August 4th - I have been doing this for a long time and can't ever remember wearing jeans and a sweatshirt for several days during the last days of July and the beginning of August. Insane weather this year has put the fish on Lake Fork into a tail spin. There have been extremely great days and some brutally horrible days. Usually at this time of year, the fish are on a predictable pattern out deep. The show up at the same time most every day to feed etc. Not the case this summer. I now spend all my days determining the timing windows when the bass move up on specific structure to fill their belly. This past week was the first time that the fish consistently shown themselves at a certain time of the day. I was able to take advantage of that with my clients and dug out some whoppers.

Normally, August sees the oxygen level below 20ft starting to deplete and the fish suspend in the upper water column. You have to scan lots of water with your electronics and look for the huge arches hanging in the mid depths. I target these bass with weightless flukes, crankbaits and flutter spoons and tail kickers. To date, this hasn't happened as of yet. We have, although, managed to catch some suspended fish but the main pattern has been the drop shot on a variety of structure. Light line has been the key and we have had no problems landing green monsters upwards to ten pounds on 12lb test. It's strange that we are forced to fight this battle in this fashion when the carolina rig generally dominates this time of year. You should always be able to find feeding fish on main lake points in 20-30ft but this has been sort of a struggle. Lucky for me, I have  locations that have been replenishing on a daily basis. A lot of these spots have been producing ten to twenty fish per day up to ten pounds. Rather cool I must say. Again, the drop shot has been king. We have used a variety of soft plastics depending on the conditions. Dark colors on cloudy days and plum colors on the sunny days. Red seems to be the all around color any time of the year. Zoom trick worms, Roboworms and any type of finesse worm has landed the lion share of the bass.

There are some areas of the lake with hydrilla and this has been a huge let down as of this writing. I believe it is due to the fact that the oxygen levels in open water are OK which keeps the bulk of the bass offshore. I see this changing over the nest month. I have, although, caught some smaller fish on the grass on texas rig worms as well at the drop shot. It seems that moving baits have been out of the question. It won't be long when the swimbait will take top honors as the season starts to change. In the meantime, continue to check main lake humps, road beds, pond dams and points. If there is bait present, fish the spot anyway, even though you may not mark any hooks on the Lowrance electronics. If you can't locate any fish in the deeper parts of the lake, focus your attention to the 10-18ft range, especially around wood. This may be the ticket.

May 5 - April was an incredible month capped by a 12.26 behemoth caught by Zach Turner on April 25th using a M-Pack Lures Pack Mule swimbait. The water conditions were perfect and Zach worked the fish to perfection. This fish was close to the Share a Lunker program and we all thought he had it once the big girl was in the net. Reflecting on that stellar day, we managed an eight plus into the boat and lost two nine pounders at the net. What a day to remember.

Early April was nothing to sneeze at. We had several excellent days on the Alabama Rig, shaky heads and chatterbaits. The bite was on for most of the month with the exception of a few cold fronts followed by high pressure. On those days, the numbers fell off substantially but the quality was still outstanding. On the average day, the harder the wind blew, the better the bite was. You just have to trust me on this one as most anglers opt to hide from the wind in protected coves. You just have to deal with taking the waves over the bow and make sure you don't drift into a stump while you are handling a big fish.

May has started off with a bang as my partner and I fished two tournaments this past weekend.The first day we had thirty-three fish and the second day, well over fifty. Plenty of fish are shallow and on the beds. They will react to a weightless fluke or senko worked shallow. Also, a large majority of pre and post spawn fish relate to wood for a short time and can be caught on shaky heads, jigs and drop shots. It's all a matter of being in the right place at the right time. The remainder of May should be spectacular. Post spawn fish will start to move out to the deep humps and ridges and gang up in large groups. This is when my Lowrance electronics will help to locate these large groupsand set the stage for the best drop shot bite of the year. Also, the 10XD will come into play if your arms can stand it.

All of this action will carry over into early June so you better call up and get booked for the fishing excursion of a lifetime. The next six weeks is my favorite time of the year and I plan to land some double digit giants. Come join the fun.

