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Copyright 1999-2006
No reproduction of any kind.

 Texas Fishing Report 2006

Submitted by Anglers Like You

The Angler keep others informed by emailing fishing reports to us. Include your name in the message part of your report if you'd like to receive credit for the report.

December 15, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - After a great trip to Lake Baccarac in Mexico, I'm back to stalking the lunkers at Lake Fork. We're currently having a week of warm weather at Fork and the bass are once again on the feed. As we head into late December, the early stages of prespawn are starting in some areas of the lake. Meanwhile, lunker bass continue to be caught from deep water as well. With big bass smoking jigs, spinnerbaits, and lipless crankbaits now through mid-March, this is my favorite time of the year on Fork. Numbers run lower this time of year; however, the average size of your catch is at its highest for the year, usually in the 4 to 5 lb range, with a good shot at bass 7 lbs or greater.

Lake Conditions: Lake Fork's water level continues to drop, currently reading 397.64', about 5'4" below full pool. Even with the low water, almost all of the main ramps are still useable without any issues. The water is clear in most parts of the lake, especially in areas with submerged vegetation, while the upper ends are somewhat stained. Water temps are on the rise once again, currently reading 53 to 56 degrees in most areas, perfect wintertime temps.

Location Pattern: From late-December through February, I concentrate 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 late February and through 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. Main lake grass beds near the mouths of these coves are holding a lot of fish now, as are main and secondary points inside the coves, provided there is deep water nearby. During warming trends, follow bass back into the creeks and check the edges of grass flats and creek channels.

Keep in mind, too, that the absolute water temperature is not nearly as important now as the recent water temperature trend. For instance,
water temps that are showing 52 degrees can result in slow fishing if the temps were 58 a couple days ago. In contrast, fishing can be great if the temps warm up to 50 while they were 44 a few days before. In general, look for bass on the flats and farther back in creeks during warming trends; conversely, drop back to points and main lake grassbeds after cold fronts. Finally, the day of and the day after cold fronts can be absolutely miserable to fish, but these frontal days after a long warming trend are usually the most productive times to fish.

For deep structure enthusiasts, points, roadbeds, humps, flats and
ledges in 18' to 45' will produce some big fish during the winter months as well. Use your electronics to find the schools of bass and baitfish and work them over with spoons and dropshots. I'm primarily concentrating on the shallow bass, so my presentation pattern will focus on that.

Presentation Pattern: My wintertime arsenal is pretty simple for
fishing along grasslines and creek channels. First and foremost are red lipless crankbaits in 12 or 34 oz. Stick with the 12 for grass that is near the surface and go with the 34 for grass that is deeper. Buzzing these over the top of the grass on a quick retrieve is working best now, but after cold fronts, letting the trap fall and ripping these out of the grass will trigger most of the bites. 14 to 12 oz spinnerbaits with double willow blades in white, red, or chartreuse and white will produce some really large bass in the same areas that the lipless cranks work, especially on windy and cloudy days. For a true giant, try swimming the new Lake Fork Live Magic Shad in the same areas you'd throw a spinnerbait. Rig it on a 4/0 wide gap hook and swim it slowly back to the boat with a few pauses. When the water looks like a toilet just flushed, it's time to set the hook!! When the bite slows or the conditions are sunny and calm, I'll switch to a suspending jerkbait or pitch a jig and a Texas rig. Gold jerkbaits with orange bellies and black backs are my primary color. Work these with long pauses over the grass and along the edges. For jigs, I go with 12 oz black and blue jigs Texas rig, I'll pitch a Lake Fork Flipper in black neon or blue bruiser with a 14 to 3/8 oz bullet weight.

Cover lots of water until you get bit. Once you catch one, work the area over thoroughly with multiple passes, employing several different baits. Fish tend to stack up in key staging areas during the winter and these spots will replenish themselves with more fish during the prespawn as more and more big bass move shallow. Find some good staging spots and you'll have a milk run of honey holes now through March.

Good Fishing,

Tom

December 14, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by David Vance - The fishing this week has been good with the warm weather in the past few days. Spinner bait,s are producing some good bass on windy points, yesterday all of our bass came on a spinner bait by the end of the day we had 17 with one that went 11lbs 9oz and two over seven pounds. The spinner bait we used was a < oz Colorado willow with nickel and gold blades and a chartreuse and white skirt. We had most of our hits fishing the bait slow, most of the bass would just stop the bait, when you get warm weather this time of year slow rolling a big spinner bait on the edge of the grass is a good pattern to catch big bass on lake fork. Red and orange lipless crank baits are and will be my best baits day in and day out now through February. Best water depth for me has been 5 to 8 feet on the edge of the grass on main lake and secondary points. The best bite for me has been 10am until dark. Right now I am fishing different areas each day. Birch creek, white oak and little Caney are producing some good fish right now. All the bass that we have been catching have been fat and healthy. I love this time of year not many boats on the lake and on any cast you have a chance to catch a bass of a life time. The lake is 5 feet low so be careful running the lake.

I am now booking spring dates. Book early to get the best available dates! Call 903-629-7699 or 903-629-5085. Check out my Web Site http://www.lakeforktexasfishingreports.com

Good Fishing!

David Vance

December 12, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman -
Quality Bass Club-December 9-10, 2006: Rainy, cold weather greeted the 14 fishermen and women from Quality as well as the 17 members from SWRI and Atascosa Bass Clubs this weekend at Falcon. Lake water temperatures were in the 56-58 degree range which had many of the big fish suspended in about 12 ft in 20-25 ft of water. The outside air temperature topped out at 47 degrees Saturday. Mike Robbins had the big bass for Quality weighing 8.37 lbs and his stringer was just about 1/2 lb under Robert Dunlap's heavy stringer of the day weighing 17.03 Lbs. The big bass was caught on a Watermelon Red Zoom Brush Hog.

Sunday: The ambient temperature went up to 59 degrees and conditions were good with no moisture and light winds. The big bass from yesterday weighing 8.37 Lbs held for the weekend with Quality and Miike Robbins continued on the fish to win first place heavy stringer with 23.99 Lbs. Robert Dunlap came in second with a very close 23.69 Lbs. Cal Biendorf was third with 18.25 Lbs.

Atascosa Bass Club had a 20.37 Lbs heavy stringer weighed by Shane Pfullman and the second heavy stringer was caught by Craig White weighing 17.19 Lbs. Shane had the big bass weighing 6.36 lbs.
Sunday: Sunday was a good day for Joe Lancaster who was fishing with Craig White. Although he was a guest, his heavy stringer weighed right at 28 Lbs and his big bass weighed a whopping 12.53 Lbs. Shane Pfullman came in with the heavy stringer honors for the club weighing 20.37 Lbs. Craig was second. The big bass was caught in 5 ft of water on a California colored 4.20 Sweet Beaver from Falcon Lake Tackle. Thanks to Craig White for the Joe Lancaster picture.

SWRI Bass Buster's Bobby West had the big bass of all clubs on Saturday weighing 8.52 Lbs and his heavy stringer weighed 32.00 Lbs. Floyd Dietzman had the second heavy stringer weighing 19.34 Lbs and Jerry Campos was forth with 17.64 Lbs, narrowly missing third place weight of 18.06 Lbs turned in by Doug Black. Watermelon Red Zoom Magnum Lizards caught the most fish but super flukes and brush hogs were also catching fish. On Sunday Jerry Campos caught a 10 1/2 Lb Big Bass and his Heavy stringer weighed 29 Lbs (Five Fish). She was caught in the Salinilias on an 8" Watermelon Red Zoom Magnum Lizard. Thanks to Frankie West and Jerry Camos for the picture of the 10 1/2 Lber.
The Zoom Magnum Lizards and Brush Hogs have been two of the best baits for big bass this winter. Plum Apple colored Brush Hogs and Magnum lizards have also been working well. The GDD22 Norman Crankbaits in Bull Bream have been working well as have the Firetiger 150 and Black/Red 131 Colored Cankbaits. Spinnerbaits have not been among the best producing baits so far.

November 29, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - November 25-26, 2006: My neighbors and frequent fisher folks, the Bendeles from Castroville Tx, were down over the Thanksgiving Holiday and they found fishing to be a bit on the slow side. About 10 fish a day was all they could catch, but their guest Crystal Kempf (wife of Louie Kempf) managed to catch a nice 5 lber. It went for a Carolina Rigged Watermelon Red Baby Brushog. There will be days like that and the prelude to spawning often presents some challenges.

Some other fishermen in from Laredo also reported a slow bite. Charles Haralson has a guide trip on the lake today November 29 th so we will have a report later today.

The reports we have received of good catches have mostly involved big bass in 15ft or so of water in hardwoods or on humps in the mid lake area on both the US and Mexico sides of the lake. Watermelon Red has consistently produced fish in either the brush Hog or Magnum Lizard baits. Some DD22 action has been reported in Bull Bream and BSO9 (Red Chartreuse Craw colored baits).

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release

November 22, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - November 13, 2006: Thomas and Sheretta Law caught twin 10 lbers on the 13th.

Thomas's fish weighed 10' 11" and Sheretta's weighed 10' 13". These two Falcon Lunkers were caught on back-to-back casts. The Laws caught a number of smaller fish to 7 lbs in addition to the nearly twin 10 lbers.

The Laws fish Falcon frequently and they catch a number of good fish. However, to catch two 10 lb plus fish on back-to-back casts even for them is a bit unusual. They were using the Sweet Beaver in Watermelon Red and fishing in 16 ft of water

November 20, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Universal City Bass Club-November 18, 19, 2006: The 48 members and one guest from the UCBC Bass Club contested the first leg of their tournament Saturday and there were a lot of 4-10 lb fish caught, weighed and released. The big bass Saturday weighed 10.02 Lbs and it was caught by Weldon Pierce. His total weight was 20.89 Lbs, which was third heavy stringer. David Cole had the Heavy Stringer for 25.51 Lbs which incuded several 7 and 8 Lbers. Marc Daymude had two 7 Lb and one 5 lb fish giving him second Heavy Stringer of 24.47 Lbs. The second Big Bass was caught by Steve Worley weighing 9.28 Lbs

Top Heavy Stringer for the ladies was Ginger Reynolds with a 8.91 Lb BB and 18 .00 Lbs Heavy Stringer.

Sunday: Another beautiful day fishing Falcon greeted our participants. High temps were 76 degrees and winds were light gusting to 17mph.David Cole turned in a good weight giving him heavy stringer honors of 41.12 Lbs. Steve Worley weighed a very respectable 40.89 lbs for 2nd heavy stringer and Emile LaRose was third with 36.68 Lbs. Weldon Pierce held on with his 10.02 Lb bass for Big Bass. The Pierce' s took heavy couple honors with 60.61 Lbs. Youth male winner was Jason Kalinoski and Katie Mergele took the heavy youth female honors. David Cole and Debbie Howard took heavy boat honors with 62.35 Lbs. Altogether, there were 258 fish caught weighing 741 Lbs.

Bumpy Jurica had the big bass of the day Sunday weighing 9.77 Lbs

Big Bass were caught on Zoom Brush Hogs and Magnum Lizards in Watermelon Red Color. The Sweet Beaver lures in 4.20 Sprayed Grass were also working for Steve Worley and his two lunker bass both were caught using this bait.

November 20, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Although the general patterns and locations for catching bass remained the
same at Lake Fork, I've found the fishing to be slower this week for both
size and numbers of bass. A series of cold fronts seemed to have the bass
in a negative mood for several days last week, although some fish could
still be caught by thoroughly working key areas with finesse presentations.
That pretty much tells me that the bass haven't moved far, just slightly
deeper and tighter to cover. With a stable warming trend forecast for the
end of this week, I look for the fishing to steadily improve once again.
And big bass do continue to be caught, including a 12.4 lb,er being weighed
in at Fork on Saturday.

While the fishing typically slows in early December, lunker bass will start
moving into prespawn patterns in some areas of the lake by later December,
and my favorite fishing of the year occurs in January through early March.
It,s a really simple pattern"spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, jigs, and
suspending jerkbaits fished in staging areas near spawning flats. Numbers
run lower this time of year, but the average size of your catch is at its
highest for the year, usually in the 4 to 5 lb range, with a good shot at a
bass 7 lbs or greater. Don,t get me wrong, March and April are a great time
to catch a lunker sight fishing or with a soft plastic jerkbait. For my
tastes though, slow rolling a big spinnerbait or flipping a jig around heavy
timber for truly giant bass during the prespawn is the best time to be on
Fork.

Lake Conditions: With no rain over the past week, Lake Fork,s water level
is once again on the decline, currently reading 397.86,, just over 5,2
below full pool. Even with the low water, almost all of the main ramps are
still useable without any issues. A very strong west wind on Wednesday
stained some portions of the main lake, while many of the grassy creeks
remain very clear. Water temps steadily dropped from the mid-60s last week
to the 59 to 61 degree range yesterday (Sunday) in the main lake. With a
couple more cold nights in the forecast, look for the temps to continue to
drop for a couple more days.

Location Pattern: Typical of fall fishing, bass are holding anywhere from
the backs of creeks and along main lake shores in literally inches of water
as well as setting up camp on deep water structure. 18, to 30, was the
best depth range this past week for structure fishing. When graphing these
fish, keep in mind that schools that are relating to the bottom will be the
easiest bass to catch normally. The other main pattern will be weed flats
on the main lake and in coves with channels or points with deep-water access
nearby. These spots produced some fast action for smaller bass and a few
big fish. Typically, areas that are holding fish now are holding lots of
fish. So if you,re catching fish, stay put and try multiple lures until you
,ve caught everything you can. Conversely, if you,re in a good-looking spot
but not getting bit, keep moving to other locations until you hit pay dirt.

Presentation Pattern: Instead, small spinnerbaits in white and shallow or
medium running shad colored lipped and lipless crankbaits have worked best
for the shallow bass. If the bass aren,t in a chasing mood, wacky rigged
straight tail worms like a Twitch Worm in June bug or watermelon/red flake
have produced some fast action. For bigger bass, pitch a Texas rigged
watermelon/red flake Lake Fork Flippers to wood and grass along creek
channels. Work the Flipper really slowly for best results. When the deep
bite has been on, I,ve been spending most of my time out there. Carolina
rigged Baby Ring Frys or Magic Shads in watermelon/red flake have produced
some good numbers and some big ones once schools are located. Other days,
drop shotting Lake Fork Twitch Worms in watermelon/chartreuse pepper or
watermelon/red flake has produced big numbers of keeper-sized bass. ounce
chrome or gold jigging spoons and oz white jigs have been the best bait on
some days.

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

November 14, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman -
McAllen Bass Anglers November 11-12th, 2006: Fourteen McAllen Bass Angler members fished Falcon this weekend and they caught 257# of Bass. Eddie Kucia was the 2 day heavy stringer winner with 35.99 Lbs of fish. His 2 day stringer was anchored by the big bass of the year weighing 10.67 Lbs. Oscar Ramirez took the second place heavy stringer honors with 35.33 Lbs and Joe Martinez took third heavy stringer with 27.8 lbs.
Sunday's fishing conditions were superior and fishermen caught 58 fish weighing 157 lbs compared to Saturday's catch of 30 fish weighing 100 Lbs.
Thanks to Al Malone for the report.

Circuito Interacional Fronterizo de Pesca de Lobina (Bass Border Trail) November 11-12. 2006: The International Bass Border Trail kicked off its 4 tournament circuit at Falcon this weekend, but day 1 of the tournament was cancelled due to high winds. The launching held off the Mexican Point in Nuevo Guerrero was compromised by the high North winds. The Sunday leg of the tournament was held as scheduled as winds layed down and eventually changed to the SE. Jorge Gonzalez and Sergio Villarreal from the Laredos International Bass Fishing Team captured heavy stringer honors with 27.58 Lbs and Jorge had the big bass weighing a reported whopping 14.95 Lbs. The second big bass weighed 11.9 Lbs and was caught by Rene Gonzalez/Sergio Herrera who also claimed second heavy stringer honors.

The big 14.95 Lber came from the Marker 9 area on the Mexico side and it hit a Zoom Brush Hog in Watermelon Red in about ten foot of water. The second leg of the tounament circuit will be held December 9th and 10th at Las Blancas and the third leg will be held at Sugar lake on January 20th and 21st. The fourth and final leg will be the Championship, February 17th and 18th.It will be held at the best producing lake of the first three tournaments and the top 20 tournament anglers from the initial three tournaments will be elgible.

Fifty-nine teams attended the Falcon Tournament. Thanks to Jorge Gonzalez & Sergio Herrera for the report and pictures.

