 3/8 or 1/2 oz. “T-spoon” jigging spoons will also catch some big fish out deep as the water temperatures cool off in the fall and even into winter.

November is an excellent time to be on the lake while all the deer hunters are in their stands. There is less pressure on the lake and the fish are biting. If you would like to book a guide trip, I still have a couple of November dates left. You can reach me at (903)736-9888 or shoot me an email at lakeforktrophybass@yahoo.com. You can also check out my newly redesigned website at www.officiallakeforktrophybass.com for more information about Lake Fork.

Just a couple of reminders…If you are interested in making reservations for a 2009 spring trip to Lake Fork, don’t wait until it’s too late. Get your plans together and contact me ASAP. My spring dates are diminishing quickly. I also have gift certificates available for the upcoming holidays if you are interested in sending your special someone out to Lake Fork for a guided fishing trip. They make a great gift for your “fishing enthusiasts”!

I would like to thank the good Lord for giving me strength, and to my sponsors for their dedicated support to those who love to fish and for supporting me. Please pray for Lane Gergely as she battles her illness.

Read Acts 2:38

Tight Lines and God Bless,
James Caldemeyer

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Report from Richie White
Lake Fork Fishing Guide Texas
Updated Updated 10/28/2008

Now's the time to get on the lake. The bass are now well on their Fall pattern and you can really get into some action. Water temps are upper 60s in the mornings and low 70's on warm afternoons. We are now starting to catch most of our fish in the deep spots. They're still moving around a lot. Often, I will find some fish, drop down and catch a couple on the first cast, then nothing! So, take advantage of the lower gas prices and keep looking if you don't get em. I expect it to be more consistent with this new front coming through. I haven't been going too long without a fish, but we are catching most of our fish during short bursts of active feeding. Saturday, I was throwing a Carolina rig when some schoolers came up by the boat. I picked up a rod with a rattle trap on it and as soon as I got it out, a kid hooked a fish in the back of the boat on a spoon. So I set that rod down and netted his fish. When I picked up my rod with the Carolina rig, it had a fish. I handed that rod off and picked up my rattle trap rod. It too had a fish on it. That kind of action doesn't happen very often, but it is fun when it does.

Most of the fish we catch this time of the year are on the small side, but we do catch a few big ones. Last trip, we got bass ranging from 3 inches to 8 pounds in the same spot. So, you never know what size it will be until it hits.

Best locations are humps, points, & road beds that come up to 15 to 22 ft. Sometimes the fish are on top, sometimes on the slope, and sometimes they are at the bottom. You just have to use your electronics and try to figure out where they are. Often, there will be tons of baitfish everywhere. That's not ideal. Ultimately, you want to find lots of bigger fish with small amounts of baitfish. I spend lots of time idling around looking for that perfect spot.

Spoons are great baits if you don't know what kind of fish is below. I've caught black bass, crappie, white bass, yellow bass, catfish, carp, and probably other species on spoons. If I'm catching tons of yellow bass, I'll normally keep throwing the spoons & catch more. If black bass are biting or the yellow bass slow down, I will often use a Carolina rig or crankbait. Sometimes, when the yellow bass slow down, that is because big bass are on the prowl looking for them. This is a good time to use a bait that resembles a yellow bass.

If you want to catch some fish to eat, there is no better time than now through Thanksgiving for catching good numbers of small bass, yellow bass, and crappie. In case you didn't know, yellow bass (also called barfish) look a lot like white bass, but they are all white meat and taste great. I have a picture of my daughter holding a yellow bass and also a hybrid yellow (white/yellow) almost 4 pounds caught by a client on a night trip.

See our recent pics. Check out my new guide booking site at www.fishingguidenow.com. Book online at Book online

If you would like to receive my fishing reports by email, go to the fishing report request form on my site. All you need is your name and email address. If you are receiving reports by email and wish to discontinue receiving them, simply reply to the email and request to discontinue.

Good fishing and good luck. You can't catch them if you don't go.

Professional Guide
Richie White
(903) 439-2266

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