• Lake Fork Fishing Report - TX

    Lake Fork Fishing Guide
    (903) 439-2266 http://www.bassfishing.org/ Richie@bassfishing.org
  • Lake Fork Guide Richie White has been a professional fishing guide since 1990. Richie has top of the line electronics and excellent fishing gear provided at no extra charge, including Kistler rods and Ambassadeur Revo reels. He is happy to accomodate beginners as well as tournament fishermen. Children are also encouraged to fish with Richie. He also provides digital photos and guarantees fish!

  • Lake Fork Fishing Report - TX

    We must have had a colder winter than I realized. After all these warm days, the water is still 49-50 degrees on the main lake. I believe that most fish (of all species) basically "hibernate" when the water temp gets in the 40s. This year, most places that had active fish in December were desolate in January. I couldn't graph any fish on humps between 15 and 35 feet. Most every bass was either hiding in the shallows or inactively "hibernating" with all the other fish in water over 35 feet. It seems that there are only 2 options in this case: fish the deep water and try to get an inactive fish to bite (very boring) or fish shallow and look for a reaction bite (a lot of work).

    Fortunately, we've had enough warm days to get some of the bass to come out of hibernation. Some of the humps that were desolate in January are showing signs of fish.
    Fish are biting much better than they were a couple of weeks ago. I expect to see the bass back in hibernation when it gets in the 20s next week. But they will get moving around again when it warms back up. Every warm day the fishing will get a little better.

    I'm spending most of my time learning areas that are relatively new to me. I normally fish water that is less than 7' deep this time of the year. Since the lake is 7' low, my normal spots are completely dry. So I'm learning new water. This is both exciting and frustrating.
    It's frustrating because we lost so much water that is protected from the wind. Also, we know that the lake will be a circus by the end of Feb - and we have a lot less water and usable ramps and we don't have as many running lanes. But it is exciting because I'm catching all my fish in places that I don't normally fish.

    I did a search on www.basslogonline.com and showed the following for February on Lake Fork:

    Top 5 lures Lake Fork February w/water temp 40s
    1) lipless crankbait
    2) skirted jig
    3) Texas rig worm
    4) spinnerbait
    5) wacky rig

    Top 5 lures Lake Fork February w/water temp 50-55
    1) lipless crankbait
    2) spinnerbait
    3) C-rig worm
    4) Texas rig worm
    5) swim bait

    My experience is similar to the stats in the Basslog. Almost all of my fish this year have come on lipless crankbaits. Jigs, squarebill crankbaits, chatterbaits, and spinnerbaits are my next best choices.

    Book your trip online at http://www.fishingguidenow.com/bookonline.cfm?guideID=2
    I keep that calendar current. So if it says I'm available, I'm available. From now through early March, I have enough open days that you can probably book on short notice and see the forecast before booking your trip.

    As usual, from mid-March through April I am booked solid for sight fishing. I still have some open days in early May where we will definitely be able to sight fish if you want to learn my favorite pattern.

    Be sure to check out my book on sight fishing for bass at http://www.bassfishing.org/spawnbook
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