With this weather up and down one day it's 75 the next it is 35 fishing has been slow for numbers, but the quality of the bass we are catching right now makes up for the numbers. This week most of our bass have came on lipless Crank baits and a Suspending Rogue. These baits have been producing some big bass this past week. Yesterday we stayed with the lipless Crank baits and Suspending Rogue all day, and we boated 12 bass with one that weighed 11 lbs 3oz. This big bass came on the Suspending Rogue on the edge of a grass line. Best water depth for me has been 5 to 10 feet of water over the grass. The bass we caught this week have come from mid lake to the dam.
Creeks that are producing good fish are Wolfe, Little Caney, Ray Branch and Williams Creek. I have been keeping my boat in ten feet of water and fishing the outside edge of the grass. A medium to fast retrieve on the lipless Crank baits have worked best. These bass are very scattered, so fish these areas 2 or 3 times before you leave and come back later in the day and hit them again. The best bite has been 10am until dark. This pattern is only going to get better on into January and February.
There are several different ways to fish lipless Crank baits. The most common way is reeling it straight back to the boat. Another is the yo-yo retrieve in which you are pulling the bait straight up with your rod and pulling in the slack and repeating this over and over above the grass. There is also ripping the bait where the bait hit's the grass and you use a sideways motion to rip the bait out of the grass. My favorite is reeling it in straight with slight twitches of the rod every 4 to 6 cranks. Try all of these retrieves and let the fish tell you how they want it. On the suspending Rogue the colors I like are black/gold/orange or blue/chrome/orange. Fish these baits over grass in 4 to 10 feet deep. The retrieve I use is very basic with a twitch-twitch-twitch pause. Now the length of the pause depends on the water temp, under 50 degrees requires a long pause up to 20 seconds. When the water warms above 50 degrees try working the bait a little faster.
The key to catching these big bass this time of year is to fish the greenest grass you can find. If you are not familiar with Lake Fork the best way to locate the best grass beds is to look for the Coots. These birds only feed on grass, and if you see a huge concentration of these birds you can bet you will find a lot of green grass in the area. I always look forward to this time of year because it is the start of our Big Bass Season, and on Lake Fork you are just one cast away from catching that Bass of a lifetime. I am now booking Spring trips. Book early to get best available dates. Call . 903-629-7699 or 903-629-5085 Cell. Or Check out my website http;//www.lakeforktexasfishingreports.com
Good Fishing,
David Vance