Mar. 25 - Lake Fork has finally turned the corner and is ready to explode. The harsh winter has had all of us scratching our heads about fish position being as we have had a cold front every other day for three weeks. High pressure is brutal to deal with. Yesterday's trip proved to be the turning point as we had 14 fish during a half day trip, most all were over four pounds. Four of those were over six pounds. Quite entertaining. Fish are starting to show up on beds across the lake in protected pockets and the next full moon should usher in a major movement to the shallows. Flukes, senko's, texas rigs and shaky heads have all produced big fish. Use dark colors on cloudy days and watermelon red on sunny days. I am finally starting to see back up patterns develop when cold fronts drive us out of the shallow pockets.
     Main lake and secondary points are holding the larger prespawn fish and the Carolina rig is holding it's own capturing these monsters. Lizards, flukes and hyper sticks in green pumpkin or chartreuse pumpkin will get the job done and be sure to work them slowly. Main lake water temps are still in the mid fifties while the backs of the creeks are showing low to mid sixties. I foresee the spawn trailing well into late May this year but the biggest females will gang up on this next full moon. It won't be long and the shad will be spawning leading us to throw squarebills, big swimbaits and Alabama rigs to harvest the huge sows. I believe the next several weeks will be amazing so give me a call to book a trip. I still have a few days available in April and my favorite time of the year, May, still has plenty of spots available. Come join me and take a shot at the fish of a lifetime.

Feb. 22 - The trap bite has carried us through for the past month in one main area of Lake Fork. Word has gotten out and the pressure in this area of lately has been incredible. Even though the quality on a daily basis has been very good, the numbers have fallen off drastically. Fortunately, the water temps are warming and other patterns are starting to come in vogue and other areas of the lake are starting to open up. The pre-spawn fish are moving up and wood will become the best target for the next three months. Bass love to spawn next to stumps and jigs, shaky heads and drop shots will the presentations of choice. Use dark colored plastics on cloudy days and more translucent colors on sunny days.

As far as locations, it's time to start checking the backs of creeks. I have found that the water color in these areas is far better than the mouths of the same creeks. The large females are setting up on secondary points while the bucks are scouting bedding area toward the backs of the creeks. This next couple of months is going to be a blast.

Jan. 27th - Prespawn action is heating up. I have had some excellent trips over the past eight days where we have managed to catch plenty of four to nine pounders in shallow grass on rattle traps. The bigger females are starting to stage in areas that lead to the spawning flats. Subtle points and ditches in the grass are also key areas at this time and the afternoon bite is getting better each day. I have managed to win two tournaments this month on Fork and we targeted the small under fish in 30 - 35ft on sloping points. Those under fish have really been a pain to find this month and all the tournament anglers have been suffering.

The creek bend bite has been terrible to this point but I think that will change over the next several weeks. Big prespawn females will be traveling to their favorite birthing locations and they will stage just outside of these areas in deeper water for a few weeks before moving up when nature calls. At this time, the jig will be the best attack to land a trophy as they are feeding up for the spawn.

Look at your map and find areas where a creek might swing close to a secondary point. Work that area with a fine tooth comb and it should pay off.

Jan. 5th - Currently, the deep bite is sporadic with most black bass being caught mixed in with schools of sand bass. They all after shad and it's first come, first serve. Crankbaits, jigging spoons and the A-rig have all been working well for these fish. You may have to weed your way through a lot of sandies to come up with a good large mouth but it is a ton of fun.

The best bite for black bass has been on the grass later in the afternoon. As the sun warms the water, the fish move up to feed and this is the time to throw a trap, jerkbait, spinnerbait or even a swimbait. These fish are ambushing prey from points of grass as well as the many ditches. Most all fish we will catch range between four and seven pounds. Water temps are hovering around 46 degrees and this has an affect on the number of bites. Ten bites in this class of fish is a good afternoon. As the water warms, the bites will increase exponentially as the females feed up for the spawn.

Weather is always the big issue at this time of year. Always dress warm and a good pair of insulated boots are priceless. For those who brave the conditions, this is also the best time of year to land a true giant. Several toads over thirteen pounds were caught in January and February of 2013. You can't join that club unless you are on the water.