Fishing has been good at both Lake Fork and Lake Monticello the past couple of weeks. With the weather and water cooling off, I have been splitting trips between the two lakes. The action on Monticello has been best early on most days with Fork being the afternoon option of choice. Fish can still be caught early on Fork but the bite has been best for me when water temperatures are at their peak later in the day.
Monticello is in great shape. It’s a very fun lake to fish and can produce some really good numbers of quality fish this time of year. The water levels there are good and slightly stained to clear in most areas. All the fish we are catching are still pre-spawn but it will not be long before you see a number of them move to spawn. I have had good success lately on Texas rigged 10” Black Power Worms and Berkley Chigger Craws in green pumpkin or black/blue. Flipping the timber along the old channel edges of the creeks has been best for the bigger fish. Shallow to mid diving cranks, lipless cranks, and spinner bait are also good choices for the pre-spawn bass. If you get a cloudy day, the top water bite has been good on buzz baits and frogs. You can also move out to the discharge areas and the highway bridge for some great Carolina rig and drop shot action. Best baits have been a 4” Power Worm and 5” Wacky Crawler green pumpkin, watermelon, and motor oil red.
The colder water temperatures on Lake Fork have the bass finishing up their fall feeding agenda right now with a number of fish still being caught both shallow and deep. You can find a lot of fish holding in the grass in 2-6 feet. Best baits have been red/orange lipless crank baits, white or white/chartreuse chatter baits, or a big square bill crank bait in any shad pattern. The bite around the creek channel edges and shallow timber has been decent on jigs. I like to pitch a 1/2 ounce Talon flippin jig in green pumpkin, black & blue, or bama bug colors tipped with a matching Berkley Chigger Craw.
The deep bite is pretty strong still despite the cold weather. The bass are ganged up on deep structure gorging on shad, bar fish, and white bass. Best depths have been 24-32 feet with structure change. Right now it can be channel drops, humps, ridges, points and road beds located in that depth. Jigging spoons like the Talon T-spoon or Big Dandy flutter spoon have been great as well as a 1/2 oz tail kicker or jig & grub. Carolina rigs and heavy Talon football head jigs have also been doing very well. The water temperatures are in the 50’s the key right now is to slow your retrieves down to get bites.
If you are interested in booking a guided trip on world famous Lake Fork or would like to fish one of the great power plant lakes nearby this winter, feel free to contact me anytime by email: lakeforktrophybass@yahoo.com or by phone at (903)736-9888. Also, if you are considering a trip in 2011, you will want to make your plans soon. I only have a few openings left in my schedule for spring and early summer so don’t wait until its too late. If you make it out to the lake and have not seen the new 2011 Ranger Boats, go by Diamond Sports Marine and check these beautiful boats out. Ben Hogan and Robert Gilliland at Diamond Sports Marine will be happy to show you the new 2011 models and man they are impressive. If you would like to go for a ride in one, demos are available upon request. A special thanks to all my sponsors, and to my family, friends, and clients for their support!
Have a Merry Christmas and remember the reason for the season is CHRIST who was born for each one of us!
James 4:7
Tight Lines and God Bless,
James Caldemeyer