November 12, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman -
Austin Bass Club Tournament Report Falcon Lake
A front blew in Friday night late, dropping temperatures and increasing the winds to 37 mph. By launch, the winds had dropped down to about 25 mph and a few hours later, winds were straight line at about 10 -15 mph. Fishing was slow to average with water temps in the 72 to 74 degree range. The big bass were not too receptive but there were several fish caught by anglers over 8 lbs.

Chris Badkins had the big bass of the day weighing 8.67 Lbs. Shawn Ramsey and Keith Nichols's 31.76 Lbs narrowly missed the heavy stringer mark of Chris Badkins and Tim Spencer of 35.20 Lbs. Jim Sparks and Ronnie Scott were in third place with 27.54 Lbs. There were 16 anglers in 8 boats contesting the tournament. Plastic 5" Zoom lizards, 6" Zoom Brush Hogs and Zoom Super Flukes caught the most fish. Some fish bit the DLN Crankbaits in firetiger color. Watermelon red was the best color for plastics. 5 teams weighed in limits of 10 fish.

Sunday: It was a Chamber of Commerce Sunday with light winds, moderate temperatures and a good bite. First, second and third place team heavy-stringer weights for 2 day, 10 fish were Chris Badkins and Tim Spencer 65.24 Lbs, Keith Nichols and Shawn Ramsey 61.34 Lbs and Ray and Robert Cedar 59.42 Lbs. Tim Spencer held on for top individual,2-day weight with 37.23 Lbs with his 20.06 Lbs Sunday Heavy Stringer.

Chris Badkins's 8.67 Lb Bass from Saturday held on for big bass honors. Tim Spencer had Sunday's big bass weighing 7.55 Lbs. Watermelon red and green pumpkin magnum lizards were working well on Sunday.

Until next time, have a good day on the water and always practice catch and release

November 8, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Marvin Hendricks and George Littleton were out fishing on the 1st and found 40 fish to 8.2 lbs on Salt Craws in rootbeer pepper neon to be the bait of choice.

"It probably wouldn't have mattered what you were throwing because they were really biting".stated Marvin. The fish were in 8 1/2 ft to 11 ft of water on the mexican side and the fish were very aggressive.

There were no Bass Clubs here last weekend. However, some 10 fishermen
are here from around Texas this week. A 7 lber was their big bass so far. Pretty windy today November 8. They have found fishing pretty slow, Red and black spinnerbait caught the big bass till sun came out. A depth of 14 ft has been the best depth. Nothing recent on Sugar or El Cuchillo.

November 7, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips -
On most days, good numbers and some big bass are currently being caught at
Lake Fork, although the best pattern has changed considerably from
day-to-day and often from hour-to-hour. With the bass being spread out from
shallow water creeks to deep structure, changing tactics as the conditions
dictate has been the key to success. Basically, if what you,re doing isn,t
working well, try a different approach until you find what they want.
Frequently, it,s as simple as changing lures in the area you,re in and you,
ll start catching them. With water temps in the mid-60s and a warming trend
forecasted for this week, look for the fall patterns to remain at Fork
through November.

While the fishing typically slows in early December, lunker bass will start
moving into prespawn patterns in some areas of the lake by later December,
and my favorite fishing of the year occurs in January through early March.
It,s a really simple pattern"spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, jigs, and
suspending jerkbaits fished in staging areas near spawning flats. Numbers
run lower this time of year, but the average size of your catch is at its
highest for the year, usually in the 4 to 5 lb range, with a good shot at a
bass 7 lbs or greater. Don,t get me wrong, March and April are a great time
to catch a lunker sight fishing or with a soft plastic jerkbait. For my
tastes though, slow rolling a big spinnerbait or flipping a jig around heavy
timber for truly giant bass during the prespawn is the best time to be on
Fork.

Lake Conditions: After a good soaking rain on Sunday night, Lake Fork,s
water level rose about 4, currently reading 398.01,, just over 5, below
full pool. Even with the low water, almost all of the main ramps are still
useable without any issues. After the fall turnover, much of the main lake
remains stained brown, while many of the grassy creeks are clear. Water
temps are currently reading 63 to 65 degrees in most areas of the main lake,
while the backs of some creek were holding in the upper 50s after a few cold
nights last week.

Location Pattern: Typical of fall fishing, bass are holding anywhere from
the backs of creeks and along main lake shores in literally inches of water
as well as setting up camp on deep water structure. For the past week, I,
ve found schools of deep bass were holding deeper again, mostly from in 20,
to 33, of water. When graphing these fish, keep in mind that schools that
are relating to the bottom will be the easiest bass to catch normally. The
other main pattern will be weed flats on the main lake and in coves with
channels or points with deep-water access nearby. These spots produced some
fast action for smaller bass and a few big fish. Typically, areas that are
holding fish now are holding lots of fish. So if you,re catching fish, stay
put and try multiple lures until you,ve caught everything you can.
Conversely, if you,re in a good-looking spot but not getting bit, keep
moving to other locations until you hit pay dirt.

Presentation Pattern: The topwater bite slowed for me this past week.
Instead, small spinnerbaits in white and shallow or medium running shad
colored lipped and lipless crankbaits have worked best for the shallow bass.
If the bass aren,t in a chasing mood, wacky rigged straight tail worms like
a Twitch Worm in June bug or watermelon/red flake have produced some fast
action. For bigger bass, pitch oz white or watermelon jigs with matching
Fork Craws to stumps along creek channels and along deep weed lines. Work
the jig really slowly for best results. When the deep bite has been on, I,
ve been spending most of my time out there. Carolina rigged Baby Ring Frys
or Magic Shads in watermelon/red flake have produced some good numbers and
some big ones once schools are located. Other days, drop shotting Lake Fork
Twitch Worms in watermelon/chartreuse pepper or watermelon/red flake has
produced big numbers of keeper-sized bass. ounce chrome or gold jigging
spoons and oz white jigs have also caught a lot of bass on several days
and these baits will often produce the largest bass of the day.

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

October 31, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Atascosa Bass Club-October 28-29, 2006; Craig White was leading the Atascosa Bass Club day one event with 23.16 Lbs. His wife Patricia has the big bass of 9.08 Lbs and is in 4th place for heavy stringer honors with 19.89 Lbs. Shane Pfullman and Dub Billings are in 2nd and 3rd place respectively after day 1.

SUNDAY: The blow was on Sunday, at least part of the day. Fishing was a bit off from Saturday, but Shane Pfullman came out on top wth a heavy stringer of 41.25 Lbs for 10 fish. Craig White came in second with 40.45 Lbs and Patricia White was third with 33.73 Lbs. Her 9.08 Lb big bass held for Big Bass honors. Seventeen fisherman caught 128 fish weighing 343.85 Lbs. There were 15 fish over four pounds caught.
Thanks to Craig White for the report and picture.

October 24, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips -
Significant cold fronts rolled through NE Texas every few days, making for
an up and down week of fishing on Lake Fork. On the average day we,re
getting about 25 bass, consisting mostly of 1 to 3 pounders from both
shallow and deep water, with a few 4 to 7 pound fish mixed in. On
post-frontal days, numbers have run lower and the big fish have been scarce.
On the other hand, the days just before and as the front is moving through
have been really good for both numbers and size, with a shot at a real giant
bass. With the lake still holding near 70 degrees, look for fall fishing to
stay good for numbers until late November and I expect more truly big bass
to be caught as the water cools.

Lake Conditions: Once again, Lake Fork,s water level continues to drop,
currently reading 399.82,, about 5, 2 below full pool. Even with the low
water, almost all of the main ramps are still useable without any issues.
After the recent fall turnover, much of the main lake remains stained brown,
while many of the creeks are clear. Water temps steadily dropped this week,
currently reading in the mid- to upper-60s.

Location Pattern: Typical of fall fishing, bass are holding anywhere from
the backs of creeks and along main lake shores in literally inches of water
as well as setting up camp on deep water structure. While most of the
schools of deep bass were holding in 22, to 28, of water last week, most of
my structure fishing has taken place much shallower this week, more in the
12, to 22, range. When graphing these fish, keep in mind that schools that
are relating to the bottom will be the easiest bass to catch normally. The
other main pattern will be weed flats on the main lake and in coves with
channels or points with deep-water access nearby. These spots produce some
fast action early and late or all day on cloudy days. Typically, areas that
are holding fish now are holding lots of fish. So, if you,re catching fish,
stay put and try multiple lures until you,ve caught everything you can.
Conversely, if you,re in a good-looking spot but not getting bit, keep
moving to other locations until you hit pay dirt.

Presentation Pattern: Topwaters have been very productive some mornings and
evenings. Shad colored poppers and Zara Spooks or black buzzbaits have
produced fast action around pad fields and over grass mats. Small
spinnerbaits in white and shallow or medium running shad colored crankbaits
have also worked early and late or all day on cloudy or windy days. If the
bass aren,t in a chasing mood, deadsticking Texas rigged straight tail worms
like a Twitch Worm in green pumpkin or watermelon/red flake have produced
some nice fish. Fish all of these baits on deep weedlines or along creek
channels in the coves. During the middle of the day, I,ve been catching
most of my fish out deeper. Carolina rigged Baby Ring Frys in
watermelon/chartreuse flake or watermelon/chartreuse pepper have produced
some good numbers and some big ones once schools are located. Other days,
drop shotting Lake Fork Twitch Worms in watermelon/chartreuse pepper or
watermelon/red flake has produced fast action for bass. to 1 ounce
chrome jigging spoons and oz white jigs have also caught a lot of bass on
several days and these baits will often produce the largest bass of the day.

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

October 23, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - October 21-22, 2006-O.P.E.C. Legacy Tournament: Eighty-six participating teams launched the first day of the 13th Annual charity tournament to benefit the Falcon State Park. Cool weather and light winds greeted the participants and all signs were positive for a good tournament, at least for the first day. Jim Edwards (right photo) and Jim Raulsten (left photo) were the day 1 heavy stringer leaders with 24.12 Lbs for their best three fish. Their three big bass all weighed about 8 Lbs. Mutt McNeil fishing with Bruce Fox had the big bass of the day weighing 10.44 Lbs.Their 23.10 Lb heavy stringer put them in third place for heavy stringer, out ounced by Tim Blanchett and his partner with 23.70 Lbs. Mutt McNeil received a gift certificate from Falcon Lake Tackle for 1st day big bass and so did Jim Edwards and Jim Raulsten for 1st day heavy stringer.

Sunday: Sunday conditions were wet and cool. Light rain was falling over Falcon in the morning. Temperatures started the day at 60 degrees, but as the morning progressed, temperatures dropped to 56 degrees. Congratulations to Edwards and Raulsten who held on for first place, 2-Day Heavy Stringer with 53.6 lbs. That isalmost a 9 lbs per fish average for their 6 fish.

Perez and Perez had second heavy stringer weighing 45.55 Lbs and Vaden/Wagner had third heavy stringer of 39.8 Lbs. They also had Sunday's Big Bass which was Big Bass of the tournament weighing 12.24 Lbs. All together, 1511.92 Lbs of Bass were weighed.

Jim Edwards and Jim Raulsten received another Gift Certificate from Falcon Lake Tackle for Sunday's Heavy Stringer and 2-Day Heavy stringer and Vaden/Wagner received a Gift Certificate for Sunday's and Tournament Big Bass.

October 11, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - After being out of town a couple of weeks on a family vacation, it's good to be back fishing on Lake Fork. Since my last report, the lake has turned over and fall patterns are starting to come on. Fishing was really good last week, having slowed down a little as of late. Now that temps are cooling after our recent week of hot weather, we should start catching more big bass in addition to the good numbers we're catching right now. As the temps cools, look for deep bass to form big schools and relate to the bottom while shallow bass gang up in creek channel bends. Add in pleasant days and fall colors to the fast bass action and October and November are great times to fish Fork.

Lake Conditions: As I write this, we're having a good rain today, but we'll need a lot more days like it to get the water level back up. Lake Fork's water level currently sits at 399.98,, over 5' below pool. Numerous boats, including some guide boats, have hit stumps recently; however, most of the boaters we see aren,' wearing life jackets or even a kill switch. As always, you'll find my customers and me wearing both and I would encourage you to do the same. In better news, even with the low water, almost all of the main ramps are still useable without any issues. After the recent fall turnover, much of the main lake is stained brown, while many of the creeks are clear. Water temps are holding in the upper 70s and should drop this week.

Location Pattern: With the disappearance of the thermocline, fish will be caught in 6 to over 40, deep over the next couple of months, on just about every pattern imaginable. Deep structure like humps, roads, flats and points in the main lake and in the mouths of major creeks are starting to hold some big schools and will hold most of the giant bass. Schools that are relating to the bottom will be the easiest bass to catch normally. The other main pattern will be weed flats on the main lake and in coves with channels or points with deep-water access nearby. These spots produce some fast action early and late or all day on cloudy days. Typically, areas that are holding fish now are holding lots of fish. So, if you're catching fish, stay put and try multiple lures until you,ve caught everything you can. Conversely, if you,re in a good-looking spot but not getting bit, keep moving to other locations until you hit pay dirt.

Presentation Pattern: Topwaters have been very productive some mornings and will be good all day on cloudy days. Shad colored Chug Bugs and Zara Spooks have produced fast action around pad fields and over grass mats. Small spinnerbaits in white and shallow or medium running shad colored crankbaits have also worked early in the morning or all day on cloudy or windy days. During the day, wacky rigged Lake Fork Twitch Worms in watermelon on sunny days and June bug on cloudy days have caught some bass, as have 3/8 oz jigs in watermelon or white with matching Lake Fork Baby Creature trailers. Fish all of these baits on deep weedlines or along creek channels in the coves. Simply position your boat in the middle of the creek channel and throw your bait to the grass edges and/or stumps near the edge of the creek. Other days, I've been catching most of my fish out deeper. Carolina rigged Baby Ring Frys in Chartreuse Pepper and Red Bug or Baby Creatures in Killer Craw have produced some good numbers once schools are located. Other days, drop shotting Lake Fork Twitch Worms in Watermelon, shad or bar fish colored swimbaits, and white or silver jigging spoons have been better. Basically, once you graph a deep school, try a variety of baits and you,ll likely catch a lot on a particular bait, and also a number of bonus fish if you mix up your baits.

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

October 9, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Ingram Bass Club-October 7-8, 2006: Twelve members from the Ingram Bass Club held their two-day October tournament at Falcon this weekend. Plastic baits including Sweet Beavers were working in 10 to 15 ft of water. On Saturday, plastics caught the most fish. Water temperatures were 82 to 84 degrees and water color is returning to clear.

Jordan Pogue had the heavy stringer weighing 27.21 lbs. Jay Arhelger had the second heavy stringer which weighed 20.99 lbs. His big bass and big bass for the day was 8.26 lbs. The second heavy bass was caught by Andrew Augirre and weighed 7.20 LBS. The third big bass caught by Ron Barclay weighed 7.07 lbs.

SUNDAY:Tom Moose had the big bass Sunday weighing 6.75 Lbs and his total weight for the day was 13.59 Lbs. Jordan Pogue weighed 14.30 lbs for the day's heavy stringer and a two-day heavy stringer total of 41.51 Lbs. Jay Arhelger had the second heavy stringer weighing 33.30 Lbs. Sunday went for the Oldham 1 1/4 Oz Eye Max jig. Sunday was a beautiful day on the water with winds below 5 mph.
Some of the Bass were taken from shallow water and were showing signs of working the beds. However the majority of the fish are still deep in 10 ft of water and deeper.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

September 30, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Laredo Internaional Bass Club- September 24, 2006: Twenty-two members from the LIBC held their September Tournament at Falcon on the 24 th of September. Gerardo y Armondo Montiel had the heavy stringer weighing 17.29 lbs. It was a three-way tie for second heavy stringer. Sergio Herrera, Rene Gonzalez and Daniel Caraveo all weighed in 16.8 lbs. Ricardo Guerrero had the big bass weighing 7.91 lbs. The fish were caught in 5 to 10 ft of water on plastics and shad colored DD22 Norman Crankbaits. Zoom Watermelon and Watermelon Red Brush Hogs and Paca Craws were the best baits. All of the fishermen weighed 4-fish limits.

September 16, 2006 - Answer to Florida Bass question - Hello. I read your question about how to catch those bass you are seeing. I am a florida native and have been fishing central florida for over 30 years and i can tell you that if you put a live golden shiner in front of those fish you will indeed connect with them. If you need more information on how to fish with this kind of bait let me know and i will send to you a link to all the info you need. I have a few places where i catch my own golden shiners and keep them in a tank to use when i want to go fishing. This is another complete subject i know but once you start catching bass with shiners you won't want to stop. If you buy them they run from $16.00 to $20.00 a dozen, this is to much for me to pay so i catch my own. Catching the bait is almost as much fun as catching the bass! Jeff Morrow, Sarasota, Fla

September 15, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - McAllen Bass Anglers-September 9-10, 2006: Fourteen McAllen fishermen were contesting their September tournament which included the best three fish. JD Penny was in the lead with a 20 lb stringer. He was also leading the big bass pot with an 8 lber. Jeff Valdez was in second place hs with 15.13 lbs and Al Malone weighed in 15 lbs for third hs.

