6’5” and 6’7” brothers Kyle and Braxton had no problems handling Lake Fork lunkers. Kyle was hot early with lots of 4s and 5s, while Braxton set his personal best mark for bass 3 times in a row late in the day with a 5-10, 6-0 and 6-15. Nice going guys!
Several big ones for me:
Fishing on Lake Fork has been very good for us on most days this past week. Yesterday, we had 6 fish over 6 pounds, while we had a couple 7s along with several 6s and a lot of 3.5 to 5.5 pounders on Monday after a slower day on Tuesday. Good fish are coming from a variety of patterns right now, allowing us to adjust to conditions and usually catch big fish whether it’s sunny and calm or windy and rainy. While a few fish are showing up out deep, many fish are still spawning in the shallows. Just about any bait in your tackle box will work at some point in May, and the fishing will continue to get better as the females wrap up their spawning rituals and put on the feedbag. From lunkers on topwaters to structure fishing for schools of big bass on crankbaits, swimbaits, and Carolina rigs, the annual summer whack-fest is about to begin. Head on out to Lake Fork this summer and find out why May, June, and July are the favorite months of many Fork regulars.
Lake Conditions: Lake Fork’s water level is rising and currently reading 402.00’, 1’ below full pool. Recent rains will muddy up some creeks but much of the lake is very clear right now. Water temps dropped slightly after the rains, currently reading in the upper 60s or low 70s.
Location Pattern: I’m finding most of the bigger spawning fish nearer the mouths of coves and on main lake flats in 8’ and less. While some bass are spawning in the newly flooded grass and cattails, many are spawning or staging along the inside grassline in about 4’. In addition, many bass are also holding amongst the rapidly burgeoning lily pads. Near where we found numbers of shallow spawning bass on slightly deeper structure such as points, creek channels, and ledges is where we’ve found most of the bigger females. Deep structure in 15’ to 30’ is also starting to hold some good fish.
Presentation Pattern: Shad colored topwaters have been very productive for actively feeding post spawners on some days this week. For the bass holding in the newly flooded vegetation, swimming a green pumpkin red/pearl Fork Frog is hard to beat. For bass around beds and on the spawning flats, weightless Texas rigged 4.5” Live Magic Shads have produced very well this week. Rig these weightless on an Owner 4/0 or 5/0 Wide Gap Plus hook and try the watermelon red/pearl, watermelon seed/red flake, golden shiner, or Magic Shad colors. While some bass are biting on the swim, our best retrieve has been dead-sticking on the bottom, followed by swimming it a few feet and letting it fall back to the bottom, repeating this all the way back to the boat. For spawning bass, white or watermelon candy Fork Craws and Merthiolate twitch worms have worked well. Out deeper, ½ oz Mega Weight Jigs in black/blue with blue bruiser or watermelon candy colored Fork Craw trailers or Texas rigged Fork Creatures in the same colors are catching lots of big bass on points. And swimbaits or medium and deep diving crankbaits in shad or yellow bass patterns are catching lots of suspended bass as well.
Lake Baccarac Update: Baccarac continues to be smokin’ hot! Check out the reports from this past week. Some boats catching up to 180 a day. Frank Zuniga caught a nice 13.5 on May 1st using a 6 inch swimbait. Randy Potter reports his 5 biggest fish May 1st at 46.5 pounds, all caught using 1 oz gold/chart rattletrap. Chuck Misak reports catching 90 fish the first 3 hours on the lake and at one point catching fish on 40 consecutuve casts! Dale Quisenberry caught 10.8 and 12.3 this morning on topwater. Guide Eddie has been able find a good topwater bite the last 3 mornings. Big swimbaits have been doing very good on the long points. Awesome!! May is historically one of the best trophy bass months, so look for this trend to continue. There are still a few openings left for this season, while the fall and winter of 2007/2008 are booking very quickly. Anyone interested in fishing Baccarac next season should start finalizing their plans soon, as the lodge only holds 24 anglers and many of the premium dates are already booked solid. For more info on a trip to Baccarac, please check out my website: http://www.bigmexicobass.com .
Here’s hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 (days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through http://www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com , where your satisfaction is guaranteed.
Good Fishing,
Tom