Lake Fork-March

[MstStudent10]

Another issue I was contemplating was the distance from the shoreline to fish? Is Fork one of those lakes you want to be 2-3 casts from the bank because its so shallow? Or do I wanna go with everyone else and be a bank beater? I'm out to catch that fish of a lifetime (for me would be happy with something 8+) and I don't want my boat to be sitting on top of them. Or with the middle of march will it not matter where you fish cuz they will be everywhere? Thanks guys!!

[cofobasser]

I would concentrate on school because i know how much fishing can become a priority and the end results are not good. Just concentrate on your test and think about fishing later.

[Bill Babler]

You know the old saying of March comes in like a Lion and goes out like a lamb. In East Texas, March comes in like a Friggin MONSTER, and stays that way. I have fished Fork, many times, and I would be in absolutely no hurry to tackle it with a 14ft. flat bottom. Scarry!! We all fish around the dam area, and the face of the dam is fantastic thru early March as a staging ground for big ole biggins. Sometimes we are fishing in 3 footers however.

I am sure there are lots of back bays you can get into, with lots of creek channels and weeds to rip a trap thru, and flip a jig. Just for gosh sakes be careful, that pond can really be dangerious. You can also completely waste your time and money down there, as Florida Strain Bass don't take well to cold water and weather fronts. They will just flat not bite. Warm cloudy stabe conditions, can get you the bite of a lifetime. Good luck this year on that kind of weather.

On a side note, if you are a crappie guy, Fork is off the charts good. Just ask around when your down there. They really like the bridge piling.

[Nitroman]

Fished it several times, spring trips were good with a large number of good quality fish up to 7 lbs. Saw several 9-10-11-12 lbs. but I wasn't lucky enough to have one on my line. Best bait was a 6 in. LUNKER CITY SLUG-O fished on either a 4/0 or 5/0 wide gap hook with a nail burried in the body for weight. Concentrated on the deep edge of standing timber along channels ( with weeds is best ) average depth about 10 feet. Technique was simple, throw past the timber let it sink on a snug line & retrieve like a jerk-bait, twitch - pause - twich. Most bites were a simple they would swim away with it. Also caught fish on buzz baits ( many around boat docks ) jig with trailer & off beds with lizards. Best color on the LUNKER CITY SLUG-O " NOW DON'T YOU LAUGH AT ME " was PINK !!!!!!!

Mr. Babler told you the truth, they don't like cold water & strong cold fronts. During a fall trip we hit terrible weather & in a weeks time caught 2 BASS on rattle baits. Everyone else got smart after 2 or 3 days & went home. One of the biggest problems with the wind is that huge waves build & it's easy to ( as you are riding them ) be dropped smack down on top of a stump or standing timber. I have seen boats have holes punched in their bottoms or flipped over. I came way to close, I came down off a wave hit a stump on my right side & came close to flipping over. " BE VERY CAREFUL OUT THERE " !!!!!!!

[tapout]

I went three years ago the second week of march. You've already heard it but the wind was terrible. Tore up the trolling motor and broke the console on the boat one afternoon with foor foot swells. Took on so much water we could barely get the boat on the trailer. Our first two days kinda stunk until we tried trailering our boat to the north side of the lake and found spawning fish in back water that was basically out of the wind. The final two days we stuck numerous 4-6 pound fish on beds. Right or wrong that was what we resorted to. We spotted several 8lbers on beds but they laughed at our offerings. It was fun, and no doubt big fish are there (we saw a 12 lber caught on a spinner bait our last day), but I came home with a new love for tablerock and the wind buffering bluffs and trees that surround it. God blessed the Ozarks.

[Kicknbass]

http://www.ets-systems.com/

Check out the reports on this web site. I have fished w/ Marc Mitchell several times. Mostly up the Big Caney Creek arm. With your small boat I would recommend this arm. The main lake by mustang resort gets a lot of boat traffic. The Big Caney creek arm is less developed.

Good luck.

[Barn]

The TFF is the best TX bass fishing site by far.

Texas Fishing Forum - Bass Fishing

The weather has been really cold and wet down here. The fish are a month behind where they usually are at this time. Fishing on Fork has been very slow to date. We are finally getting warmer sunny days this week. The fishing will probably explode by the time you get here. However, so will the crowds.

Best bet will be red lipless crankbait fished around grass. Bigger fish will begin moving up or staging outside of spawning flats. You can try red/black chatterbait, jig or jerkbait if the water is clear.

Senko/Fluke baits in some shade of watermelon always work well around the grass. Pink is a good color to try once the water temps get a little warmer.

A split shot or mojo rigged ring fry can work very well too.

If you do make the trip I would stick to the back of creeks/cove/pockets with a 14' boat. You will be able to get to many fish the "big" boats cannot reach. However, if the weather is good there will be hundreds of boats lined up to fish every popular spawning area on the lake.

I usually don't even bother with fishing Fork during March because it can be a real zoo.