Sunday: Sunday was another great day for the club, beating their Saturday total weight of 157 lbs and 39 bass with 158 lbs and 42 fish, However, one additional fisherman competed on Sunday. This brought the two day total to 315 lbs and 181 bass. JD Penny won the heavy stringer honors with a two-day total weighing 35 lbs 15 oz for 6 fish. He also had the big bass weighing 8 lbs. Andy Silva was winner of the second heavy stringer with 29 lbs 7 oz. Al Malone was third with 28 lbs 11 0z.

Until next time, have a great day on the water, make sure your aerators are working and always practice catch and release.

September 15, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by David Vance - With night time temperatures already starting to cool down, the water temp here at Lake Fork is from 82 degrees. Lower water temps means that the Bass are starting to get more active. Over the past week the Bass fishing has been good we are catching 25 to 30 a day we are now seeing signs that the Bass are beginning to move into a Fall pattern.

The early morning Top Water bite is good for first two hours of the morning, and by 10am the bass have been coming up schooling. Best bait for me to catch these schooling bass has been a rattle trap and when they are up you can catch them on just about every cast. A lot of the bigger bass are suspended, I have been using a 5 inch salt and pepper Grub on a jig head to catch the bigger bass that are suspended under the schools of shad. For the shallow bite this week we have been using a wacky worm in 2 to 4 feet of water colors, watermelon and watermelon red has worked best for me.

Good places to try right now are main lake and secondary points, and there has been a lot of schooling bass under the 515 East and 515 West bridges. The lake is about 4 feet low but is in great shape for some very good fishing over the next couple of months. All of the public boats ramps are in good shape and you will have no trouble putting in. By the time we get into early October, the fall bass fishing will be in full swing.

If you would like to book a guide trip and get in on some of the grate fall bass fishing hear on lake fork, you can reach me at 903-629-7699 or 903-629-5085 cell. or check out my web site http://www.lakeforktexasfishingreports.com

Good Fishing

David Vance

September 13, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Tournament season is in full swing at Lake Fork, so this week,s report will focus on catching tournament bass (keepers under the 16 slot and lunkers over the 24 end of the slot). Sunday,s big bass tourney was won with a 10.10 lb,er. Look for an 11 or 12 pounder to win the McDonald,s Big Bass Splash. Although these big ones are tough to catch, lots of bass under the slot are being caught right now and your odds of catching a chunky 15.5 incher are good both shallow around grass and on mid-depth structure.

Count on the current pattern to hold up until the lake turns over and Fork settles down in late September. After the thermocline has gone away and things return to normal, the deep bass form big schools and relate to the bottom while shallow bass gang up in creek channel bends. Add in cooler air temps to the fast bass action and October and November are great times to fish Fork.

September 10, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - San Antonio Bass Club-September 9-10, 2006: The San Antonio Bass Club fished Falcon this weekend. Participants began arriving on Thursday and by Saturday, most of the 29 fishermen and women had made the trip. Weigh in is at the State Park Saturday at 4:00 pm and at the Zapata County Ramp at 1:00 pm Sunday.

After Saturday's weigh-in, Don Pierce was in the lead for heavy stringer with 5 fish weighing 21 lbs. Brian Beck was in the lead for Big Bass weighing 10.5 lbs. There were a number of anglers with 5-fish weights of 19 - 20 lbs including Robert Pierce and Lehn Duerr.

Sunday: Len Duerr and his partner Matt Poarch brought home the heavy stringer-boat 2 day honors wih a total of 77.55 lbs Len Duerr had 3 patch fish Sunday weighing 6.45, 5.60 and 5.65 lbs plus 2 Saturday giving him a 2 day winning heavy stringer of 42.8 lbs. Don Pierce narrowly missed the mark weighing a second heavy stringer of 40.9 lbs. Matt Poarch was third with 34.75 lbs. Kath Woodruff took ladies heavy stringer honors with a 2 day total of 24.05 for 10 fish. Susan Beck was second with 19.70 lbs.

The fish were caught in 5 -10 ft of water on DD22 Clown and Smokey Joe lures Saturday and Watermelon Red and Watermelon Candy lures Sunday. Plastic Brush Hogs and Magnum Lizards worked well on both days in Watermelon Red. Brian Beck's big bass was caught on a 1 1/2 Oz White double willow leaf spinnerbait.

Until next time, have a good day on the water and always practice catch and release.

September 5, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by David Vance - So far the Bass fishing here at Lake Fork this week has been very good, cooler weather and calm conditions has made fishing a blast in the last few days. On Sunday the bite was on we had 19 by lunch and by the end of the day we had 43. The early morning top water bite has been good for the first two hours, they have been eating a Pop R and a Rattle Trap. The bass are schooling off and on all day. Good places to try right now are main lake points. There has been a lot of schooling bass from Wolfe creek to the dam, the biggest bass we put in the boat in the last three days came off the SRA point this bass was 23 inches long and weighed 8lbs 3oz she hit a spoon in 25 feet of water. Right now I have four rods rigged up a Pop R, Rattle Trap, < Spoon, and a Carolina Rig. The best bait for me on the Carolina Rig has been a watermelon red baby Brush Hog and a watermelon seed centipede. The water temp right now is 84 degrees on the main lake. Most of the people I have talked to were catching fish some more than others but that is due to being at the right place and the right time. All the public boat ramps are in good shape and you will have no trouble putting your boat in. With the weather cooling down the fishing is only going to get better. If you would like to book a guide trip you can reach me at 903-629-7699 or 903-629-5085 also you can check out my web site. (click the link above)

Good Fishing

David Vance

August 30, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by David Vance - This fishing continues to be good hear on Lake Fork. We are already starting to see some changes in the weather and with some recent rain storms that are popping up just about ever other day, conditions are starting to cool down a bit. We are catching good numbers of 2 & 3 pound bass, you can load the boat right now if your in the right place when these bass come up schooling. The water temp at the time of this report was about 83 degrees on the main lake. Lake Fork is almost 4 feet low and that,s not bad compared to most lakes in the state.. All the public boat ramps are in good shape no problem launching your boat at all. In the last few days both shallow and deep patterns are working. The shallow bite has been good working the edge of the grass lines early, best bait for me has been a wacky worm watermelon & June bug have been best colors for me. By mid morning the bass are starting to school and best bait to catch these schooling bass for me, has been a chrome and blue rat-l-trap. When these bass go down I am still using a salt and pepper grub on a jig head, most of our bigger bass have come on the grub. When the schooling slows down I have been going to the Carolina rig, best depth has been 15 to 25 feet on main lake and secondary points. Best bait for me on the Carolina rig has been a watermelon red finesse worm and a watermelon seed centipede. Good places to try are the mouths of the creeks, big and little mustang, wolf, white oak, are producing good numbers of bass we are catching 25 to 30 a day. The fishing will continue to even get better as we head into the fall season, look for there to be a lot of small bass up close to the grass while most of the big Bass are still in deeper water for now. As conditions cool down over the next few weeks the bigger Bass will start to move up.

The Fall fishing here at Lake Fork can be some of the best anywhere, so don't miss out on some of the best Bass Fishing of the year. If you would like to Book a Guide Trip you can reach at 903-629-7699 or 903-629-5085 check out my web site http://www.lakeforktexasfishingreports.com

Good Fishing

David Vance

August 28, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Alice Bass Club-August 27, 2006: A total of 16 club members contested their Sunday tournament on Falcon and by weigh in temperatures had reached 100 degrees and winds were gusting to 28 mph. Lake temperatures ranged from 84 to 89 degrees.

Most of the fishermen and women had five-fish limits, but Victor Perez had a winning heavy stringer totaling 24.86 lbs anchored by two 7 lb fish and the big bass of the day weighing 7.80 lbs. The smaller fish weighed 7.24 lbs. Jamie was second with 18.28 lbs and Israel Garcia had third heavy-stringer of 17.60 lbs.

The largest number of fish came from drop offs, ledges and hardwoods in 10 ft of water. The watermelon purple, red bug and mean green plastic baits were all working well.

All of the fishermen and women were happy with the results and they loaded of and left at 2:00 pm.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

August 25, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Despite hot weather and low water, both good numbers and big bass are still being caught at Lake Fork. With the schooling bass and the annual arrival of Lake Fork keeper-sized bass in the shallows (under the 16 slot limit), those of you looking for fast action or a limit for tournaments will have consistent success as we head into September. If you,re like me and would trade one 8 pounder for 100 15 inchers, fishing for giant suspended bass over deep water is where it,s at. Best of all, these suspended bass receive very little (if any) pressure and they bite extremely aggressively when they,re feeding. Of course, the trick is finding the feeding schools and then keeping a lure in front of them.

Count on the current pattern to hold up until the lake turns over and Fork settles down in later September. After the thermocline has gone away and things return to normal, the deep bass form big schools and relate to the bottom while shallow bass gang up in creek channel bends. Add in cooler air temps to the fast bass action and October and November are great times to fish Fork.

Lake Conditions: A few showers delivered a little rain & cooled things slightly. Lake Fork,s water level continues to drop, currently sitting at 398.84,, about 4, 2 below full pool. Even with the low water, almost all of the main ramps are still useable without any issues. After turning brownish-green earlier in the summer, Fork,s water is now very clear in the main lake. Water temps are running high, consistently 88 to 93 degrees before the rains. I,m still showing the thermocline at about 28,.

Location Pattern: With the development of the thermocline, it has effectively created a lake bottom for the bass at about 28,. For the deep bass, many of them no longer relate to the bottom and suspend above the bottom, at or above the thermocline. These bass still actively feed; however, keeping a bait in front of suspended fish is not the easiest proposition, but not impossible. This is often where the largest bass reside in August & September, so it,s well worth the effort to place a bait in front of them.

For most anglers, it is easier to fish for bass that are shallower and relating to cover or the bottom. Here are the 3 main location patterns that fit this category. First, main lake structure like humps and points that top out in less than 28, are prime candidates. Use your graph and locate these deep schools of bass. Second, weed flats on the main lake and in coves with channels or points with deep-water access nearby produce some fast action early and late. These places can also hold really big bass during the day if you find deep matted grass clumps. Finally, schooling bass are showing up all over the lake, especially on the flat calm days. While schooling bass are liable to pop up anywhere, bends of creek channels in major creeks are my favorite place to consistently find big groups of fish. Best of all, the bass will often school in the same place at about the same time each day, so once you find a hot spot it will stay good for days and often weeks.

Presentation Pattern: For suspended bass, deep diving crankbaits like a Norman DD 22 in shad or bluegill patterns fished over points and through treetops works well for actively feeding fish that are suspended about 18, or shallower. For deeper bass, counting down a spoon or swimbait and yo-yoing it through suspended fish can be deadly. For really big bass in late summer, my favorite technique is using a green pumpkin 10 Lake Fork Worm and yo-yoing it in deep timber. An ultra slow retrieve and 25 lb line are the key to pulling these brutes out of deep heavy cover. Finally, a Lake Fork Magic Shad in watermelon with a chartreuse tail on a oz weighted hook is your top option some days.

For fish that are on the bottom in 12,-28,, a Carolina rig with a green pumpkin/red & green flake, watermelon/red flake, or red bug colored Baby Ring Fry or a green pumpkin Twitch Worm on a 4, leader is my staple bait. In brushier areas and creek channel bends where the bass school, I,ll go with a bulky ringed worm like an 8 or 10 Lake Fork Worm in green pumpkin or red shad. In addition, medium-running crankbaits in shad patterns worked along creek channels in the major creeks will help you find concentrations of bass and will catch some big ones when they come up schooling. For pure numbers of schooling bass though, a or oz chrome lipless crankbait is hard to beat. Around the grass beds, topwaters, spinnerbaits, lipless cranks and Magic Shads worked over the top of the grass and along the edges will catch good numbers early and late. For bigger bass, I especially like to pitch matted grass and isolated grass clumps with big jigs or heavy Texas rigs. Use a < or 1 oz jig in black/blue or watermelon with a matching Fork Craw on the back or Texas rig a watermelon red Craw Tube with a < oz or larger bullet weight to punch through the tops of the hydrilla. Jiggle your bait to get it to break through the mat, then yo-yo it in the open water under the mat for 5 to 10 seconds in each spot. Braided line and a heavy rod are essential to pull these big fish out. Bites will feel like anything from a tiny bit of extra weight to the thunk of running a concrete block through your lawnmower, so stay alert and hang on!

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 <http://www.lakeforkguidetrips.com/> , where your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Good Fishing,

Tom

August 23, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by David Vance - The fishing this week has been good for numbers, the bass are starting to school all over the lake . The top water bite is steal off and on, the ones we have caught on top have been on a shad colored Pop R. The best bait for me to catch the schooling bass has been a oz chrome and blue Rat-L-trap, when these bass come up you can almost catch them on every cast. Most of the schooling activity I have seen has been in the mouths of the creeks, and around the bridges 515 east and west also the 154 bridge has been good. When these bass go down I am using a Salt &Pepper Grub on a jig head to catch the bass that are suspended. When the schooling action slows down I have been changing to a Carolina Rig, I am using a 1oz weight and a three foot leader 15lb line. Best baits for me on the Carolina Rig has been a watermelon seed centipede and a watermelon red finesse worm. We got a little bit of rain yesterday and it was nice, I think this heat wave is just about over. Soon the weather will be cooling off and the and the fishing will be heating up.

If you would like to book a guide trip you can call me at 903-629-7699 or 903-629-5085 http://www.lakeforktexasfishingreports.com

Good Fishing,

David Vance

August 17, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - McAllen Bass Anglers-August 12th-13th, 2006-Sixteen anglers from the McAllen Bass Anglers fought the 30 mph plus wind and sunny, hot weather during their monthly Falcon Lake tournament. The winds gusted to 35 mph, the temperatures rose to over 100 degrees, but the fish never noticed. Three fish over 8 lbs were caught and one over six pounds in the two day event.

The McAllen Bass Anglers fishes a reduced three fish limit during summer months and all together, the sixteen anglers weighed 242 lbs for their 83 fish. Congratulations to Joe Martinez who weighed the top heavy stringer of 27 lbs 10 Oz. Eddie Kucia weighed 21 lbs 10 Oz for second place and Jess Valdez was third with 18 lbs 2 Oz. David Alaniz weighed the big bass of 8 lbs 9 oz.

The majority of the bass were caught in 10 to 17 ft of water on plastic baits including Brush Hogs and lizards. Crankbaits were productive for some fishermen. Thanks to Al Malone for the tournament results and big bass photo.

Until next time have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

August 7, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Atascosa Bass Club-August 5-6, 2006
The Atascosa Bass Club with 19 members present had a great day fishing Falcon Saturday August 5, 2006. There were numerous stringers (9 total) over 20 lbs, numerous fish over 9 lbs and a lot of red faces thenks to the South Texas Sun..

The club splits their weighin between the lower lake and upper lake and we were only able to attend the upper lake weighin. However, club members shopping at Falcon Lake Tackle reported a 27.34 lb stringer and a 8.1lb black were weighed at the lower lake weigh in by Dub Bilings, which would place him in first position for heavy stringer, Shane Pullman and Ted Wayland were in close contention for second with 24 lbs each. Shane had 24.04 lbs and Ted had 24.30 lbs. Shane's Big Bass weighed 11.48 lbs and Larry's big bass weighed 10.48 lbs.

Roger Dove. John Pfullman and Terry Vrana were next in line with 22.17, 21.60 and 20.45 lbs respectively. Their big bass weighed 6.45, 8.48 and 10.11 lbs respectively.

Although big fish were caught on jigs, plastics and crankbaits, the big bass were caught on Magnum Zoom Watermelon Red Lizards and brush hogs.. Fish came from 10 to 15 ft of water on both the US and Mexico sides of the lake.Mid-lake to lower lake areas produced the biggest fish. Only one fisherman failed to limit on Saturday and he had 4 fish weighed.

