GOOD. Water Stained; 60 degrees; 2.38 feet below pool. The best bass bite is around big timber near channels and drop offs in 4-7 feet with chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, square bill crankbaits, Viper XP jigs, or Texas Rigs with creature baits. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. The water is cooler, so now we have deeper fish. Black bass are slow in 5-10 feet of water with Clousers with a sinking tip line are your best bet. Focus on creek bends and drop-offs. Small streamers and top water patterns might catch active bass in creeks on warm days. Report by Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork. Lake Fork water temperatures have finally dropped into the upper 50s and the big fish are showing up and showing off. This week we have fish all over the lake in depths from 12-58 feet. You can find big numbers of black crappie at the base of shallow trees in 12-18 feet in the mid lake areas. Sometimes you will find white crappie in the same trees suspended halfway down. It is the opposite once you move to deeper water. The black crappie are higher on the trees off shore and the white crappie are further down on the trees. We have seen some bigger crappie in the 2.5 pound range being caught so the winter time big fish season has arrived. The best areas for concentrations of fish are loaded with shad. The bite has been up and down this week but my boat has put the minnow bucket up until next summer. You can still use minnows and they will produce great. Small hand tied jigs are also working extremely well this week. We should also see the aggressive fish hitting plastics and even large baits as the water cools off. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.