week of June 16, 2014

Another 4 days on Lake Fork this week.  More boat troubles, more rain, more wind, and fewer fish than anyone wanted to see.  You pays your money and you takes your chances.  That said, I still had a good time and can't wait to go back for more.

I started out at sunrise with Dale on Monday and our 8 hours totaled 1 fish.  I think I had exactly 1 bite all day and it was not much of a bite.  We hit a bunch of great holes and tried a variety of techniques but we were just snake bit.  We variously blamed Obama and the Garmin survey boat but I think the blame lies squarely on those darned fish.

After a nice siesta I met up with Rhandy at 4:30 and off we went in search of more cooperative fish.  Rhandy had pre-fished a bit and found one point that worked well.  We caught 7 tiny bass and two about 3 pounds or so, one of which was a long skinny fish.  After the bites dried up on that point we moved around to several other spots but I never saw another bite, despite finding lots of pretty fish pictures on Rhandy's fancy graphs.  Rhandy caught one more small fish so we ended up with 10 for the evening.

Tuesday dawned with anticipation of a better day and Dale drove us up to the 515 east ramp to start our fishing up north.  We started out fishing frogs on lily pads up in Glade.  Dale caught one and I had a blow up but missed.

 

From there we moved around and ended up on one of Dale's favorite north lake points.  We caught a few before boat and equipment troubles interrupted our day, but I did manage to catch a couple including a nice 5 pounder.  Howling 20-30 mph winds were a real pain.

My siesta between Dale and Rhandy was interrupted by thunder and heavy rainfall outside.  Dang it!  This Lake Fork Rain God stuff is getting old!  Needless to say Rhandy and I did not get to go out Tuesday afternoon.  However we made due with some great BBQ, Rhandy's soon to be famous potato salad, and copious cans of beer.

Wednesday morning dawned with more hope and once again the fish mostly eluded us.

The wind layed down a bit, but we still managed to lose Dale's stump ring when some heavy gusts blew through.  We tried to retrieve it for awhile but eventually gave up and went back to fishing.  I bet by the next time I go back he'll either get it out or have a new one made.  We did catch a few fish and once again my best went around 5 pounds.  It was a tough slog, though, and we just couldn't get them to play our game.

My nap on Wednesday was uninterrupted by storms so I had good hope of getting out on the water with Rhandy at 4:30.  When I pulled up at his trailer I pointed to a shower off to the south and laughed about my "powers" once again.  Rhandy thought the squall was going to pass west of us so we loaded up and headed north to the point that had worked on Monday.  On our first cast, I looked back at the shower and saw lightning streak across the sky.  I immediately started reeling up and before I got my lure to the boat 2 more lightning bolts shot down.   Rhandy said "Nope we're going in".  I like it when we think alike on stuff like that.  If he hadn't called it I was about to.  Lightning is something I have no desire to mess with at all.  If you can see lightning or hear thunder, it is not safe.  Period.  We ran into his dock and tied up to see what was going to happen from the relative safety of shore. 

After a few minutes of checking radars Rhandy decided to put the boat on the trailer.  On his way down to the ramp Dale called to report he had seen the same thing we were.  Nice to have those extra eyes watching out for us.  Thanks Dale!  Rhandy put the boat back on the trailer and we sat around another hour or so, watching the radar and the storms on the horizon.  About 6 pm, we felt it was safe enough to give it another go and we launched again at the Minnow Bucket.  As we turned to head out, all we could see was dark sky to the south and the winds starting to whip up white caps near the dam.  Rhandy didn't like the way things looked so we called it a day and went in to eat much BBQ and drink much beer.  The fish will be there another day and because of smart guides, we will, too.  Good decision, Rhandy.

Thursday started a little different as we left the ramp about 8:30 am.  I had Dale start us a little later due to my buddy Scott's train arrival in Mineola for our east Texas BBQ trip.  We caught a few small fish but it was another tough day on the water.  We'll get 'em next time!