Sunday: The bite on Sunday was not nearlly as agressive as it was on Saturday. The fish that were schooling and chasing shad on Saturday were much less active on Sunday. Sunday's heavy stringer was weighed by Craig White and it was one of two 20 lb plus stringers weighed for the day at 22.12 lbs. Dub Billings weighed 19.39 lbs for a winning two day hs of 46.73 lbs which I believe someone said is a new club record. . Ted Wayland weighed a 20.06 lb stringer bringing his two day heavy stringer weight to a second place 44.36 lbs. Craig White brought in third place heavy stringer honors with 44.28 lbs. Tinker Pfullman came in 4th with 38.81 lbs thanks to Sunday's big bass he weighed of 8.71 lbs.

Pat White weighed a respectable 28.2 lbs for heavy stringer ladies. Thanks to Craig White for the final numbers.

Until next time, have a great day on the lake and always practice catch and release.


August 1, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by David Vance - The fishing this week has been good on Deep Diving Crank baits and a Carolina Rig. The Norman DD 22 has worked best for me color chartreuses with a blue back. Water depth 15 to 25 feet. Good places that are producing good fish, are the old road beds, 515 east & 515 west, and main lake points and humps. Today we had 33 bass, 8 of these bass came on the crank bait and the rest on a Carolina Rig best baits for me have been a Watermelon Seed fluke and a Watermelon Seed Centipede. At this time, I am using a 1 oz weight with a three foot leader line, size 15 pound test. The top water bite has been off and on the past few days. The top water action that we have had in the last week have come on a shad colored Pop R and a Zara Spook. Most of these bass have been chasing shad to the top, early in the morning. The bass are in a solid summer pattern. So if you are coming to lake fork, the deep water pattern will be the most consistent, for most of the day. If you would like to book a Day or Night trip you can call me at 903-629-7699 or check out my web site www.lakeforktexasfishingreports.com

GOOD FISHING

David Vance

July 29, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - After being out of town for almost the entire month of July, it,s good to be back chasing the lunkers on Lake Fork. Unfortunately, I,m heading back out of town for another tournament, so I won,t be able to flirt with those big Lake Fork females very long. For those of you lucky enough to be heading to Lake Fork in August, the lake is receiving very little pressure and the big ones will still bite during the day or at night. With the annual arrival of the thermocline in about 28,, the patterns will be different for August, and I describe below how to go about catching them.

With the summer heat, I,m really starting to look forward to October and November fishing. After the thermocline goes away and the lake turns over some time in September, fish will be schooling and actively feeding all fall. It,s usually the best time of the year to take kids fishing, as numbers run high. It,s also the time of year when you can catch fish on about any technique, depending on the conditions that day. For example, we had one over 9 pounds on a topwater in 2, last October and the next day had another bass that went almost 11 pounds in 38,!

Lake Conditions: Last week,s tropical system delivered very little rain but did cool things slightly and brought some refreshing winds. Lake Fork,s water level keeps dropping, currently sitting at 399.38,, about 3, 7 below full pool. As we are heading into our dry season, Fork will likely be very low by the end of the summer. Although this makes for tougher navigation, the bass will be consolidated and easier to catch once you get to them. The water is clear in many places, although some areas are a stained brown green due to algae blooms and wave action. Water temps dropped to the mid-80s following the cooler days. As anticipated, the thermocline appears to have developed in about 28,.

Location Pattern: With the development of the thermocline, it has effectively created a lake bottom for the bass at about 28,. For the bass that were living shallower than 28, during June, there,s no change to those patterns. For the deepest bass, many of them no longer relate to the bottom and suspend above the bottom, at or above the thermocline. These bass still actively feed; however, keeping a bait in front of suspended fish is not the easiest proposition, but not impossible. This is often where the largest bass reside in August, so it,s well worth the effort to place a bait in front of them.

For most anglers, it is easier to fish for bass that are shallower and relating to cover or the bottom. Here are the 3 main location patterns for August that fit this category. First, main lake structure like humps and points that top out in less than 28, are prime candidates. Use your graph and locate these deep schools of bass. Second, main lake weed flats produce some fast action early and late and can also hold really big bass during the day if you find deep matted grass clumps. Finally, schooling bass get going in August, especially on the flat calm days. While schooling bass are liable to pop up anywhere, bends of creek channels in major creeks are my favorite place to consistently find big groups of fish.

Presentation Pattern: For suspended bass, deep diving crankbaits like a Norman DD 22 in shad or bluegill patterns fished over points and through treetops is your best weapon for actively feeding fish. For less aggressive bass, counting down a spoon or swimbait and yo-yoing it through suspended fish can be deadly. For really big bass in late summer, my favorite technique is using a green pumpkin 10 Lake Fork Worm and yo-yoing it in deep timber. An ultra slow retrieve and 25 lb line are the key to pulling these brutes out of deep heavy cover.

For fish that are on the bottom in 12,-28,, a Carolina rig with a green pumpkin/red & green flake, watermelon/red flake, or red bug colored Baby Fork Creature or a green pumpkin Twitch Worm on a 4, leader is my staple bait. In brushier areas and creek channel bends where the bass school, I,ll go with a bulky ringed worm like an 8 or 10 Lake Fork Worm in green pumpkin or red shad. In addition, medium-running crankbaits in shad patterns worked along creek channels in the major creeks will help you find concentrations of bass and will catch some big ones when they come up schooling. For pure numbers of schooling bass though, a or oz chrome lipless crankbait is hard to beat. Around the main lake grass, topwaters, spinnerbaits, lipless cranks and Magic Shads worked over the top of the grass and along the edges will catch good numbers early and late. For bigger bass, I especially like to pitch matted grass and isolated grass clumps with big jigs or heavy Texas rigs. Use a < or 1 oz jig in black/blue or watermelon with a matching Fork Craw on the back or Texas rig a watermelon red Craw Tube with a < oz or larger bullet weight to punch through the tops of the hydrilla. Jiggle your bait to get it to break through the mat, then yo-yo it in the open water under the mat for 5 to 10 seconds in each spot. Braided line and a heavy rod are essential to pull these big fish out. Bites will feel like anything from a tiny bit of extra weight to the thunk of running a concrete block through your lawnmower, so stay alert and hang on!

Good Fishing,

Tom

July 14, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Wildcat Bass Club July 8-9, 2006: The tournament results for Saturday's Wildcat tornament found Chris Raub in the lead with a big bass of 7.10 lbs and a 17.15 lb heavy stringer. Eric Herzog was a very close second for both big bass at 7.01 lbs and heavy stringer of 17.03 lbs. David Herzog was in third with 13 lbs.
McAllen Bass Anglers July 8-9, 2006 Eighteen anglers fished this two day event. Early showeres on Saturday did not dampen the spirits of the fishermen. Rod Simpson and Oscar Ramirez led the day 1 tournament with 29 .10 Lbs Al Malone and Pedro Torres were second with 28.62 Lbs and Joe Matrinez and David Trevino were third with 24.87 Lbs. John Struthers and Andy Silva were in 4th place with 23.79 Lbs. Sunday was a different story. Struthers and Silva caught a total of 22.43 lbs giving them first place for two days of 46.22 Lbs. Martinez and Trevino caught 19.15 Lbs for 2nd HS of 44.02 Lbs and Rod Simpson and Oscar Ramirez took third HS honors with 42.57 Lbs. Altogether 18 anglers caught 89 bass weighing 329 lbs.

June 29, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - The summertime fishing at Lake Fork continues to be very good most days for size and numbers. Depending on your preference, you can catch over 30 keeper-sized fish most days on a drop shot, or catch good numbers of slot fish and some real hogs on Carolina rigs, Texas rigs and crankbaits, no matter how hot and sunny the days are. My customers and I have added lots of pictures of 5, 6, 7, and 8 lb bass in the past two weeks. Check them out for yourself at www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com. For numbers of quality fish and a shot at a true trophy, it,s hard to beat structure fishing on Lake Fork in the summertime.

June 23-24, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Tournament Report-Helotes Bass Club: Helotes Bass Club - June 24-25, 2006: Helotes Bass Club ventured to Zapata for their June Tournament and it took over 19 lbs to take the daily heavy stringer honors and almost 9 lbs to grab big bass honors on Saturday. Lake water temperature Saturday was about 88 degrees and water clarity was poor-to-fair in most parts of the lake. With the water continuing to drop the fish were mostly in 11 ft or deeper water and watermelon/green colored baits either in tubes or craw worms were working well. The weighin on Sunday will take place at about 1;00M PM Sunday at the State Park.

Danny De La Hunt won the BB and HS honors for the weekend with 10 fish weighing 38.50 Lbs and big bass of 8.23 Lbs. His partner Mike Roscoe had the second heavy stringer of 38.23 lbs. Richard and Ngarm Ball had the HS for Couples of 55.42 Lbs. Ngarm had the Ladies HS of 26.95 Lbs. Richard captured 3rd place HS with 28.47 Lbs. The Balls were culling fish by 10:00 am Sunday and there were a lot of fish 5 lbs and over caught and weighed by club members. There were a lot of fish caught by club members.

Fishermen were finding a lot of fish below 3 Lbs in the upper lake and while the action was good, the larger fish were being found in the lower lake. Israel Garcia and his wife found an 8 lb bass on the Mexico side of the upper lake while prefishing for next weekend's tournament.
There was still a lot of seismograph activity taking place in the Mexican water. This was a big disruption for fishing

June 19, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - June and July are a couple of the best months of the year on Lake Fork, often during the hottest part of the day. While numbers of 3 to 8 pound bass are at their peak during June and July, many lunkers are being caught right now, too. The top 4 places in a big bass tourney last weekend went 12.9, 11.14, 10.36 and 10.24 pounds. In addition, a 14.59 lb,er was caught since my last report. And the recent cool down and storms don,t seem to have slowed down the fishing. Friday, we boated 2 bass over 7 lbs and another that weighed 6.81. Yesterday, Saturday, the small fish were biting like crazy and we lost one well over 8 lbs at the boat. Day or night fishing, it,s an awesome time to be on Fork right now!

Lake Conditions: A few storms on Friday and Saturday brought cooler temps and some wind, but did very little to stop the dropping water levels. Lake Fork,s water level is currently 400.09,, or 2,11 below full pool. Without some significant rains in June, Fork will be very low by the end of the summer. Although this makes for tougher navigation, the bass will be consolidated and easier to catch once you get to them. The water is clear in many areas, although some areas are a stained brown green due to algae blooms and wave action. Water temps cooled down to the low 80s following the storms, after reaching the upper 80s earlier in the week. Submerged vegetation, including hydrilla, milfoil and coontail, is growing rapidly in many new areas and already starting to canopy in some areas, which will make for some great jig flippin, later this summer. Finally, I checked for a thermocline on Thursday with my temperature probe and so far it hasn,t developed. Look for it to develop in about 28, around mid-July.

Location Pattern: As bass move farther away from postspawn patterns and solidly into summertime ones, I,m concentrating on main lake points and main lake humps, ridges, ledges, and roads. Big bass can still be caught in the creeks around grass and wood cover early and late; however, during most of the day, I prefer to fish deep structure for schools of big bass. Structure fishing is simply a matter of using your graph to find deep cover like brushpiles or timber, then working over the cover thoroughly. For faster action, find areas with schools of bass and bait around the cover and get the net handy. Even big schools of bass sometimes take coaxing to get a bite, so being able to interpret your electronics accurately is the key. Keep in mind that a lot of fish are suspended right now, further making electronics interpretation essential to good catches.

Presentation Pattern: I,ve been concentrating on the deep bite, so my presentation pattern reflects this. For suspended bass, deep diving crankbaits like a Norman DD 22 in shad or bluegill patterns fished over points, bounced over cover, and through treetops have been very productive. I rig one rod with 10 lb test to hit deep cover, to about 18,, while another cranking rod is rigged with 20 lb test for heavier cover that tops out closer to 10,. After I,ve cranked the area thoroughly, I,ll switch to a swimbait, jig and/or a spoon. Either count down these lures to the depth of the fish and swim them through the schools or aggressively rip them off the bottom to catch the suspenders. If your graph is showing bass on or near the bottom, Texas and Carolina rigs, as well as drop shot rigs are catching lots of big fish in 12, to 28,. For the Texas rig, I,ll go with a bulky ringed worm like a 10 Lake Fork Worm for aggressive bass, while a 6 Twitch Worm will work better for inactive bass. Watermelon red, green pumpkin and blue fleck have been our top colors. The Texas rig has worked best in heavy cover, fished very slowly and twitched in place. For more open areas, the Carolina rig with a green pumpkin/red & green flake, killer craw, or watermelon candy colored Baby Fork Creature on a 4, leader has been our staple bait. Work these baits along the bottom at a steady pace until you come across a piece of cover, then slow way down and leave it there as long as possible. Often, a big bass will do you a favor and pull it out for you! Finally, for big numbers of keeper sized bass, go with a drop shot rig. I,m using a Twitch Worm in any shade of green, rigged on a 1/0 hook about 2, above a oz sinker. For active bass, a constantly quivering wacky rigged Twitch Worm works best. Conversely, if the bass are sluggish, a weedless Texas rigged drop shot held almost motionless around cover is too much for even the most finicky bass to withstand. On 10 lb test and a medium action spinning rod, a 4 lb bass in 30, deep timber is quite an exciting challenge.

Good Fishing,

Tom

June 13, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - McAllen Bass Anglers-June 10-11, 2006: Twenty anglers from the McAllen area fished Falcon and they continued the legacy of big bass and heavy stringers established over the last few weeks. They based out of the Falcon Heights and launched at the State Park. All together, they weighed 93 bass at 283.55 Lbs and John Struthers had the big bass weighing 9.4 Lbs. Brantly Bilman and Eddie Kucia had the heavy stringer for two days of 42.36 Lbs. J.D. Penny and his partner Jess Valdez were second with a very close 41.11 Lbs. John Struthers and partner had 3rd with 40.32 Lbs. Pretty good fishing when it takes 40 Lbs to make third place.
Locals were not left out of the good bite either as they scored numbers over 25 per day and sizes averaging 3-5 pounds and big bass to just North of 9 Lbs. Plastic Super Flukes, Sweet Beavers and lizards were all working and colors of Baby Bass, watermelon red and red shad were going out the door.
Our neighbor was down fishing and found some bass congregated around the Marker 9 area. His Brush Hogs and lizards, once having located the fish, just kept producing in he same area. Many times, big numbers of fish are located in the same tree or group of trees.
Several customers were giving all-night catfishing a go this week and scoring limits for their efforts. Shrimp tossed under the tree limbs in 4 ft of water or so were catching a lot of good fish.
Until next time have a good day on the water and practice catch and release.

June 3, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - The largest and best attended tournament of the year at Falcon is Bass Champs and this year two separate events were held one each on Saturday June 3 and Sunday June 4th for the regular and Southern region Championship respectively. A fully-rigged Skeeter Bass Boat was awarded as the top prize at each event. Photo is all the Saturday and Sunday HS winners and Saturday BB winner.

June 3, 2006 Bass Champs Tournament-Falcon: The 151 boat field was sent off starting at 6:15 am and by a little after 7:00 am everybody was on their way out fishing. Temperatures were just under 70 degrees and winds were mild, gusting to 5 mph out of the SSE.Prediction: The weight required to best the others will more than likely have to be be north of 30 Lbs. Weigh in will start at 3:00 pm and end about an hour later. Well, we were right. The top stringer was 34.52 Lbs and Terry Oldham and his partnerJaime Burtron were the Anglers who put it all together. This win put them over the top and they claimed Anglers of the Year honors in addition to their Falcon Tournament first place finish and the fully-rigged Skeeter. This year's tournament set a record with an average weight over 3.9 Lbs. Altogether 61 teams had stingers weighing over 20 Lbs and 10 stringers went over 30 Lbs. Mike Kernan and David Weber were second with 33.68 Lbs . Tim Blanchette and Ted Sprencel were third with just North of 32 Lbs. Kevin Reissig weighed a 11.32 Lber for Big Bass of the tournament narrowly out-ouncing the 2nd place BB weighing 11.30 Lbs weighed by Oldham and Burtron. Nicolas Rocha and his partner, Abelaedo Lozoya weighed in 1st and they set the bar very high with 31.82 Lbs. They were in the lead, dropped to 2nd and finally fell to 4th where they finished.

The plastic bite was strong all day with about every type of creature bait working in the hardwoods typically situated on main-lake points. Water depths were anywhere from 2 to 15 ft. It was common for anglers to have culled fish from early morning on. As many as 100 fish were caught by a single boat and fifty fish was not at all uncommon for many boats. Anglers were unanimous in their description of events transpiring leading to many lost fish. You had to set the hook and get them coming to the boat before they had the opportunity to turn and head down. Once they turned, forget it.They would get hooked up in the trees. There were probably more good fish lost than caught and even with that, big fish and heavy stringers reigned supreme both days.

