Well, the winter blast is still on here at Lake Fork. The lake Is steadily inching up. BUT!!! The water temp is going down. 43 to 46 is the range you will be working with if you come down this weekend. This weekend is calling for another cold blast of artic air this weekend. I would recommend lipless crankbaits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and jigging spoons out deep. Look for grass and timbered points and work these areas slowly. These are a few baits that will get you a start for a weekend trip. There a few big fish moving around the shallows and it will take a number of casts to get one interested in your bait. If you catch a fish work the area over good as there may be a few more fish in the same area. I am using my electronics to locate deep fish and right now the fish and bait are being found out in 47 to 52 feet of water. The fish are moving out deeper with each cold front. I only wish we would have gotten more rain to help get the lake back to normal and even cause them to open the gates. Hopefully this month we will get the rain we need to do this.
The crappie have slowed down with the cold tempts. We have been able to locate the fish and bait but the fish have not bit very well. Dragging jigs slowly over and around timber in 47 to 49 foot of water has caught a few fish but at the cost of many jigs. The key to any kind of action is working your bait as slow as possible and stay in tune with the rod and line. The bites have been very light or just a heavy feeling much like grass on your bait. The jigging spoon bite has been on 10 to 12 pound test line. 3/8 to 1/2 ounce jigging spoons has been the size to use. Slow sweeping of the rod tip has been the best approach.
I still have open dates in February, March, and April. Don't forget April 14, 15 is the big tournament here on the lake.
Jim Reaneau
1-888-918-5088