Lake Fork Fishing Report for April 3, 2019





The last 10 days we had a mixed bag of weather with wind, rain and really cold temperatures at times. The poor Bass would start to move in to spawn and then the cold weather would move in the Bass would move back out. Therefore, you had to be ready to hunt for them every morning. We found three baits worked very well doing the search and finding the Bass here at Lake Fork. The first was the Zoom watermelon/red Fluke fished on a split shot rig. We dyed the tail of the Fluke chartreuse. The next bait was Buddy’s Custom Baits watermelon/candy/red 8 inch Lizard. The big body on the Lizard triggers hard strikes and the Bass do not let go. Make sure you dye an inch of the tail chartreuse and use a 5/0 wide gap hook! The third bait is the 5-inch watermelon/candy/red Buddy’s Custom Baits Sticko bait rigged on a split shot rig. No matter which one of these baits you use, make sure you fish them very slow.

The Crappies are in 2 to 4 foot of water spawning all over the lake. We found that the traditional minnow and cork rig worked the best. The jig anglers did not catch near as many Crappies as the traditional minnow anglers.

The White Bass have stopped moving in and are in 22 to 24 foot for water around old brush piles. They can be caught on Crappie jigs tipped with minnows.

The Catfish anglers are still finding fishing slow. Most of the catfish that were caught this week were caught on minnows in 4 – 6 foot of water.
On our equipment list, this week is our Ranger Z520c powered by a Mercury 250 Pro XS, Duckett rods, ABU Garcia reels, Stren line, Buddy’s Custom Baits from here at Lake Fork and Zoom soft plastics.

Here at J & M Guide Service we still have 4 days left open in April and several days open on May for guided trophy Bass. Give us a call at (903) 413-6919 or E-mail us at [email protected]. Have a safe fishing week.




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Lake Fork Current Weather Alerts

There are no active watches, warnings or advisories.

 

Lake Fork Weather Forecast

Wednesday

Slight Chance Thunderstorms

Hi: 79

Wednesday Night

Slight Chance Thunderstorms

Lo: 66

Thursday

Mostly Cloudy

Hi: 81

Thursday Night

Mostly Cloudy

Lo: 71

Friday

Rain Showers

Hi: 76

Friday Night

Breezy

Lo: 69

Saturday

Chance Thunderstorms

Hi: 83

Saturday Night

Chance Thunderstorms

Lo: 70


Lake Fork Water Level (last 30 days)


Water Level on 4/24: 403.27 (+0.27)



Lake Fork

Fishing Report from TPWD (Apr. 24)

GOOD. Water Stained; 60 degrees; 0.20 feet above pool. Bass have slowed, but post spawners are setting up on points in 5-7 feet of water with Carolina rigged creature baits. Topwaters and frogs are good early morning around grass. Shaky heads are good around boat houses. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Changing weather means changing bite. First phase spawners are now in a post spawn pattern and aggressive. Frog pattern top waters are excellent in the grass and brush. Casting into the pockets and letting the frog sit for a few seconds is a good idea. Crappies are shallow, catching them on edge of banks, small fish patterns like wooly buggers are a good bet. Bream are beginning to make themselves known in the shallows, wooly buggers and small poppers should bring a strike.Crappie are good in 2-13 feet on timber and around grass lines. Some fish are moving back out into the 12-18 feet areas and a little deeper. Black crappie are on a few bridges, but fish are not loaded up yet. Black crappie are also grouping under docks on sunny afternoons. Cast 1/16th ounce hand tied jigs continue to be good in white and gray, white and chartreuse and light blue and gray colors. Minnows will still work very well and especially on shallow fish around grass. Soft plastics will also work well as the fish have been very aggressive. We should see the aggressive bite until the warmer months get here and the fish get a little finicky. Catfishing continues to be good around timber where birds are roosting in 10-18 feet. Also getting reports of some shallow catfish around grass lines and sea walls. Those fish are most likely chasing shad spawns. Catfish are cruising around shallow wood in 6-12 feet, with lots of fry showing up. Use your favorite prepared catfish bait to load the boat once you locate the fish. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.

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