June 4th 2006 Bass Champs Southern Championship at Falcon: I was regrettably unable to attend the Sunday weighin because of illness. You wouldn't think the results from Saturday could be beat, but they were. They were beat both for big bass and heavy stringer. Saturday's second place team, Mike Kernan and David Webber, had 5 fish Sunday weighing 37.98 lbs for HS and the 1st prize of the fully-rigged Skeeter boat. That is a little over 7 1/2 lbs average per fish . The Big Bass weighed in by Jimmy Johnson and Shane Gibson topped the scales at 12.06 Lbs. George Kunkle (ABA Tournament Director) and partner John Goin had second heavy stringer of 36.84 lbs with a 11.40 anchor fish. The Trent Huckaby/Bubba Haralson team took third with 35.12 lbs and a 10.88 big bass as anchor. It took 30.60 lbs for yesterday's winners Oldham/Burtron to place 8th. We counted 9 fish over 8 lbs Sunday and 12 over 8 lbs on Saturday.

May 29, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman -
Falcon Lake Tackle Welcomed Universal City Bass Club to Falcon for their 
May 27-28, 2006 Tournament:  
The 79 degree temperatures at daybreak with cloud cover gradually broke and elevated to over 100 degrees peaking at 101 degrees by weigh in. The fish and the 47 fishermen and women, youth men and ladies all suffered the combined affects of the heat and 28 mph winds as did the club computer, which was fried by the water from a spilled weigh bag. Tim Plocek out-ounced Walter Vestal's 7.40 Lb Big Bass with a 7.43 Lb near clone Saturday. The Heavy Stringer honors Saturday looked like they would go to Mike Madaris with 17.34 Lbs until Larry Martin brought 5 patch fish to the scales for 24.20 Lbs. His 5 fish weighed 4.36, 4.69, 4.97, 5.36 and 5.80 Lbs. Larry's wife Pat Martin had the Ladies heavy stringer weighing 15.43 Lbs.

The plastic-bait bite remained strong today, The best pattern was main lake points with 12 ft of water on hardwoods. Lizards, tubes. Sweet Beavers and Brush Hogs all caught fish. Watermelon Red, Watermelon Chartreuse, Dirt and Coon Nasty were some of the best colors. There was some action on Bull Bream crankbaits, red and black jigs, chrome blue back Rat-L-Traps and white spinnerbaits, but overall, plastics were the best. Typically the outside hardwood was the best location, but a few probing casts from further out might reveal a subsurface hardwood that is holding fish and not readily visible

Some of the fishermen were in and on fish from daybreak until weighin, culling 60 or more fish in the process. Other fishermen found their live wells to be missing the size of fish required to even make the five-fish limit. It just seems to depend on the location and the size of fish populating the particular area. It was not uncommon for multiple big fish to be found on the same hardwood.

That has been pretty consistent for the past couple weeks so slowing down and working an area thoroughly may well pay off in numbers of big fish.

SUNDAY: That is exactly what Larry Martin did to bring in 10 fish for the two-day event breaking all club records for two-day, heavy stringer. He had 9 patch fish and the one holdout was 3.99 lbs. His total weight was 48.05 lbs for the 10 fish. His wife sowed up the top Ladies Division honors with 35.43 Lbs and needless to say they had the top Couples weight of 83.48 Lbs. Since they opted out of the Team Division this left a clear shot for 2nd Heavy Stringer winner Mike Madaris (33.69 Lbs) and Mike Logue to take Heavy Team Honors with 59.39 lbs. Congratulations to other winners including Harvey Holmes with BB of 7.60 Lbs, Katie Merkle Youth-Ladies Division with 11.65 Lbs and Youth-Male Division winner T Bradford with 14.81 Lbs. Katie is pictured at right with the Holmes' new Daschound puppy.

Altogether, 47 anglers combined to catch and weigh 324 legal fish weighing 806 Lbs and it was the third largest weight of any tournament in Universal City's Club history

Don't forget Bass Champs next weekend. Saturday is the Falcon Tournament followed by the Championship on Sunday. Registration is Friday night or Saturday morning at Beacon Lodge.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

May 28, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Big bass continue to be caught at Lake Fork, including several 10 to 11+ lb bass coming into Lake Fork Marina in recent days. While my customers and I didn,t catch any tens last week, most days we are catching good numbers of bass along with some big fish mixed in. The bass are scattered right now, with some still shallow in the very backs of creeks, while others are setting up in deep summertime locations in the main lake. Versatility has remained the key. In general, we,ve done better in the shallows on windy and cloudy days, while the deep bite has been best on sunny and calmer days, especially in the afternoons. As the heat builds and more bass move deep, June is shaping up to be its usual structure fishing big bass whack-a-thon. If you want to learn how to use your graph to read deep structure and then catch big bass with Carolina rigs, worms, swimbaits and crankbaits, now,s the time to head to Lake Fork.

Lake Conditions: The past week has been dry and hot, dropping Lake Fork,s water level to 400.48,, or 2,6 below full pool. Without some significant rains in June, Fork will probably be very low by the end of the summer. Although this makes for tougher navigation, the bass will be consolidated and easier to catch once you get to them. The water is currently clear in most areas, except for wind blown locations. Water temps continue to rise, with readings in the upper 70s to mid 80s. Submerged vegetation, including hydrilla, milfoil and coontail, is growing rapidly in many areas and spreading in coverage and height. In addition, the lily pads are really starting to pop up and increase in density on the south end of Fork.

Location Pattern: My location and presentation patterns haven,t changed much from my last report. I,m concentrating on coves and creeks that had the largest populations of spawning fish and starting there on the flats, creek channels, and points just outside the beds. I,m working out progressively deeper inside productive coves and fishing all of the cover and structure options from the backs of the creek out to the main lake summertime holes. Keep in mind that a lot of fish are suspended right now, so fish bottom bouncing lures while also checking for suspended fish with baits like jerkbaits and crankbaits. Once you try a few productive spawning creeks, you should have caught some fish and determined what types of cover, structure, and depths are holding the most fish. At that point, look for similar water around the lake and run the pattern. The fish are pretty scattered right now, so you,ll normally do better by fishing lots of good areas instead of camping on an area where you,ve caught a couple good fish. Again, with the fish being in a transition mode, you,ll need to repeat this process most days to stay in contact with the most active fish.

Presentation Pattern: As for your lure, let the cover, conditions, and the depth of the bass you are fishing dictate your choice. With the fish being so spread out, virtually everything in your tackle box will catch fish at some point during early June, so stay flexible. Following are the baits that have been working best for us this week. Topwaters have been sporadic lately, so I,ve been doing better early with shallow running cranks over the grass. Depending on the depth of the grass, select one in a shad or bluegill pattern that will occasionally hit the top of the grass. In addition, around shallow vegetation and pads, wacky rigged Lake Fork Twitch Worms and Magic Shads in green pumpkin and watermelon candy are working well early and during the day. Texas rigged baits like Lake Fork Flippers in black neon or watermelon/red are also producing big bass when flipped to wood cover near grass or pads. Deep diving crankbaits like a Norman DD 22 in shad or bluegill patterns fished for suspended bass on deep points or dug into the tops of 10, to 16, points and ridges are producing some big fish and good numbers. Go with 10 lb test and hang on after you come through submerged brush. Finally, Texas rigged and Carolina rigged Lake Fork Baby Creatures and Baby Ring Frys in watermelon red & green flake and green pumpkin are catching bass in 12, to 33,.

Good Fishing,

Tom

May 21, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - There were a number of anglers in town this weekend prefishing for Bass Champs, which fishes Falcon on June 3rd and 4th for their regular and championship tournaments respectively. Reports of big bass caught deep by some of these fishermen on DD22 crankbaits were frequent enough to make us believe there are a lot of big bass still holding in deep water. Large numbers of schooling bass were seen and caught in most areas providing a lot of action if not a very big size. In addition to those prefishing, two tournaments were held this weekend

May 20 th & 21st, 2006: The American Bass Anglers first day tournament is history and Tournament Director George Kunkle had the Heavy Stringer of 28.19 lbs. His partner David Sheffield had the second heavy stringer of 23.85 lbs with a 10.09 Lb Big Bass. The Carolina rigged Sweet Beaver combination in Watermelon Red did the job for the duo with 10 fish weighing 42.04 Lbs producing an average size catch of 4.20 Lb. George Aguilara had the third heavy stringer of 14.25 Lbs with a 5.73 lb anchor fish. Most of the anglers were culling fish early and the majority of the anglers weighed 5-fish limits. The ABA tournament drew only 4 non-boaters who were matched up with boaters in a draw at 5:00 am. This is a great way for non boaters to be able to fish a circuit but the message may not have gotten out to enough of the fishermen regarding this event.

SUNDAY ABA:Richard Gossiaux took heavy stringer honors on the second tournament outweighing the other 12 anglers with his 15.17 Lbs anchored by a 4,92 Lb Big Bass. He was fishing with George Kunkle, but George's fish did not live up to the size of his Saturday fish weighing in just below 10 Lbs.

Jerry Carpenter had the Sunday Big Bass weighing 8.74 Lbs and second heavy stringer of 14.48 Lbs. Bill Langenberg had the third HS weighing 12.32 Lbs

San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) had 32 Anglers that contested their 2-day tournament. The heavy stringer honors Saturday went to Don Hendricks with 21.52 Lbs. Aubrey Freeman Jr. was close behind in 2nd with 19.42 Lbs and Johnny Barnes was third with 18.39 Lbs. The Big Bass honors went to Craig Pryor with a 7.76 Lb Bass. Pam Barnes was leading the ladies with 12.51 lbs. Hunter Gonzalez was the youth leader for Saturday.

There were a lot of fish caught mostly in 12 ft of water or less, but fish were even shallower earlier in the day. Plastic baits were number one followed by crankbaits and a few spinnerbaits. Watermelon red was the best color for plastics followed by shad and/or white crankbaits and spinnerbaits. The water temperature was between 80 and 85 degrees and water clarity was stained. Winds were gusting to 25 mph and the high temperature was 98 degrees. The morning started out at a pleasant 70 degrees, but warmed considerably and it would have been very hot without the wind.The anglers will re-tie tonight for some more action tomorrow. The numbers of big fish lost was high even though a number of good fish from 5 to 10.09 Lbs were caught by anglers in both tournaments.

SUNDAY: Aubrey Freeman Jr had the first place 2-day HS with 42.10 Lbs.

Keeping it all in the family Aubrey Freeman Senior came in second for HS with 36.82 Lbs. Aubrey Jr's big bass of 7.73 Lbs Sunday narrowly missed Craig Pryor's big bass weight from yesterday of 7.76 Lbs. Sonny Osborne Jr. had 35.86 Lb for 3rd HS. Susan Osborne took the Ladies Division Honors with 23.73 Lbs. Hunter Gonzalez was the youth leader for the two-day event.

Congratulations to the weigh-masters of both tournaments for a speedy weigh in and a concentrated effort to keep the fish in and returned to the lake as quickly as possible following their being weighed. This helped assure the survival of as many fish as possible and, at a time of the year when fish are easily stressed, their conscientious efforts are appreciated.

Until next time have a great day fishing and always practice catch and release.

May 22, 2006 - Answer to Florida Bass question - You might try some garlic sent found at most tackle shops.  It covers a lot of smells and bass seem to like it.
Bill Rose
Lincoln NE

May 9, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Big bass up to 13.76 lbs continue to be caught at Lake Fork. With some bass in a post spawn pattern and others starting to settle into summer patterns, covering lots of water and trying a variety of patterns has been critical to catching fish. From topwaters in shallow grass to Carolina rigs in 30,, just about everything in your tackle box could work right now. The trick is quickly figuring out which of those baits will work best, and where. Similar to the prespawn patterns we fished just a couple months ago, bass are on the move, so where you catch them today may not hold many fish tomorrow. Find the most productive pattern each day, then fish similar areas around the lake. The quicker you figure out the pattern and the more productive water you fish, the better you,ll do.

Lake Conditions: After numerous showers and storms, Lake Fork,s water level is up slightly, currently reading 400.75,, or 2,3 below full pool. The water clarity is very clear in grassy areas, whereas some areas without submerged vegetation are slightly stained due to recent rains. Water temps continue to rise, with readings in the low to upper 70s, depending on the area. Submerged vegetation, including hydrilla, milfoil and coontail, is growing rapidly in many areas and spreading in coverage and height. In addition, the lily pads are really starting to pop up and increase in density on the south end of Fork.

Location Pattern: I,m concentrating on coves and creeks that had the largest populations of spawning fish and starting there on the flats, creek channels, and points just outside the beds. I,m working out progressively deeper inside productive coves and fishing all of the cover and structure options from the backs of the creek out to the main lake summertime holes. Keep in mind that a lot of fish are suspended right now, so fish bottom bouncing lures while also checking for suspended fish with baits like jerkbaits and crankbaits. Once you try a few productive spawning creeks, you should have caught some fish and determined what types of cover, structure, and depths are holding the most fish. At that point, look for similar water around the lake and run the pattern. The fish are pretty scattered right now, so you,ll normally do better by fishing lots of good areas instead of camping on an area where you,ve caught a couple good fish. Again, with the fish being in a transition mode, you,ll need to repeat this process most days to stay in contact with the most active fish.

Presentation Pattern: As for your lure, let the cover and the depth of the bass you are fishing dictate your choice. With the fish being so spread out, virtually everything in your tackle box will catch fish at some point during May, so stay flexible. Following are the baits that have been working best for us this week. Early and late and on cloudy days, topwater baits like poppers and walking baits like a Zara Spook in shad colors will produce big fish and good numbers many days. Around shallow vegetation and pads, wacky rigged Lake Fork Twitch Worms and Magic Shads in green pumpkin and watermelon candy are working well. Texas rigged baits like Lake Fork Flippers in black neon or watermelon/red are also producing big bass when flipped to wood cover near grass or pads. Deep diving crankbaits like a Norman DD 22 in shad or bluegill patterns fished for suspended bass on points are producing some big fish and good numbers. Go with 10 lb test and hang on after you come through submerged treetops. Finally, Texas rigged and Carolina rigged Lake Fork Baby Creatures and Baby Ring Frys in watermelon and green pumpkin are catching bass in 12, to 30,.

Good Fishing,

Tom

May 8, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - May 7, 2006-Atascosa Bass Club, Alice Bass Club and South Texas 5 were fishing Falcon this weekend. Even though they were fishing the same weekend as the BASS Federation & the Pest Control Tournaments on other lakes, the South Texas 5 Tournament on Falcon drew some good fishermen and the reports from prefishing, while varied, were excellent from 25 to 30 Lbs for five fish and fishermen were culling fish as early morning broke.

ATASCOSA Bass Club split their weighin between the upper and lower lake so we missed the lower lake activity. On the upper lake, Tinker Pfullman had 22.70 Lbs for HS and a 9.90 Lb big bass. His son Shane was in second place with 17.45 Lbs giving them a total of 40.15 Lbs for their boat's 10 fish. Patricia White had the lead for ladies with a 6.6 Lb anchor Bass.

To say that "the fishing was awesome" would be to understate the obvious. Three fish over 9 lbs were weighed by Atascosa fishermen at the lower end of the lake. Trey Northcutt had a 10.83 BB and Dennis Bald and Ted Wayland each had a bass that weighed over 9 Lbs. The top 4 stringers Saturday all topped 20 Lbs and the top stringer unofficially caught by Ted Wayland tipped the scales at 23.89 Lbs. The final numbers including all upper and lower lake activity will be posted Monday.

ALICE Bass Club was prefishing Saturday for their one-day Sunday event. Israel had an 8.25 Lb big bass and a 22 Lb HS. Brandon was 2nd with 19 Lb and Pat Ball was third.

SOUTH TEXAS 5 prefishing went well Saturday with as many as 150 fish reported caught per boat. Schooling bass went big for small Crankbaits and unweighted jerk baits. Although most of the schoolies were in the three-pound class, fish up to 7 1/2 Lbs were occasionally mixed in. Patricia White had a 7.65 lb bass take her shad colored DB1 and that was enough for Ladies Big Bass. Together Craig and Patricia had 29.50 Lbs for 1st Place Heavy Stringer. Kurtz and Wise were second with 28.37 Lbs including an 8.32 Lb anchor bass. Jim Edwards and Derick Kuyrkendal had Tournament Big Bass weighing 9.54 Lbs and third Heavy Stringer of 25.30 Lbs. Rodney Marbach and Jim Conran were 4th with 25.18 Lbs and Fred Vannoy and Ralph Celedon took the 5 th place money with 23.87 Lbs.

