Jason Hoffman's Lake Fork Fishing Report - February 12, 2013




With the warmer weather, our water temperatures have been on the rise. This week, I found water as warm as 58.5 degrees, and most of the areas we fished were over 56 degrees. The warmer temps pulled a lot of big females onto the flats and secondary points where we were able to cover some water and catch them a little more easily. Water level as of this writing is 398.89 (4.11 ft below full pool), but it is slowly on the rise with the rain that we are receiving as I write. Our best bait has been a red lipless crankbait, but you should also try a Santone spinnerbait, a Chatterbait with LFT Live Magic Shad, and a jerkbait in the same areas. Many times, we will go through an area a couple of times with the lipless crankbait, and go back through it with another bait and pick up another fish or two. You want to be very thorough when covering water as a bass's strike zone is fairly small in this cool water. Almost all of our fish are coming from less than 3 feet of water, and if you can find some hydrilla or coontail, you will likely find some fish. The weather forecast for the coming week shows highs in the mid-50s and lows in the low 30s. This will bring the water temps back down into the low 50s, and maybe even the upper 40s. When this happens, it's time to pick up your Black/Blue, Camo, or Sloppy Joe colored Santone Jig, move out to the creek channels, and go to work. When the water temps fall, I normally have better success using a LFT Flipper for my jig trailer, but when water temps are on the rise, I tend to opt more for the bigger LFT Hyper Freak. The Flipper is a little more subtle in it's action than the Hyper Freak, and sometimes, that makes all the difference when these fish are finicky. You want to split the tail on the Flipper as it is designed with "rudders" that force the tail to spread out when it's moved, making it look a lot like a crawfish. I will work the standing timber along the banks of the creek channels in about 5-15 ft of water. When you catch one, pay attention to the fish's depth. If you catch one in 8 ft of water, and another in 12 ft of water, but nothing shallower and nothing deeper, you can probably save yourself a lot of time by concentrating your efforts in that depth range when you move to the next creek. I hope that helps you on your next trip to Lake Fork. If you have any questions, please let me know! Jason's Website

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Lake Fork Current Weather Alerts

There are no active watches, warnings or advisories.

 

Lake Fork Weather Forecast

Saturday

Mostly Cloudy

Hi: 62

Saturday Night

Mostly Clear

Lo: 39

Sunday

Mostly Sunny

Hi: 66

Sunday Night

Clear

Lo: 39

Monday

Sunny

Hi: 59

Monday Night

Clear

Lo: 38

Tuesday

Sunny

Hi: 65

Tuesday Night

Mostly Clear

Lo: 39


Lake Fork Water Level (last 30 days)


Water Level on 12/2: 400.84 (-2.16)



Lake Fork

Fishing Report from TPWD (Nov. 29)

GOOD. Water Stained; 50 degrees; 2.26 feet below pool. Bass fishing has slowed after the recent cold fronts and you need to be very slow in your approach. Squarebill crankbaits and rattletraps are fair in 3-5 feet of water along the edge of grass. Texas rigs and Carolina rigs are best along the edge of grass as well in 3-7 feet of water. Suspending jerkbaits is starting to work as the water temperatures decline. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Fall weather has arrived so fish will start to prepare for cold weather. Black bass are moving deep for the winter. Cast clousers, ned rigs, and large worm patterns in flooded tree tops near creeks and deep water ledges. Crappie are moving out to the open water in 30 plus feet of water biting small jig patterns. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. The crappie fishing on Lake Fork continues to be as good as ever. Look for fish in big numbers moving as they head toward the deep water winter pattern. Look for timber along main lake creek channels in 28-40 feet right now for numbers of fish and some big fish mixed in. Minnows will work well but they are biting small hand tied jigs and larger plastic baits as well now that the surface water temps have dropped. We are still seeing some fish on brush and lay downs from time to time. Bridged have been up and down the last few weeks but they can be worth checking out for numbers of black crappie. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.

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