It is funny how spoiled we are fishing at Lake Fork.  I did catch two nice 5 pound fish and caught a few every single day.  Most bass fisherman never get the chance to catch two 5 pound bass on one trip.  We're just really spoiled and expect the 40 fish days and 8 pound fish to come every trip.  It is interesting to note that at the big Skeeter tournament the previous weekend over 2000 fisherman turned in just 28 fish over the slot in 3 days fishing.  That helps put things in perspective.  However at Lake Fork every single cast gives you the opportunity of catching the fish of a lifetime and there's not too many other lakes where that is possible.

week of June 8, 2014

Spent 4 days at Lake Fork this week and managed to once again prove my title as the Lake Fork Rain God.  Monday I met Dale at 5 am and we watched lightning and heard thunder off to the west.  Things did not look good so we decided to postpone our start til the weather improved.  I went back to the motel and it rained off and on for over 4 hours.  I will fill that lake to the spillway yet!

Rhandy stopped by my room about 1 pm after it had finally cleared off.  He had just bought a new (used) boat and said we could head out about 2 pm.  Off we went and everything seemed to work fine with his new ride.  I think I only caught 1 fish, but we had a good time testing out his new equipment and checking out some good spots.  Unfortunately the rain returned and after a couple of starts and stops we decided to give it up for Monday.  It was just too wet and the fish were not cooperating.

Things started better with Dale at 5:15 Tuesday morning.  After a rare June cool front I needed a jacket and I kept it on all the way until 11 am.  Lower than normal temperatures and a stiff north wind kept it cool all day long.  We started off on deep water spots and boated 3 fish before switching to shallow water along windy points.  We found another 8 takers with the biggest being a 6.5 pounder Dale caught.  I had several in the 3-4 pound range and it was fun.

After a truly epic siesta, I met up with Rhandy at 4:30 pm and he had boat troubles right from the start.  Things went from bad to worse but we still ended up getting some fishing in and I even caught one!  Rhandy was very frustrated, but I'm sure he will get all the kinks out of that boat soon enough.  As frustrated as he was, he hooked a great big fish just before dark and it ran under the boat and got off.  He said it was the biggest fish he had hooked all year and maybe of his lifetime.  He never had control of the fish and it just went where it wanted.  Always good to get a reminder of what Fork is all about.  Especially when your boat is giving you fits. 

Wednesday I met up with Dale at 5:45 and we headed out with a cloudless sky and much warmer temperatures.  We hit a number of deep and shallow holes and found a total of 4 fish who agreed to play our game.  My biggest was about 5.5 lbs out of a deep water hole, early.  Note I still have my jacket on in June!  The last fish had swallowed a hook from an earlier breakoff and Dr. Dale performed the surgery to remove most of the leader line protruding through the poor fish's gills.  I ended up catching 2 on a shakey head in shallow water and 2 on a carolina rig in deeper water.

After many more boat repair adventures, Rhandy met me at 4:30 pm (following another good siesta).  Things worked smoother than Tuesday but there were still a few glitches.  His fancy new electronics works great at fish finding, but not so great at fish biting.  I had 3 decent bass around 4 pounds, all from the same deepwater hole.  We hit several more good spots but only caught a catfish.  Even when we found a screen covered up with fish we couldn't entice them to bite.

Thursday started ominous with more worries about weather.  After much discussion, Dale decided to risk it and hope we could get in half a day.  I caught 1 small fish but otherwise we did not get bit.  After about an hour and a half the wind shifted, cranked up, and the dark clouds started rolling in.  We fled as whitecaps started rolling across the lake and won the race to the ramp as dozens of other boats had the same idea.  As we pulled up to the shore the first lightning bolt streaked across the sky and that was all she wrote for Thursday.  I drove through some pretty good rain coming back to town.  Again, doing my part to fill Lake Fork!

 

 Finally, I just had to snap a photo of the computer mouse at Hook Line and Sinker.  Cracked me up.