There were 25 entries and 8 stringers over 20 Lbs. Most of the participants had either 20 plus or stringers averaging over 15 Lbs. Just about everyone had limits and were culling fish by mid morning. The northern that blew in yesterday cooled the fishing conditions and we had a cloudy and cool day for the majority of the tournament. It finally reached a high of 93 degrees, but winds were mild most of the day at 10 to 15 mph. The bite was not as good for big bass but the heavy 9.54 Lb fish was certainly no slouch.

The next South Texas 5 will be at Choke Canyon on June 18 th.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

April 25, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - (Photo is of Tom with 8+) From prespawn to postspawn and from shallow to deep, big bass are being caught all over Lake Fork right now.  Trophy bass up to 14+ lbs have been coming into the marinas in good numbers this past week, as another wave of big bass moved up to spawn.  Overall, the spawn is starting to near an end and the bass are beginning their transition towards postspawn and early summer patterns.  Aggressive fry guarding males and big females that are feeding heavily to regain body weight make May and June fishing the favorite period for many Lake Fork regulars.  The best patterns and locations change daily and often hourly, so stay versatile and keep experimenting until you find them.  
 
Lake Conditions: Lake Fork's water level is up slightly, currently reading 400.65', or 2'4" below full pool.  The water clarity is very clear in grassy areas, whereas some areas without submerged vegetation are slightly stained due to recent winds.  Water temps continue to rise, with readings in the low to upper 70s, depending on the area.  Submerged vegetation, including hydrilla, milfoil and coontail, is growing rapidly in many areas and spreading in coverage and height.  In addition, the lily pads are really starting to pop up and increase in density on the south end of Fork.  
 
Location Pattern: I'm finding good fish anywhere from 1' to 18' currently and from the backs of creeks to the main lake points and humps nearby spawning areas.  Key on areas that had or still have large populations of spawning bass.  After spawning, bass typically hold in grass and timber along the creek channels leading out of spawning flats as well as on secondary points that are nearby.  As the season progresses, some bass continue to move towards the main lake along creek channels and points while on their way to main lake summertime spots.  Meanwhile, some bass continue to spend their entire lives in the backs of creeks, especially areas with abundant cover.  Start in the backs of creeks and systematically work your way out to deep water and sooner or later you'll come in contact with the bass.
 
Presentation Pattern: I'll use just about everything in my tackle box this time of year, but here are the baits that have been producing best for my customers and me in the past week.  For sight fish, Texas rigged Lake Fork Tackle Top Dog Lizards in watermelon or green pumpkin have been catching these fish quickly.    Lizards are also producing a lot of good bass by slowly working shallow wood cover.  Early in the day and on cloudy days, topwaters like Zara Spooks and Pop-R's in shad patterns are producing big numbers of bass if the conditions are right.  If the bass won't quite come to the surface, weightless rigged Magic Shads in watermelon candy or bull bream colors and hard plastic jerkbaits in silver or gold are working well.  While the spinnerbait bite has been slow; shallow, medium, and deep running crankbaits in shad colors have been producing good numbers and big bass on windy days.  Chose a crank that runs just deep enough to tick the bottom or the cover you're fishing and use a stop and go retrieve.  Anytime the crankbait stops vibrating, do a sweep hookset and tell your partner to grab the net.
 
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  

April 22-23, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - It was cloudy a good part of the day Friday and the fishermen that arrived early for prefishing were paid off with a good day on the water. A 9 lb plus bass was caught during prefish and just enough wet stuff fell in the morning to keep anglers comfortable. Some of the fishermen and woman in the 13 angler-group fishing Saturday had some good fish to just under 5 lbs, but the big fish never found their way to the baits.

With a windy day to contend with Saturday and high afternoon temperatures that peaked in the mid 90-degree range, most of the anglers were happy that the weigh-in was at 3:30 pm. Many of the anglers caught well over their 5 fish limits and were culling by the afternoon. Only a few fishermen had sub-limit days. The highs were around 95 degrees, the wind gusts were 29 mph and the lows this morning were about 72 degrees. The water temperature has climbed to about 77 degrees or higher in most of the lake as a result of the back-to-back 100-degree plus days last week. The lake has continued to drop falling to the upper 281 ft level by Saturday. Ther is about 12-15 ft of shore line below the new concrete pured at the ramp. The upper parking area has been resurfaced and the potholes are gone thanks to County Commissioner Joe Rathmel.

There were fewer numbers of fish being caught than reported by anglers last weekend, but 20 or more bass were still possible in the right areas. As usual, the small fish outnumbered the big ones, but a good number of 4-5 lb fish were still being caught. In fact, The Dexter Harris big bass of 4.10 lbs narrowly out weighed the 4.9 lb second big bass. Club President Joe Colley had the heavy stringer of 16.54 lbs. Luther Lentz and David Wilson tied for 2nd HS with identical 14.4 lb stringers. Malcom kincaid had sole possession of 4th with 13.32 lbs. Plastics were still found to be the number 1 producing bait and watermelon red lizards seemed to be the best lure today. There were some baby bass color baits that worked and top waters caught a few good fish as well. We sold some of the Heddon Baby Torpedoes in Tennessee Shad to one angler.

I spoke with some folks from the Valley how were unaccustom to the lake layout and became disoriented around Marker 8 - 9. This is one of the few areas that the boundary markers are not very visible between their locations. It looks like you are going into Mexico to find Marker 8. However, pay close attention, stay towards the middle and with a sharp eye you can usually find the Markers to navigate the lake.

The game wardens were out working and trying to keep the Mexico Commercial fishermen off the US water. Several fishermen mentioned seeing them pulling nets. Keep up the pressure and good job guys. Don't forget to call them the GPS location of any activity you may witness.

Sunday's Report:
Johnny Homman had the big bass for Sunday and the weekend weighing 5.16 lbs. Joe Colley repeated with the HS of 12.26 lbs. That was about 29 lbs for the 2 day effort, which was a very respectable total. Johnny Homman was second Sunday with 10.9 lbs and he captured BB money. David Wilson claimed third with 9.26 lbs. Malcom Kincaid was 4th with a stringer of 9.26 lbs. The top five stringers weighed over 20 lbs for the combined 2 days effort, but this tournament's format was 2 separate one day events.

Windy conditions and an off bite greeted the anglers Sunday and results were even slower than yesterday. Fewer 5-fish stringers and slow cull conditions were typical and the wind did not help either. Even with an 88-degree high, anglers were incomfortable because of the 28 mph wind gusts.

Don"t forget to mark your calanders for the South Texas 5 Tournament May 7. Registration will be here at Falcon Lake Tackle on Saturday May 6 starting at 5;00 pm. The lake will be off limits from midnight Sunday April 30 until Saturday, May 6 at 5:30 am for prefishing until 5:00 pm at which time you will need to be off the lake.

Have a good day on the lake, release those spawners and sorry if you can't be here fishing.

April 15, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - (Photos are of Dean and Rob, both with 7 pound bass on Lake Fork Magic Shads.) The spawn continues to roll on at Lake Fork, with a stable weather pattern of warm and sunny days. While the spawn is wrapping up in many protected shallow areas, many new beds are showing up in deeper and more main lake areas. Although sight fishing is the best bet for these lunkers if conditions are right, backing off and slowly working deeper cover is the way to go on windy and overcast days. Based on past years, look for the spawn to continue until mid-May.

In areas where the spawn is winding down, female bass will soon be shaking off their post spawn hangovers and will start feeding heavily. In addition, fry guarding males will be chasing away marauding bluegill with a vengeance. Look for the fast action topwater, crankbait and Carolina rig bite to start in late April and last through June. Shallow or deep, the post spawn and early summer patterns offer the best fishing of the year for numbers of 3 to 7 pound bass and a good shot at a true lunker.

Lake Conditions: Lake Fork,s water level is once again slowly dropping, currently reading 400.57,, or 2,5 below full pool. The water clarity is very clear in grassy areas, whereas the areas without submerged vegetation are slightly stained due to recent winds. Water temps are on the rise, with readings in the upper 60s in the main lake and into the mid 70s in the creeks.

Location Pattern: For spawning bass, fish 8, and shallower flats in creeks and out in the main lake are holding bass. Many males have been moving up daily in new places, so keep moving until you find an area holding females and pairs of bass. Areas with a hard bottom and ample grass or wood cover will usually hold the most bass. For a shot at true lunker, concentrate on any drop-offs, creek channels, or points around spawning bays. Females will stack up on these deep water sanctuaries until conditions are right to spawn. After spawning, those same lunkers retreat quickly to those same areas.

Presentation Pattern: For fish on the bed, white or watermelon Lake Fork Tackle Top Dog Lizards, Flippers and Craw Tubes are my mainstays. White baits allow you to clearly see your bait on the bed, while more natural shades of green are often needed to catch the more finicky bass. My new favorite is the Lake Fork Baby Craw in white or watermelon. When conditions don,t allow you to see the beds, in water that is too deep to locate spawners, and around staging areas, soft plastic jerkbaits like the Lake Fork Magic Shad and Twitch Worm rigged weightless in watermelon red, watermelon candy and sour melon are often catching the most and biggest bass. Fish these slowly with a couple twitches and a slow fall to the bottom on slack line. For true lunkers, repeated pitches to heavy cover on and around spawning flats with Texas rigged Top Dog lizards and creature baits like Lake Fork Creatures in green pumpkin, watermelon candy or black neon are a great option. Finally, on windy and overcast days, moving baits like white spinnerbaits can produce big bass, as well.

Good Fishing,

Tom

April 14, 2006 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - It looks like a quiet Easter in Zapata and we want to wish all of you a happy holiday whether you are spending it at the dinner table, at a cookout or on the water. We have had a number of fishermen reporting over the last few days of 50 fish and up catches to 7 lbs. The water is still in the 75 degree range and around 17 ft low at the 284 ft level. The Watermaster advises that unless we get some rain Falcon will see a rapid and possibley severe drop over the next few weeks to a month. Mexico is drawing down a lot of water and none of it is being replaced with water from Amistad or their lakes south of there. The US is replacing most of the Falcon releases with water they own in Amistad. The net difference is what is causing the drop in Falcon. The water from Sugar and El Cuchillo has helped reduce the Falcon demand, but since it enters below Falcon Dam, it does nothing to help our level directly.

Conditions are still good-to-excellent and plastics are still king (and queen). Sergio Herrera from Laredo caught and released this 8.6 Lb bass. She went for a Zoom Brush Hog in Watermelon Green. Dr Andy Baker and Derek Cone had a good time fishing Easter and they caught a number of fish from 1 to 6 lbs.

Regretfully when fishing is this good, some poor sportsmen that masquerade as fishermen (like the group in the orange boat pulled by the 4 door White Chev Truck that launched at Beacon on the 14th) take advantage of the situation and come in, unload their limits and return to the water to slaughter more fish. They would do well to remember that they are not invisible and they might be observed taking their limits out of the boat and putting them in a ice chest and going out for more fish. They might also possibly be turned in to the game wardens. It is bad enough to kill the black bass at spawning time, but to exploit the resource by illegally catching and killing multiple limits is ludicrous and conspiculously obscene. We can only hope that the game wardens are able to catch them at their ill deeds and reward them appropriately.

Meanwhile fishermen report the Tomato colored Zooms that were hot have cooled off and Junebug has replaced the tomato as a hot color. Watermelon red lizards, brush hogs and baby brush hogs are still working also. Fish are being found in large numbers in 8 to 10 ft of water, on main lake points and in the trees. Schoolies are good on Rat-L-Traps and small crankbaits in chrome blue back and shad colors.

The Game Wardens are continuing their efforts to police and patrol the US side to control illegal netting and catch violators of the law as we discussed above, Good job guys. Catfishermen who stopped in for there supply of stinkbait report smaller catfish being caught this week on the whole, but still adequate in size to keep legally and eat. Limits are still attainable. Several boats from 4 Seasons went to the Marker 8 area and found limits of catfish in 18 to 23 ft of water. Their fish were 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 lbs. They have found that all spots are not created equal. According to one fishermen who limited today on J Piggs Stinkbait, if the fish do not bite in 10 minutes or so, you better move to another spot. Fishermen below the Dam report good action on blacks to 7 lbs on jigs and Zoom Super Chunk trailers and they have bruises on their abdomens to attest to the strong bite.
Until next time, happy Easter and please catch and release the spawners so they can finish their work.

April 2, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - (Photographs left to right Matt Koppel and Mike Cotton.) - After a couple freezing cold nights early last week resulted in some tough days, the recent warming trend has lots of big bass moving back on beds at Lake Fork. The majority of the bass are yet to spawn, so prespawn patterns are producing really big bass in many areas of the lake, as well. Fish weightless or Texas rigged soft plastics in 12, or less around spawning areas now through mid-May and your odds of catching a Lake Fork hog are pretty good!

My location and presentation patterns will pretty much remain the same until the spawn winds down in mid-May. Although the general patterns stay the same, the specific best location and top bait & color often changes daily. This time of year, small adjustments in presentation or location often result in tremendous changes of fortune.

Lake Conditions: Lake Fork,s water level is currently holding steady at 400.71,, or 2,12 below full pool, our highest water level since August 05. Many bass are relating to the newly flooded cover and the inside weedline, so don,t rule out the shallows. The water clarity is clear to stained in most areas, although some areas are still pretty muddy due to runoff and the wind. Water temps are once again on the rise, with readings in the low 60s main lake and into the low 70s in some shallow areas.

Location Pattern: For spawning bass, fish 8, and shallower flats in the backs of protected bays and creeks. Spots with large areas of shallow flats that are blocked off from the cooler main lake water have been holding the most fish. Waves of new fish have been moving up daily in many places and spawning fish are starting to show up in new areas of the lake every day, not necessarily all in the North end of the lake. Areas with a hard bottom and ample grass or wood cover will usually hold the most bass. For a shot at true lunker, concentrate on any drop-offs, creek channels, or points around spawning bays. Females will stack up on these deep water sanctuaries until conditions are right to spawn. After spawning, those same lunkers retreat quickly to those same areas.

Presentation Pattern: For fish on the bed, white or watermelon Lake Fork Tackle Top Dog Lizards, Flippers and Craw Tubes are my mainstays. White baits allow you to clearly see your bait on the bed, while more natural shades of green are often needed to catch the more finicky bass. My new favorite is the Lake Fork Baby Craw in white or watermelon. Rig this little bait with a stout 2/0 or 3/0 hook like the Gamakatsu EWG Superline hook on 25 lb fluorocarbon or 65 lb braid and you,ll be ready for even the shyest bedding lunkers. When conditions don,t allow you to see the beds, in water that is too deep to locate spawners, and around staging areas, soft plastic jerkbaits like the Lake Fork Magic Shad and Twitch Worm rigged weightless in shades of watermelon are often catching the most and biggest bass. Fish these slowly with a couple twitches and a slow fall to the bottom on slack line. For true lunkers, repeated pitches to heavy cover on and around spawning flats with Texas rigged Top Dog lizards and creature baits like Flippers in watermelon or black neon are a great option. Finally, on windy and overcast days, moving baits like white spinnerbaits can produce big bass, as well.

Good Fishing,

Tom

April 1, 2006 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - As we close the month of March, the spawn is still in progress and the lake is dropping albeit more slowly then we had feared. Water from Mexico flowing into the Rio below Falcon has helped reduce the requirement for a more substantial drawdowns of Falcon water so far. The Falcon Lake level is just above 285 ft at 285.04 ft and water temperature is in the seventy-degree range (70-74 degrees). Several locals as well as groups of visiting fishermen have enjoyed the mild weather and good fishing on Falcon. It has continued windy with gusts reaching 25 to 35 mph most days. Fish, once located, still give the fishermen a good fight as they continue to group up and bite fairly aggressively. Fifty or more fish a day is certainly attainable even though smaller quantities are caught by some fishermen who do not find the concentrations of fish. The number of fish chasing shad off points and drop offs continues to increase as the spawned-out fish increase in number and aggressiveness.
Plastic lures in both Zoom Brush Hogs and Baby Brush Hog varieties are providing good action in Watermelon Red and Watermelon Green Orange colors. Chartreuse and white skirted spinnerbaits with dual willow blades have been producing some fish as have crankbaits and an occasional topwater lure. Plastics are the leader by a bunch.
Catfishing has remained strong on stinkbait and/or worms and shrimp. Fish in the 12 ft and up depth range have been biting good up to around 10 lbs.

Some of you may have encountered the Reissig clan in their Nitro rig while fishing here on Falcon. The Reissigs have a place at Ballards and they fish the lake a lot. They are an excellent barometer for fishing activity and aggressiveness. Last week one of the Reissig ladies (Betty Bohnert left) caught a 9.11 lb bass and snapped a picture just before releasing her back into Falcon to finish her spawn.

