Headed To Fork

[Fishin Hodge]

Headed to Fork next week. What do I need to know that you are willing to share? Obviously I will have red traps, and various soft plastics, but any info is appreciated. It is my first trip so I'm basically at scratch minus the general guide reports on the net. I ain't gonna be there when you are so hook a brother up if ya don't mind.

[J-Doc]

I hope to go there myself this year so I'm going to sit bwck and watch. I heard it is really stumpy.

[Ham]

I wouldn't go without 3/8 and 1/2 oz spinnerbaits. Chatter baits too.

Most of the rattletrap stuff may be over.

I'd have flukes and lizards for sure.

Topwaters like spooks and pop r's.

Senkos

Don't overlook jerkbaits.

Spro style frogs on braid.

Skirted jigs.

I'll be at Toledo Bend starting two weeks from Saturday with Cajunangler. Maybe you'll be able to give us some intell.

Good Luck, Ham

[Goggle-Eyed]

go check out the Texas Fishing Forum. Lots of good info there. I have fished Fork three times in the past two months and it was SLOW. a friend of mine has been on them pretty good the past couple of weeks. WAY back up in the creeks.

If you have never ran Fork before be CAREFUL. Don't run unless you are in the Marked Boat Lanes. Don't follow a different boat out of the boat lanes, I have seen plenty of people tear off lower units thinking they are "okay" to run since they saw a guide boat or someone else run it.

Joe

[Hojo]

Patience. Take lots of patience. That lake (like all of them) can really humble a man. It will be busy, look for something different than everybody else.

[Sore Thumbs]

I went a month or so ago. You want to ask someone where grass and hydrilla are located. We were Throwing traps in 5ft of water with grass and ripping it through. Caught a few biggest one being a 5lb 15oz. Things might have changed since then but im still guessing that grass is key right now. Good luck.

[Fishin Hodge]

Fork is fishing tough from all that I gathered from the guides/dock talk and my trip as well. We arrived on Tuesday about 3 PM. We got out on the water and I headed for the flattest shallowest water I could find. Found 60 degree water that day in Glade, and we managed to snag 1 catfish on a rattle trap. That was it. Never saw another fish boated around us no bites, just brutal. Ran into Long Branch. Water was 50 degrees on the south side of this little creek and like 56 degrees maybe 400 yards to the north. Blew my mind. Still not bites though. Wednesday we woke up to 30 mph winds. I don't think anyone felt the need to get on the water that badly, noone except for me of course. We looked over some maps and decided to trailer over to Little Mustang for a little protection. Fished for a couple of hours without a bite. Fished traps, stickbaits, chatterbaits, pretty much you name it, without a nibble. Decided to brave the main lake and ran into Caney Creek. It was a little rough to say the least, but we made it. Tucked in behind the first little main creek point we could to hide from the wind and started throwing a stickbait through the timber. After a good bit of search I finally got bit. She was 6 pounds. That was the only fish we boated on Wednesday. I did get another bite, but she came undone. Thursday roled around and the weather was great for a change. We decided to give the points a shot. We fished a good long day for 4 fish - all on stickbaits all on main lake points. Tough, but this was an improvement over the previous day. 3 lb 13 oz was the biggest for our boat, but my buddy lost a big bass. She just pulled off after a 15 second fight. We spent some unproductive time in the back of a creek again. The water was warm, dirty, but we just couldn't get bit. A couple of other buddies down in another boat put a 7 lb 4 oz in the boat as well as a 5# 9 oz. I believe they had 6 fish that day. Stickbaits were king. I think they had 1 on a trap, 1 on a chatterbait, and 4 on a stickbait. Friday, we refined our search a little more and fished mainlake points exclusively. We boated 8 fish with the biggest being 4# 10 oz. All on stickbaits. We got bit on points with timber and points without. One point we caught 2 or 3 fish on including the big one for the day was a mud point. Our stickbaits would come up with mud on the bills. Sometimes with mud on the bills and fish on the hooks. I hooked a giant bass this day, she knocked so much slack in my line and when I caught up with her, she bowed up fast and ended up straightening my quick clip. Did catch a crappie that went 1# 13oz on a chatterbait. The other boat struggled in the morning but went in the evening and caught a 7# 9oz bass on a single spin. Wow, I am jealous. Saturday more points and more bass. 12 or 13 bass with a 5# 2oz being the largest. Never got the bite we were looking for but did hook up with a double. Not much of a report but wanted to share with whoever might be going to fork soon. It was tough. We heard talks of guides having zero and 1 fish day. Talked to one guide that had caught 3 the previous day, and refferred to another guide that had caught 8 the previous day and was bragging on him. In a local store heard an attendant say, someone had caught 3 fish that day, so it was picking up. Did talk to two on the lake that said they had caught fish over 8 pounds, and maybe they did, but maybe they didn't. All I can say is I saw very little catching anywhere I was at. And that may speak to just not being in the right areas. I can say we almost had these points to ourselves and the few that were on them were not throwing stickbaits. Thanks for the advice to try something different. Oh and last thing, a clown or purple clown rough made all the difference in the world. I was getting spanked with one and when I made the switch I began catching fish. I tried 20# fluro just because of the size and all the timber. This would cut the fish catch ratio in less than half. 12 # fluro = a lot more bites.

[Mark]

Excuse me for not knowing but where is the "Fork"?

[Fishin Hodge]

Lake Fork. Just East of Dallas, TX.

[J-Doc]

Sounds like a super tough trip but getting those big bites is why everyone and their grandmother make the pilgrimage to that lake. I have a friend who lives near the lake. I've been thinking a spring/summer trip might be needed. Sounds like it sees more pressure than Beaver Lake and that's saying something!