Lake Fork is the place to be in May! As the school year comes to a close and many are looking for activities for the kids there is no better way to spend quality time with family than fishing and doing it at Lake Fork makes it even better. Come on out and join the fun!

The lake is full of water as we have had a tremendous amount of steady rain this spring. Water levels are currently holding at 403 which is right at full pool. The high water levels have given the bass a tremendous spawn and lots of places for the fry to hide. This will prove very beneficial for the future quality of fishing on Lake Fork. We have had two consecutive years of very productive spawns and I look forward to what this will provide for fishing in the near future! Water clarity has been fairly stained on a lot of the lake due to all the weather but areas of the mid-lake and south portions near the dam are clearing up nicely. Water temperatures are in the low to mid 70’s and rising as the recent warming trends without cold fronts have maintained a stable temperature for the bass to move toward finishing their spawning activities.

The shad have also begun spawning and this has really kicked the bite into gear. Between the shad spawn and bass guarding fry, the topwater bite has been great. Poppers, buzzbaits, and frogs have been very good early and late on mainlake and secondary points. Bass have also been eating the baits all day in the backs of pockets and spawning coves as well with lots of grass and flooded bushes present. The 3:16 Rising Son swimbaits are still catching some good fish as well. I have also been having a lot of success on the 3:16 “Minnow” fished on shad spawn banks and areas where bass are guarding fry. This is a 3:16 bait that has received little attention shadowed by he Rising Son but its an excellent bait! Best colors have been white, bluegill, and my new custom color “JC’s Dirty Shad”. You can also catch a good amount of fish on soft plastic jerkbaits like the Berkley Havoc Jerk twitched slowly around shallow cover when the bass are reluctant to eat a topwater. Best colors in the Jerk have been watermelon red and green pumpkin. If you like crankbaits, now is the time to be crankin! The “all new” series of Berkley Hardbaits have been very good to me lately. My go to has been the “Pitbull” 5.5 squarebill crankbait. This bait has incredible action and deflects off of stumps well. I’ve been fishing it very shallow in 1-4 feet of water. Best colors are Gilly, Big Money, and Sexier Shad.

As the bass have begun to finish their spawning, the deep bite has started to pick up. The big bass have started showing up in 16-24 feet of water. With the water warming and temperatures rising, you can expect to see more and more fish moving out to deep water to begin feeding up from the spawn. This is absolutely my favorite time of the year! These big bass are very hungry and will school up heavy in specific areas. I am targeting roadbeds, humps, points, ridges and pond dams on the main lake or at the mouth of creeks and major spawning areas. Using my new Garmin dual 7612 and 7610 touchscreen electronics has been essential in locating these schools. If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out the new Garmins you’ll want to check them out and see why everyone is making the switch in electronics. From their incredible 2D sonar and Side/Down Vu to the state of the art Panoptix technology and mapping, you’ll quickIy see why Garmin is becoming so popular! I am looking for bait in these areas and once you locate the schools of bait and sandbass, the bass are right with them. When I find a school of bass, I am using my electronics to determine if the bass are suspended or on the bottom. This helps me in bait selection. Most of the fish will be suspended early in the post-spawn stage and become more related to the bottom as the water temperatures warm and the thermocline starts to set up. For the suspended fish I am deep cranking with a DD22 in shad colors or throwing a deep swimbait on a jighead or a Berkley Swim shad. These baits are effective at working the middle of the water column where suspended post-spawn bass like to hang out. When the fish get on the bottom I will target them with a big Texas rig and a 1/2 oz weight with a 5/0 hook. These fish are real hungry so I like big plastics on a my Texas rig. I like to put a Berkley 10” or 12” Powerworm on and give them a big meal offering. Most of these bass are very hungry so a big bait is appealing to them. I also like to employ the Carolina rig into the arsenal of post spawn techniques. I like to use a long leader (5ft.) and a big heavy 1 oz weight to drag the bottom. Trilene 20 lb test Fluorocarbon is a must with a 2/0 or 3/0 wide gap hook. Best baits on the c-rig are Berkley Powerbait 7” or 10” Power Worms, Powerbait Ribsnake, and Berkley Havoc Backslide in blue fleck, watermelon red, green pumpkin, and chartreuse pepper. You can also catch a lot of these hungry post spawn bass on a football head jig. Santone Lures makes a great football head jig and I catch a lot of bass on it this time of year. I opt for the 5/8 or 3/4 oz model and best colors are JC’s Spicy Craw, Mexican Heather, and Peanut Butter & Jelly. I will tip my jig with a matching Berkley Havoc Pit Chunk for the best size and action to catch big bass!


Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there this month! I hope this report helps you on your next trip here to the lake. If you are headed to Lake Fork in pursuit of a trophy bass and are looking to book a guide, I would enjoy the opportunity to take you or your group fishing and show you a great time on Lake Fork. I still have some summer dates available and am already taking fall reservations, which is an excellent time for fishing on Lake Fork as well. I also have gift certificates available for those of you that are interested in purchasing a friend or loved one a guided trip on Lake Fork. You can contact me to make your reservation at 903-736-9888 or send me an email at [email protected] You can also visit my website for more information about Lake Fork and my guide service at www.officiallakeforktrophybass.com You can find me on Facebook and follow my official Lake Fork Guide page at https://www.facebook.com/lakeforkfishingguides 
Good luck to all the tournament anglers headed to the lake this month! Also, while you are here, be sure to stop by Diamond Sports Marine located on highway 154 just north of the bridge. They have all the new 2016 Ranger Boats already in stock. You will not want to miss the opportunity to check out the new Z series bass boats as well as the all-new Ranger aluminum series. These boats have some amazing features are definitely eye catchers! Give Fred a call at 903-383-7829 to set up your personal demo ride in a Ranger Boat.

I would like to thank all of my current 2016 sponsors for supporting my FLW Series tournament fishing and my guide service on Lake Fork: Toyota, Carhartt, Ranger Boats, Mercury Outboards, I Am Second, Leer, Garmin, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Santone Lures, Costa Sunglasses, Power Pole, Rigid Industries, Road Armor, Fabtech Motorsports and Elite Tungsten.


1 John 5:12- He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Tight Lines & God Bless,
James Caldemeyer