Be sure to catch (Guide Charlie Haralson's Brother) Tom Haralson and Richard Mims new EXTREME OUTDOORS TV on Laredo Tx Channel 8 April 9 at 10:30 am which will be sponsored in part by Falcon Lake Tackle.

Guides Report: Debra Hengst guided a party from Arkansas and West Tx on the 31st and they had 40 to 50 fish per person up to 7 lbs fishing the lower lake areas. A good many of their fish were caught on spinnerbaits. Charles Haralson is guiding a party from the coastal Bend area on the 1st of April and we will have a report by the end of the day.

Report from Guide Trip 4-1-2006: Charlie Haralson guided a party from the Coastal Bend on Saturday and while the overall numbers were down, the quality of the fish was up. Their best 5 fish went over 30 lbs and the big bass was 7 1/2 lbs. They found some schooling fish shallow and caught them on buzzbzits and small crankbaits

Until next time, enjoy the good fishing and release the ladies so they can finish their business.

March 20, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - (Photographs left to right - Last week at Lake Fork was exceptionally warm and sunny, with many bass starting to pull up all over the lake to spawn. With most kids out of school for spring break, it made for a very enjoyable and successful week of fishing, including several father/son & mother/son trips. In every case, the sons outfished their parents and me, just as we hoped. Over the weekend, a major weather system moved in with cold rain, delivering well over 5 of much needed precipitation in most areas. Much cooler temps are forecast for this coming week, so look for the bass to be bunched up in staging areas in close proximity to spawning flats. The cold muddy water and post-frontal bass can make for slow fishing until you find them; however, if you can locate a concentration of staging fish, you,ll have found the mother-load of lunkers.

Lake Conditions: Lake Fork,s water level is on the rise and will continue to come up for the next couple of days. As of 7 AM on Monday, Fork is up almost a foot to 399.94,, or 3,0 below full pool. The water clarity was clear to stained in most areas last week, now the wind and runoff has the backs of creeks pretty muddy. Water temps have dropped significantly, with readings of upper 50s to low 60s, depending on the area of the lake.

Location Pattern: For spawning bass, fish 8, and shallower flats in the backs of protected bays and creeks. Spots with large areas of shallow flats that are blocked off from the cooler main lake water have been holding the most fish. Waves of new fish have been moving up daily in many places and spawning fish are starting to show up in new areas of the lake every day, not necessarily all in the North end of the lake. Areas with a hard bottom and ample grass or wood cover will usually hold the most bass. For a shot at true lunker, concentrate on any drop-offs, creek channels, or points around spawning bays. Females will stack up on these deep water sanctuaries until conditions are right to spawn. After spawning, those same lunkers retreat quickly to those same areas.

Presentation Pattern: For late prespawn and spawning fish, I have four main patterns. For fish on the bed, white or watermelon Lake Fork Tackle Top Dog Lizards, Flippers and Craw Tubes are my mainstays. White baits allow you to clearly see your bait on the bed, while more natural shades of green are often needed to catch the more finicky bass. My new favorite is the Lake Fork Baby Craw in white or watermelon. Rig this little bait with a stout 2/0 or 3/0 hook like the Gamakatsu EWG Superline hook on 25 lb fluorocarbon or 65 lb braid and you,ll be ready for even the shyest bedding lunkers. When conditions don,t allow you to see the beds, in water that is too deep to locate spawners, and around staging areas, soft plastic jerkbaits like the Lake Fork Magic Shad and Twitch Worm rigged weightless in shades of watermelon are often catching the most and biggest bass. Fish these slowly with a couple twitches and a slow fall to the bottom on slack line. For true lunkers, repeated pitches to heavy cover on and around spawning flats with Texas rigged Top Dog lizards and creature baits like Flippers in watermelon or black neon are a great option. Finally, on windy and overcast days, moving baits like white spinnerbaits and oz lipless crankbaits in shades of orange are producing some big bass. Just about any lure in your tackle box can catch fish well during some point in March, so keep an open mind and adjust your presentation to the current conditions for best results.

Good Fishing,
Tom

March 20, 2006 - Answer to Florida Bass question - I've fished for Florida strain bass in Texas lakes most of my life, and have found that when the big girls are on the nests, down sizing to a small 4in lizard with an 1/8 oz. weight is hard to beat. Watermelon seed or watermelon with red flake is dynamite on east Texas lakes, especially Fork (cotton candy if the water is unusually clear). Pitch the lizard in there and just leave it. This takes an extreme amount of patience, but the subtle movements created by the water look most natural and will eventually drive them nuts. And remember, if you can see them they'll likely see you first. So if the fish are leaving the nest when you make your presentation, mark the spot, leave, and come back. Sneak up with a push pole and stay off the trolling motor. Stay far enough away not to spook the fish (tie up if necessary but don't use the trolling motor); then, make your presentation. If the water is stained to murky, and your casting for spawning bass instead of site fishing, a 6in lizard with gold flake in it can be good. Zoom's mossy pumpkin color will get you tore up on Fork. If you're not having any luck getting the bedding bass to bite, leave 'em alone. Move out to 8ft deep in the mouths of spawning coves or secondary points up the creeks. Tie on a Gene Larew Hawg Craw (the big one) in black w/ blue claws, fish the trees, and hold on to your rod. Shorter trees with some broken-off limbs (laydowns) or horizontal limbs just beneath the surface in 8ft of water are best. This pattern put a 13.86 in the boat for my partner one early spring. One last comment- please do not use shiners or other live bait for bass, especially for trophy bass in the spring, as fish mortality is higher with live bait rigs. Best of luck.

March 20, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - (Photographs left to right - March 18, 2006 Saturday: The wind has kicked up since the last report reaching a high of 38 mph yesterday and a not-to-different blow today of 32 mph out of the SSE. The good fishing is continuing for those who find the fish and tying up to some trees or anchoring on a point is a good safe way to fish in the wind.

Mike Kinchen is in the lead and his big bass was 4.61 lbs. Our neighbor, James Bendele has been enjoying the good fishing at Falcon and he gave me a picture showing the type of bass that are very catchable right now by most fishermen. While a good photographer can make a 5.5 lb fish look bigger, the truth is one of these 5 lb Falcon bass is very attainable right now. Sometimes, you will do even better. Even a 5 lber is a thrill to catch and landing it may make you swear it is a 10 lber

Catfishing is also good and J. Piggs stinkbait, shrimp and worms are all working in deep 25 to 30 ft water for fish to 8 lbs. Smaller fish are being caught shallower.

March 16, 2006 Thursday: Quality Bass Club will be here fishing this weekend..We had a 13.02 lb bass caught last week. She came from same water as a 7 and 8 lber 25 yards from Launch Ramp in Tiger Island area, within a few feet of each other. Lots of fish are being found grouped up and also some in schools are being caught on small shad and white or pearl crankbaits. There were some guys in the store yesterday and they said they had 120 fish in one day (just legal ones counted). Mostly on plastics and few spinnerbaits.

Unfortunately they are starting to drop water level and many fish have not spawned yet. I hope the fish are smart enough to think deep. The drop is not yet severe and hopefully more or even most of the fish will get finished spawning before we see the major drop. We are at 285.80 ft today or 15.40 ft low. Low temperature this morning was about 69 degrees and up to high of 87 degrees yesterday. Straightline winds are about 7 MPH out of SE this morning and we had gusts to 23 MPH yesterday.

The water levels are high at El Cuchillo and Sugar and this may be helping to delay a rapid drop at Falcon as this water hits the Rio below Falcon.

Until next time, have a good day on the water and always practice catch and release.

BE sure to catch (Charlie's Brother) Tom Haralson and Richard Mims new EXTREME OUTDOORS TV on Laredo Tx Channel 8 starting April 2 at 10:30 am which will be sponsered in part by Falcon Lake Tackle.

March 14, 2006 - Answer to Florida Bass question - If you are primarily sight fishing in clear water you need to be able to make repeated 100% accurate casts. When I sight fish i like to be able to cast to where the bass can't see the lure comming until it comes in front of the fishes face getting a reaction strike. you will have to experiment to know what to use whether it be crankbait, worm, jig. From my experience, i can usually find a jig that will work in any condition. you just have to modify weight and trailer size for balance and drop speed.

March 12, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - (Photographs left to right - Fred with 9.5, Ron with 5 and 8, Tom with 8) A long string of warm and sunny days has started the spawn in earnest in many areas of Lake Fork. As a result, our numbers and size has been outstanding on many days this week. The nastiest days, with winds up to 40 mph, have been the best fishing days for us, while the sunny and calm days have made for slow fishing unless you,re sight fishing. Meanwhile, the vast majority of bass have not spawned yet, although the warming trend has moved many fish along in their prespawn progression into shallower staging areas.

My Location and Presentation Patterns will focus on the spawning and late prespawn bass. For chasing around those big and often less pressured prespawn bass, refer to my previous report. We,ve caught bass on topwaters and deep diving crankbaits last week and about everything in between, so keep an open mind and don,t be afraid to experiment with different lures and patterns if you,re not getting bit.

Lake Conditions: Lake Fork,s water level has stayed about the same this past week, currently sitting at 399.11,, or 3,11 below full pool. The water clarity is clear to stained in most areas, although the wind has muddied some spots. The main lake water temps are holding in the upper 50s to the lower 60s, while the backs of protected creeks were reading as warm as 71 yesterday. While these surface temps are high, remember that the water temperature at bedding depth (generally 2, to 8' on Fork) determines when the bass spawn. Many areas likely won,t sustain the approximately 62 degree temps needed for spawning for quite a while, so look for the spawn to continue into May, as usual.

Location Pattern: For spawning bass, fish 8, and shallower flats in the backs of protected bays and creeks. Spots with large areas of shallow flats that are blocked off from the cooler main lake water have been holding the most fish. Waves of new fish have been moving up daily in many places and spawning fish are starting to show up in new areas of the lake every day, not necessarily all in the North end of the lake. Areas with a hard bottom and ample grass or wood cover will usually hold the most bass. For a shot a true lunker, concentrate on any drop-offs, creek channels, or points around spawning bays. Females will stack up on these deep water sanctuaries until conditions are right to spawn. After spawning, those same lunkers retreat quickly to those same areas.

Presentation Pattern: For late prespawn and spawning fish, I have four main patterns. For fish on the bed, white or watermelon Lake Fork Tackle Top Dog Lizards, Flippers and Craw Tubes are my mainstays. White baits allow you to clearly see your bait on the bed, while more natural shades of green are often needed to catch the more finicky bass. My new favorite is the Lake Fork Baby Craw in white or watermelon. In fact, Eric Nethery just let the secret out last week when he won the Bassmaster Southern Open on Sam Rayburn using the Fork Baby Craw in Killer Craw color, catching almost 68 lbs of bedding bass in 3 days. Rig this little bait with a stout 2/0 or 3/0 hook like the Gamakatsu EWG Superline hook on 25 lb fluorocarbon or 65 lb braid and you,ll be ready for even the shyest bedding lunkers. When conditions don,t allow you to see the beds, in water that is too deep to locate spawners, and around staging areas, soft plastic jerkbaits like the Lake Fork Magic Shad and Twitch Worm rigged weightless in shades of watermelon are often catching the most and biggest bass. Fish these slowly with a couple twitches and a slow fall to the bottom on slack line. For true lunkers, repeated pitches to heavy cover on and around spawning flats with Texas rigged Top Dog lizards and creature baits like Flippers in watermelon or black neon are a great option. Finally, on windy and overcast days, moving baits like white spinnerbaits and oz lipless crankbaits in shades of orange are producing some big bass, including a 9.5 lb,er this week.

Good Fishing,

Tom

March 10, 2006 - Answer to Florida Bass question - try to use a big shiner on lite line and a bobber if you are in thick vegitation use fire line 15-25 lbs test also try plastics with a lot of salt jiging for them if they are agressive and not much vegitation try a rattlie trap

March 8, 2006 - Answer to Florida Bass question - what about water clarity? If it is very clear maybe they are getting to good of a look at your bait. if this is the case i would probably use a mostly clear bait and fish a little faster possibly getting more reaction strikes.

March 7, 2006 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Falcon Lake Tournament Report: Rebel Bass Club March 4-5, 2006 25-26, 2006: It was cloudy a good part of the day and there was just enough wet stuff in the morning to get some of the 17 anglers in the 11 Rebel boats to put on their wet suits. With a windy morning behind them, most of the anglers caught well over their 5 fish limits and were culling by the afternoon. The highs were around 88 degrees, the wind gusts were 30 mph out of the ENE (rather than the 10-15 mph SE winds predicted) and the lows this morning were about 66 degrees. The water temperature has climbed to about 75 degrees or higher in most of the lake as a result of the back-to-back 90-degree plus days last week.

There were fewer numbers of fish being caught than reported by anglers last weekend, but 20 or more bass were still possible in the right areas, or on the right tree. As usual, the small fish outnumbered the big ones, but a good number of 4-6 lb fish were still being caught. James Bendele had the big bass of the day Saturday weighing 7.35 lbs, but Troy Zipperer had a 6.80 LB anchor for his 20.89 LB heavy stringer on Saturday. Rebel Bass Club weigh master Ira Lynn and his wife Tina had 19.67 and 13.16 LB stringers respectively for 32.73 lbs total weight of their 10 fish limit. Wayne Tauer and James Bendele had 18 and 15 LB plus stringers in addition to those LB stringers caught by the leaders. Scott Hutzler was tied for second HS with Ira Lynn with 19.67 lbs.

Plastics were still King as far as the big fish and the most fish goes although some spinnerbait fish were caught. Watermelon red was still the best color for plastics. Some locals scored limits on small crankbaits in green/silver and/or Tennessee shad colors. Many of the fish caught were not showing any signs of spawning activity including bloody tails or big bellies. Others were obviously bedding fish and some appeared to be spawned-out fish. Plenty of pattern choices at Falcon right now and fish are plentiful as well.

SUNDAY: Not much changed on Sunday for anglers or the fish. The weather was warm and windy, the fishing was good and the game wardens were out in force checking for the illegal nets on the US side. A helicopter was pressed into action so larger amounts of the lake could be covered. We had fewer nets reported although sightings were confirmed in the Veleno at 8:45 am Sunday morning. We will post a copy of the telephone number info sheet we are distributing to fishermen at the end of this report. You may want to copy it and carry it with you when fishing Falcon.

Ira Lynn and his wife Tina continued their dominance taking top boat weight, Heavy Stringer Open and Ladies Division. They weighed a total of 59.88 lbs for 20 fish and Ira's 10 fish weighed 37.44 lbs Tina had 25.44 lbs. The top five weights were all over 29 lbs for 10 fish including Troy Zipperer's second Hs of 33.86 lbs and Eric Tauer's 31.60 LB 3rd Hs.

Eric's father, Wayne had 30.92 lbs and Butch weighed 29.90 lbs for fifth place Hs. There were a lot of fish caught and released and several anglers reported over 50 fish boated on Sunday. James Bendele's 7.35 lber caught Saturday remained the club's big bass of the weekend. A combination of spinnerbaits,m Zoom Brush Hogs and Sweet Beavers caught most of the fish. One of the successful spinnerbait fishermen said he caught fish on all different blade configurations including Willow, Colorado and Willow/Colorado. Chartreuse and white skirts were working and so were solid white.
Until next time, have a good day on the water wherever you fish, release those spawners and we are truly sorry if you can't be here to enjoy the great fishing at Falcon.

February 27, 2006 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Falcon Lake Tournament Report: Ingram, San Antonio Anglers, Capital City, River City and SWRI Bass Clubs fished Falcon this weekend February 25-26, 2006: We were able to get a pretty good picture of the fishing after attending four of the bass club tournament weigh-in's Satuday and Subday and obtaining reports from the other three.

There were large numbers of fish being caught with 50 or more still possible in the right areas. The small fish outnumbered the big ones, but a good number of 4-6 lb fish were still being caught after culling their smaller buddies. Bigger fish seemed to be caught in the lower and mid-lake areas and the brush hog was responsible for a lot of the big fish caught Saturday. The river creeks started producing in the far back reaches in the creek channels and the bigger fish were showing up there. One 11.28 lb fish and a 9 lber were caught.

Scott Ross used the Camo Baby Brush Hog in 7 ft of water to catch the big bass of the weekend for River City BC weighing 8.06 lbs (pic right), but the WM Red Brush Hog and/or the Sweet Beaver seemed to be the best producers on Saturday. We keep plenty of both in stock at Falcon Lake Tackle. Fishing was reported excellent in some areas, good in most areas and bad in a few areas. Five foot was the average depth (1 ft to 18 ft) in which the fish were found and the majority of the anglers weighed five or more fish. A few spinnerbait fish were caught early Saturday, but most were culled and replaced with larger fish that went for the plastic baits.

