I have fun fished East Fork since the late '80s, 15 to 20 times a year and found because it is a flood control lake in steep terrain that the fish (as far as size and numbers) really depends on how much the lake level fluctuates during the pre-spawn.

If we have a couple of drier springs in a row (which hasn't happened in the last 4 years) you can expect to find good fish a couple of years later. The past 2 or three years it has been real tough and doesn't appear, because of recent wet springs, it's going to change much.

I do have to say, because of my familiarity of the lake, I don't get skunked often, but I have had plenty of my share of tough days. Under ideal conditions, and a few seasons after a good spawn, I have found the fish to be pretty easy to locate, but it doesn't happen often. I can understand why tourney guys who may fish it a couple of times a year would refer to the lake as the "Dead Sea".