A sustained warming trend has the big bass on the move at Fork, with fish up to 10 lbs caught in my boat this week and lots of big fish being reported at local marinas. Typical of this time of year, we've had several days with well over 20 bass caught, while a couple days were downright tough. A number of very windy days, including a few days with gusts in the 40s and mid-50s have muddied up large areas of the lake; however, the bite has been best for us on windy days. While some areas are warming very quickly and reading into the upper 50s and low 60s in the afternoons, the boat ramp temp is reading 48 the last couple of mornings and we even found the backs of some creeks reading 49 late in the afternoon. Based on these temps, some spawning will start soon if the warm sunny days continue, while it will be quite some time before the bass spawn in many other areas of the lake. As is the norm, I expect we'll have fish spawning into early May.
Lake Conditions: Lake Fork's water level has remained stable, currently reading 400.97', about 2' below full pool. Due to recent strong winds, many areas of the lake are stained to muddy. Water temps are on the rise, reading 48 to 55 in main lake areas and up to the low 60s in some protected pockets late in the day.
Location Pattern: I'm still concentrating on prespawn and staging fish on points and along edges of flats or creek channels. Areas with submerged vegetation (primarily hydrilla, milfoil or coontail) for cover will typically have the most active fish. While about any grassy area will hold a few fish, start your search in areas that have lots of spawning fish in March. It stands to reason that the coves that hold the most spawning fish in early spring will have the most prespawn fish in the winter. The specific location of the bass within creeks has seemed to change daily. Check productive coves and creeks from main lake points and flats to the very back to find active fish each day. In many cases, we've caught multiple fish from small areas, so really work an area over once you've caught a fish there.
Presentation Pattern: My prespawn arsenal is pretty simple for fishing grass flats and creek channels. First and foremost are lipless crankbaits in ½ or ¾ oz, in red, orange and crawdad patterns. Slow rolling lipless cranks was best last week in the cold water, but a faster stop and go retrieve is working better now. ½ oz to 1 oz spinnerbaits with double willow or single Colorado blades in white, red, or chartreuse and white will produce some really large bass as well. With the deeper grass and colder temps, switch to smaller blades and slow your retrieve until the bait is just ticking the top of the grass. On calm days, you'll typically do better by switching to a suspending jerkbait or pitching a jig and a Texas rig. Go with gold jerkbaits on cloudy days, while silver color schemes work better on sunny days. Work these baits with a few twitches and long pauses. My flipping bite has been slow the last few days, but for a real monster, it's normally your best option. I go with ½ oz Mega Weight black and blue jigs with a Lake Fork Craw trailer in the blue bruiser color. The Fork Craw has an air pocket in its belly and it stands up on the back of a jig, making a very realistic looking presentation for dead-sticking around cover. For the Texas rig, I'll pitch a Lake Fork Flipper or Top Dog Lizard in black neon or watermelon/red flake with a 1/8 to 3/8 oz bullet weight and slowly work it around cover. Finally, when the bass move onto the flats, weightless Texas rigged or wacky rigged soft plastic jerkbaits like Magic Shads, Live Magic Shads, Twitch Worms, and Ring Frys become your best option. Shades of green pumpkin and watermelon are normally top colors; work these baits very slowly and pay attention for subtle bites from that big mama!
Lake Baccarac Update: With the water on a warming trend, bass are making a move to the backs of creeks and many big bass up to 13 lbs have been caught shallow in the last few days. There are still a few openings left for March and April and there is good availability for May and June (historically one of the best times for trophy bass). I'm starting to plan my group trips for Fall & Winter 2007/2008. Our trip last year was fun and productive for double digit bass; let me know if you want to be part of the lunker action. For more info on a trip to Baccarac, please check out my website: http://www.bigmexicobass.com .
Here's hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 (days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through http://www.lakeforkguidetrips.com/ , where your satisfaction is guaranteed.
Good Fishing,
Tom