The spinnerbait produced a lot of fish on Sunday and the SWRI heavy 2-day stringer of 40.88 lbs was caught by Jerry Campos. His Sunday stringer of 22.74 lbs was caught entirely on chart/white spinnerbaits with gold/nickel willow blades. His boat also produced the second heavy stringer of 33.12 lbs. for the weekend. All these fish came from Mexico on the lower end of the lake. Jerry also had the big bass of the weekend among his 15 co-anglers. It weighed 6.92 lbs. Floyd Dietzmann had the SWRI third Heavy Stringer of 29.92 lbs.

More fish appear to be coming in shallow and it appears that the spawn is progressing and may be in full swing by next week. There were a few fish caught that had already spawned. A lot of big bellies and blood-red tails were showing on the fish weighed.

A lot of nets were still being found and we reported some of them to our Local Game Warden Fernando Cervantes at his 285-2275 mobile. Unfortunately a Gatesville TX boat in the Lam group hung up on a net in the Big Tigers and cut its lower unit seal, ending the day and weekend early. One local fisherman suffering from a stroke got hung in a net and was pulled overboard. He nearly drown and someone is going to get killed if this is not resolved. Nets were reported around Marker 9, in Oscars Cove, the Veleno and numerous Tigers locations. There were several nets with dead fish noted and this is particularly disturbing. The Game Wardens from around the State have been working on the netting problem at Falcon (Operation Pescador) and in the last three-days, efforts by Game Wardens reportedly produced 26,000 ft of nets, 7 arrests and 4 boats were confiscated. They are definitely having an impact on the problem. The problem is this is a full time job and we have just barely scratched the surface. Good job guys and keep it up!

Scott Ross with River City had the big bass for the Austin clubs this weekend of 8.06 LB, which anchored his 20.66 LB heavy stringer. Scott and his brother Damon had the heavy stringer-boat of 36.83 lbs for the two Austin bass clubs Saturday and a two day second Hs of 62 lbs. They were out ounced for 1st place by Garrett Nelson and Kevin Thress who use Kevin's anchor bass of 7.84 lbs to bring their 2 day total weight to 65 lbs.

A total of 49 fishermen contested the River City Tournament. Liz out fished many of them landing a 6.28 lb big bass and 16.99 lbs Sunday for the top lady weight this weekend.

Jackie Lee Waldrop and his brother Michael showed Capital Bass Club's 19 anglers the way to first place heavy stringer. They had a combined heavy stringer of 35.25 lbs with a 5.18 LB big bass Saturday (see Pic right). George Dinges had the Saturday Capital big bass of 6.61 lbs. Ingram Bass Club had 8 fishermen and four boats. Bobby Balser had the big bass of 5.87 lbs and Tommy Moose had the heavy stringer just South of 11 lbs. We did not receive a report from the other two clubs.

San Antonio Bass Angler's reported a 11.28 LB weekend big bass and a second place big bass of 9 lbs with a 28 LB heavy stringer. We will post a picture as soon as it is received. We missed their weigh-in and Ingram's as well. Just too many places to be and not enough crutches.

Until next time, have a good day on the water and always practice catch and release.

February 26, 2006 - Question from Florida on catching bass - Can you help my brothers and I catch bass? Heres the problem, we see a lot of bass here in central Florida, but they just wont bite our bait! They just sniff it and swim away, and our hands dont have anything like oil or anything that will repel the bass! Can you please help us by giving us some tips and telling us what tackle to use on bass? Thank You so much. Send us and answer and we will post it.

February 7, 2006 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - The wind has been the pits for the last few days, but it appears to be finally letting up a little. Looks like some more good fishing may be coming our way as an increasing number of fish seem to be moving in to nest. The high yesterday reached 76 degrees and the low last night was 47 degrees, but it reached 61 degrees by 10:30 am this morning. Temperatures are forecast to be about the same until the weekend when the weathermen are calling for a chance of showers. So far, any "chance of showers" translates into "unlikely" with only .02 inches in the last two months. Water levels in the lake keep dropping slowly and we are hovering just above 286 ft levels at 286.05 ft. (15.15 ft low)

The temperature is in the 65 to 70 degree range. Plastics are still producing the most strikes with spinnerbaits and crankbaits coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively. The same patterns are in place as were reported earlier and the fish are still either spawning (2 to 7 ft) or prespawn (8 to 20 ft) with a few fish having already dropped their eggs. These fish may typically be found out on points or rocks chasing shad. Crankbaits or Carolina- rigged plastics are good lure choices for these post spawn fish.

I received a letter and picture from some of our Oklahoma visitors (Jerry Willis) and they had some great fishing recently at Falcon. We were happy to hear they released their big fish and wanted to share their success with our readers. Jerry is shown holding an 8.13 lber that he released after taking a picture.
This is the time of year that catch and release is so important. Every fish can spawn 50,000 to 100,000 eggs and we need all the fish to be productive so future years can be even better than currect ons.

February 6, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - (Photo is of me with a 12.3 lb'er I caught on Saturday with a jig and craw.) A week of warm sunny days has the big ones biting at Lake Fork.  We had a number of big bass this past week, including a 12.3 lb lunker on Saturday.  The big bass came on a day of fun fishing with my brother-what a rush!  You can check her out and a bunch of other good fish we've caught lately on the pictures section of my website. 
 
We've been catching a lot more bass near shallow spawning areas, although the cold front and cool-down this week will likely push many fish back to the points and creek channels.  Although the fish likely won't be as active after the cold front, the bass will be consolidated in key areas.  Methodically work these staging areas and your chances of catching multiple big bass will be very good at Lake Fork in February.  Meanwhile, a number of big bass over 7 pounds were caught in 25' to 40' last week on deep structure.  Shallow or deep, it's hard to pick a bad time to catch a lunker on Lake Fork for now until mid-summer.     
 
Lake Conditions: After another good rain last week, Lake Fork's water level rose 3" to 398.97', or 4'0" below full pool.  The water clarity is clear to stained in most areas, although the high winds and runoff have muddied some areas.  Water temps are running from 50-56 degrees in most locations, perfect temperatures for prespawn bassin'.
 
Location Pattern: As I've done for the last 45 days, I'm 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) or wood cover will typically have the most active fish; however, don't overlook coverless points and channel bends as we approach the spawn.  Key on stumps, docks, and laydowns within the grassbeds or on any irregular places along the edge of the grass.  Main lake grass beds near the mouths of these coves are holding a lot of fish now, as are main and secondary points inside the coves, provided there is deep water nearby.  During warming trends, follow bass back into the creeks and check the edges of grass flats and creek channels. 
 
For deep structure enthusiasts, points, roadbeds, humps, flats and ledges in 18' to 45' will produce some big fish well into the spring.  Since many big bass on Fork don't spawn until early May, these late bloomers won't be moving shallow for quite a while.  Use your electronics to find the schools of bass and baitfish and work them over with spoons and dropshots.  I personally prefer fishing shallow in the spring, so my presentation pattern will focus on that.
 
Presentation Pattern: My prespawn arsenal is pretty simple for fishing along grasslines and creek channels.  First and foremost are red or orange lipless crankbaits in 12 or 34 oz.  Stick with the 12 for grass that is near the surface and go with the 34 for grass that is deeper.  14 oz traps work well on the shallowest grass.  Buzzing these over the top of the grass on a quick retrieve is working best now, but after cold fronts, letting the trap fall and ripping these out of the grass will trigger most of the bites.  14 to 12 oz spinnerbaits with double willow blades in white, red, or chartreuse and white will produce some really large bass in the same areas that the lipless cranks work, especially on windy and cloudy days.  When the bite slows or the conditions are sunny and calm, I'll switch to a suspending jerkbait or a jig.  Gold jerkbaits with orange bellies and black backs are my primary color.  Work these with long pauses over the grass and along the edges.  The jig bite is good on some days, especially for big bass.  12 oz black and blue jigs with Lake Fork Tackle Fork Craws in the Blue Bruiser color have been working best for me.  For a few bonus fish, work a wacky rigged Twitch Worm or Magic Shad in the areas where you caught fish with the other baits.  Shades of watermelon are a sure bet for the plastics.
 
Cover lots of water until you get bit.  Once you catch one, work the area over thoroughly with multiple passes, employing several different baits.  Fish tend to stack up in key staging areas during the winter and these spots will replenish themselves with more fish during the prespawn as more and more big bass move shallow. 
 
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  

January 19, 2006 - Toledo Bend - Submitted by Fish Finders Fish Service - the water is still low and it is hard to find any ramps you can put in at but their are still a few-the sabine river auotherity can direct you in the right way , alot of tournaments for the lake have been moved because of low water conditions.
 
the crappie fishing is still excellent around the chicken coops and will continue to be until the water warms enough for them to move back in the creeks to spawn , they are out on the creek/river channel ledges and can be caught around 18 feet and your limit can be caught quite easy with minnows and or jigs , caution should be used with the low water and or hire a guide for a day so he or she can show ya how to run to the

January 18, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by David Vance - The fishing this week Continues to be good with all this warm weather, it has been windy this past week but I will take this kind of weather in January anytime. In the last three days my main baits have been lipless crank baits spinner baits and a Wacko worm. The best water depth for me has been five to eight feet of water. On Monday we had seventeen with two over seven and one that weighed 9lbs 11oz.Twelve of these bass came on lipless crank baits, and five on the 6 12 inch Wacko worm in June bug the big fish hit the Wacko worm in in 5 feet of water. Out of all the big weightless worms that are on the market the Wacko worm is the best one I have found, you can catch 5 or six bass on one worm and it is full of salt and they don't cost a ridiculous amount of money for a pack. My bigger bass are still coming from main lake and secondary points, good creeks to try are big mustang, Williams, Penson.

These creeks always produce big bass this time of year. The best bite for me has still been 10am until dark. Right now the water temp is in the mid fifties. with this cold front The wind is the big factor today it was 25+ all day and cold, by the end of the week the weather is suppose to warm back up. The lake is 4 feet low so be careful running the lake.

I am now booking spring dates. Book early to get the best available dates! Call 903-629-7699 or 903-629-5085 cell or check out my website at www.lakeforktexasfishingreports.com Until next time.

Good Fishing!

David Vance

January 17, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - (Photo is of Tom Redington with a spinnerbait bass caught 1/16/6) After a wonderful Christmas and New Years with my family and a fabulous bass fishing trip to Mexico, I'm back to fishing at Lake Fork and I'm happy to report the big ones are biting.  Yesterday, 1/16, was my first day back on the lake and with a front moving in, conditions were perfect.  In 5 hours in the afternoon, I was able to land 16 fish that all were 3 pounds or better.  16 bass aren't a lot of fish for the summertime, but during the winter and fishing alone, I consider 16 fish a fantastic half day.  Even better, 3 of the fish were over 7 lbs, including one monster that weighed in at 10 lbs 6 oz.  All were caught on lipless crankbaits and spinnerbaits, using the patterns I outline below.  While most days the conditions aren't so perfect and you can expect closer to 12 to 15 bass for a full day, lots of fish over 5 pounds are being caught and your chances for a giant bass are best now through April.
 
For those of you considering taking a trip to Mexico bass fishing, I'd definitely recommend it.  I've been going to El Salto and Comedero for 5 years and have always had awesome fishing.  This year, a buddy and I went to Comedero for 7 days and we crushed them on spinnerbaits.  We didn't have any giants, but we did have over 700 bass, with hundreds of fish in the 3 to 8.5 lb range.  Topwaters and Texas rigged Lake Fork Creatures in Watermelon Red or Watermelon Chartreuse caught lots of big fish, too.  Mucho grandes! 
 
Lake Conditions: Lake Fork's water level continues to drop, sitting at 398.75', or 4'3" below full pool; however, almost all ramps are still open.  The water clarity is clear in most areas, although the backs of some creeks are muddy due to a couple small rains.  Water temps are holding in the low to mid-50s, perfect temperatures for winter bassin'. The height and coverage of grass has been reduced during the draw down, but the grassy areas you find are still holding a lot of fish.
 
Location Pattern: From late-December through February, I concentrate 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.  Key on stumps, docks, and laydowns within the grassbeds or on any irregular places along the edge of the grass.  While about any grassy area will hold a few fish, start your search in areas that have lots of spawning fish in late February and through 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.  Main lake grass beds near the mouths of these coves are holding a lot of fish now, as are main and secondary points inside the coves, provided there is deep water nearby.  During warming trends, follow bass back into the creeks and check the edges of grass flats and creek channels.
 
Keep in mind, too, that the absolute water temperature is not nearly as important now as the recent water temperature trend.  For instance, water temps that are showing 52 degrees can result in slow fishing if the temps were 58 a couple days ago.  In contrast, fishing can be great if the temps warm up to 50 while they were 44 a few days before.  In general, look for bass on the flats and farther back in creeks during warming trends; conversely, drop back to points and main lake grassbeds after cold fronts.  Finally, the day of and the day after cold fronts can be absolutely miserable to fish, but these frontal days after a long warming trend are usually the most productive times to fish.  Yesterday was a great example of this. 
 
For deep structure enthusiasts, points, roadbeds, humps, flats and ledges in 18' to 45' will produce some big fish during the winter months as well.  Use your electronics to find the schools of bass and baitfish and work them over with spoons and dropshots.  I personally prefer fishing shallow in the spring, so my presentation pattern will focus on that.
 
Presentation Pattern: My wintertime arsenal is pretty simple for fishing along grasslines and creek channels.  First and foremost are red lipless crankbaits in 12 or 34 oz.  Stick with the 12 for grass that is near the surface and go with the 34 for grass that is deeper.  Buzzing these over the top of the grass on a quick retrieve is working best now, but after cold fronts, letting the trap fall and ripping these out of the grass will trigger most of the bites.  14 to 12 oz spinnerbaits with double willow blades in white, red, or chartreuse and white will produce some really large bass in the same areas that the lipless cranks work, especially on windy and cloudy days.  When the bite slows or the conditions are sunny and calm, I'll switch to a suspending jerkbait or a jig.  Gold jerkbaits with orange bellies and black backs are my primary color.  Work these with long pauses over the grass and along the edges.  For jigs, I go with the lightest weight I can use for the conditions, from 1/8th or 14 oz on calm days to 12 oz on windy ones.  Black and blue or watermelon jigs with matching Lake Fork Pig Claws or Fork Craws will do the job.
 
Cover lots of water until you get bit.  Once you catch one, work the area over thoroughly with multiple passes, employing several different baits.  Fish tend to stack up in key staging areas during the winter and these spots will replenish themselves with more fish during the prespawn as more and more big bass move shallow.  Find some good staging spots and you'll have a milk run of honey holes now through February.
 
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  

January 11, 2006 - Toledo Bend - Submitted by Fish Finders Fish Service - the water is still low on the bend and their are not alot of places to launch but the fish do not care as they are biting really well.

the crappie are still piled up at the coops and will continue te be until march or so and you can catch your limit most days with about a 1&1/2 lb. average, the limit on the bend in the winter is 50 -the fish are being caught anywhere from 18-28 feet deep.

the whites and bar fish can be caught around the craPPIE ON SPOONS AND RINKY DINKS

the black bass are good most days on spinner baits and rattle traps along with rogues and a deep little n on grass points and the edge of ditches

as always the catfishing is great anywhere on the lake.

the stripers are in depper water right now and can be caught on a rite bite grub and a jigging spoon

January 4, 2006 - Lake Fork - Submitted by David Vance - The fishing this week Continues to be good with the warm weather this past week. The last two days the spinner bait bite has been good on windy points, yesterday all of our bass came on a spinner bait by the end of the day we had 15 with two over seven pounds. The spinner bait we used was a 34 oz Colorado willow with nickel and gold blades and a chartreuse and white skirt. We had most of our hits fishing the bait slow, most of the bass would just stop the bait, when you get warm weather this time of year slow rolling a big spinner bait on the edge of the grass is a good pattern to catch big bass on lake fork. Red and orange lipless crank baits are and will be my best baits day in and day out now through February. Best water depth for me has been 5 to 8 feet on the edge of the grass on main lake and secondary points. The best bite for me has still been 10am until dark. Right now I am fishing different areas each day. Birch creek, white oak and big mustang are producing some good fish right now. All the bass that we have been catching have been fat and healthy. I love this time of year not many boats on the lake and on any cast you have a chance to catch a bass of a life time. The lake is 4 feet low so be careful running the lake.

I am now booking spring dates. Book early to get the best available dates! Call 903-629-7699 or 903-629-5085 cell or check out my website at www.lakeforktexasfishingreports.com Until next time.

Good Fishing!

David Vance's Lake Fork Guide Service and Lodging

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