FROM: J & M Guide Service

DATES: 26 April – 2 May 2020

Beautiful Lake Fork was not kind to the anglers this week. We had several
weather fronts move through with everything from north winds changing to
strong sounds and rain and hail. The water clarity is still stained in the upper
creeks and clearing up nicely in the lower portions of the lake. The Bass fishing
was fare at best. The Bass are still not feeding very well because they have just
come off of the spawn. I look for the Bass fishing to start to picking up this week
if the weather will stabilize. We found that the Bass have moved off to main lake
points and are suspending in 12 to 18 foot of water. That means it is crankbait
and swim bait time. Crankbaits like the Strike King XD 6, XD 8 and the XD 10 will
be prime baits to use in the up-coming weeks. The Smash Tech Swim Baits are
also good choices to put these finicky Bass in the boat. But, don’t forget to keep
a Carolina rig handy. Our baits of choice for the Carolina rig is a watermelon/red
Zoom Baby Brush Hog or a Buddy’s Custom Baits watermelon/red Boss Hog.
Don’t forget to dye the tails of the Brush Hog and the Boss hog chartreuse.
The Crappie anglers that braved the rough waters and stayed on top of brush
piles caught a lot of nice Crappie. They did go to a heavier Crappie jig (1/4-ounce)
to constantly catch the Crappie. The best Crappie jig that worked well was the
Bubba’s Baits purple and chartreuse tipped with a small minnow.
The White Bass anglers had a tuff time this week. The found that the White Bass
was scattered out on main lake points. We used a Bubba’s Bait ¼ ounce
chartreuse and white Crappie jig with a minnow to catch them.
The Catfish anglers struggled this week due to the Catfish are on the move back to
the deep water after their spawn. They are starting to relate to old trees in 16 to
20 foot of water. Punch bait was on top of there of there menu.
On our equipment list this week is our Ranger 520c powered by a Mercury 250
Pro XS from Nichols Marine in Longview, TX, Duckett rods, ABU Garcia reels, Stren
line, Bubba’s Baits Crappie Jigs, Buddy’s Custom Baits from here at Lake Fork, X-
VIII Custom Baits and Zoom soft plastics.

Here at J & M Guide Service we have several dates in May and June open for
guided Bass trips. Give us a call at (903) 413-6919 or E-mail at
bassmr@geusnet.com . Have a safe fishing week and wear your life jackets and
use your kill switches, it’s law!