The fishing, this April, has been consistent for catching numbers of good quality spawning fish.
Although the spring weather has been a like roller coaster with rain, wind, hot days and cold ones… we are still managing to put some real quality fish in the boat. As the weather becomes more predictable and we move from spring into early summer patterns, expect the fishing to become EXTREMELY good at Lake Fork!
Lake levels are currently sitting at 402.89, which is about 2 inches below full pool. It is great that the lake is this full going into the warmer months. The water clarity in the backs of the creeks is stained but the further south you go, the clearer the water gets. Water temperatures have been ranging from 67-73 degrees in most areas, with even warmer water in the back of the creeks.
The are a number of different patterns working that you can catch fish on right now. This can often be intimidating to anglers because they cannot decide which one they want to focus on. There are fish that are still spawning right now, others that have finished and are already into their post-spawn patterns, as well as some fish that have yet to move up. I have been targeting them all and fishing a number of different baits to catch fish.
Early, I have been fishing top water baits in spawning coves, points, and flats to entice some big blow ups. Yellow magics in shad or baby bass patterns have been best. Stanley Ribbits and Zoom Toads fished over and through the heavy grass on the bank will get your arm jerked! The top water bite has been inconsistent but I always give it a fair chance first thing in the morning.
Flukes have also been doing well. Fishing these baits in areas that the fish are still moving in to spawn will catch some hogs! I am rigging these baits weightless, slightly weighted or wacky style and am throwing them on a 7’2" Shimano Cumara Med. Hvy. rod spooled with 16 lb Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line. A 4/0 wide gap hook will do the job on the flukes and Tiki-Sticks when fishing them weightless and I am using a Mr. Blitz 4/0 Pin-acky hook with a 1/32 oz.
weight molded into the hook on my wacky rigs. The key to getting bites has been fishing these baits very slow. Texas rigged lizards, baby brush hogs, or beaver type baits are good choices as well for flipping the shallow grass and timber in these same areas. I will use a 7’ heavy action rod spooled with 20 lb.
fluorocarbon for my flipping and 1/4 or 3/8 oz. weight with a 4/0 straight shank hook.
The post-spawn action is starting to get rolling but should pick up a lot better mid to late May. Early summer post spawn fishing is some of my favorite fishing of the year. I love to fish deep structure and Lake Fork has a lot of it! The fish will begin feeding heavily to recuperate from the vigorous spawning period. Big swim baits, crank baits, jigs, big worms and carolina rigs will be real productive and you can find large schools of bass out on deep structure feeding on shad. You can pull up on certain spots at the right time and literally load the boat! If you would like to book a trip to get in on some great post-spawn fishing, I still have a few dates available in late May and a few in June. Feel free to give me a call at (903)736-9888 or you can send me an email at lakeforktrophybass@yahoo.com You can also visit my website if you would like more information about Lake Fork
I have also done well on Wave Worm Tiki- Sticks and Bamboo Sticks in black/blue, green pumpkin and any watermelon color have been the best producers.
Read John 14:1-6
Tight Lines and God Bless,
James Caldemeyer
