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Video Reference
Episode 16
https://youtu.be/nq1kb03_2bA

David Kelly, the informational source for a great deal of the information for Lake Fork within this site was a huge Jimi Hendrix fan. And “Electric Lady Land” was the title of Hendrix’s third and final studio album and actually was the only one produced by Jimi (reference Wilkipedia). The important part of this little history lesson has do with the fact that this location was very special to David.  And David, being David, had a name for every place he fished. And he pretty much fished them all. And this place, being as good as it was, being as electrifying as it could be at times, required a very special name.  David hung the name “Electric Lady Land” on it because this spot could simply become “electrifying” at any moment.   It is a stellar place to fish and it is also the perfect place to talk about the basics of “guts”, “flats”, and the “spawn” on this lake.

This spot typifies two similar but different feeding patterns. “The Gut” – Notice that the map shows some very apparent clues for you. In this area located north of Lake Fork Marina lies a cove, and to the north lies a large flat.  On the very north side of this flat lies a pond (location #3 mentioned in detail later in this article). This location #4 is a slough or what you might call a rather severe gut or ditch (small creek channel). The big deal about all this has to do with the near proximity of this combined slough/flat/pond structure to deep, main lake water. This area has what you would call great “structural value”. Now what that means is that this area has everything a bass needs. The great part about this is that it has very discernible pathways for these bass to use to migrate back and forth on.  There is a lot of bait around here so it’s a great food source for them. It has close by spawning areas, cedar tree cover,  and other structural features that provide everything a big fish would need. The fish in this area have, through time developed two well learned, and essentially needed patterns.

Discernible Patterns: The two slightly different patterns taking place here have to do with their spawning patterns which are just typical for bass and the other is their very interesting feeding patterns.

Ok, let us begin at the outer edge of the cove at the slough location #9 on the map.  Here you have this nice laid back slough, located south of this really nice Electric Lady Land flat, just to the north.  The bass feeding pattern in this area is characterized by the fact that these bass migrate from the deep water (location #9), cedar lined, trees along this natural funnel path made by the creek which follows all the way up to the shallow, cove area (location #4). The quick, noticeable, changes in elevation are very significant here.  If you look, you can see that the depths along this channel, quickly change from 25 feet to 13 feet to a shallow 4 foot depth up in the cove.  So these fish have, for a long period of time (since the mid 1980’s), had a habit of traveling along this funnel/contour/natural route.  These fish migrate from their own personal “sanctuaries” along this preferred, developed with time, migration bass “road”. The word “sanctuary” sounds like a big word but all it means is that this is where these fish feel the most comfortable. It’s what a good fitting glove feels like to them.  It’s like someone laying back in that recliner at the house, watching movies, and drinking tea and eating Cheetos.   They’ve used this route forever and two days.  It is where these fish are most secure and where they are the happiest.  This is the path from their living room to the mail box.  This is where they are usually going to be.  Now, here is what to do at this location #4 on the map.  Make sure that you are here, right where the old existing road crosses the creek, on top of this location at 5:00 am in the morning. You need to have a soft jerk bait tied on at this spot. If you do this, you have a good chance to catch a double digit fish here. This spot #4, with it’s variety of close water depth variation, can put you in a position to  where the the fish tend to roll right up to to you.  This existing funnel route naturally feeds these fish right to your location about this time of the morning. This window of time will last just about 30 minutes. At 5:30am the fish in this general vicinity will begin an age old tradition of chasing bait fish up on the large flat(location #5) north of your current location. So, that being said, at about 5:30 you will want to move over to the edge of this large 3 foot deep flat at location #5. You will want to have a white, 3/8 oz chrome tandem blade spinner bait tied on. You will run back and forth between location #5 and the pond (location #3) located on the north side of this flat. These fish will begin to come out of the deep water on the east side of this flat and that is how these bass will start the day off.  If you catch it in this pattern, it will be good until the sun starts coming up. When you look to the east shoreline and you start to see pink in the horizon sky you can bet that this pattern is just about to the end of it.

Now, if it’s a really good fishing day, you can turn right around as that suns coming up and  never leave that flat if this is the case.  What you do is strap on a watermelon colored Carolina rig and throw out in the 12′ deep water. When it’s good there, you can catch a few of the late bass leavers coming off that flat. Doing this can add numbers to your fish catch.

You have some nice size fish that stay in this area. The best reason that I can think of for why these fish were able to grow to such large sizes is that somewhere along the way, in the past, this group of fish found this pattern to be very successful. They learned this and they stuck with what worked. Keep in mind that the larger fish will usually feed in these similar type patterns if they have close access to deeper water as this does. The reason they like feeding in the shallow part of this migration path is that the shallow water is a much  easier place for them to isolate their food. In other words it’s easier to dip bait out of a coffee cup than it is to dip it out of the ocean. That flat is like a local convenience store at the end of their street for them.  They can go down there, pick up what they want, and they don’t have to stand in line and they don’t have to wait. It’s quick in and quick out. The reason these fish are larger here is that they are the couch potatoes of the fish world when located here. To obtain food is easy for them, and they don’t have to exert a lot of effort in order to get it.

Location: #4

Timing:  Be at location #4 at 5:00AM to 5:30 AM -the first week in May, then 5:30am till the Sunlight starts turning the sky pink in the East, then from that time on, December, January, and early to mid February, and July & Mid-August.

What to Do:  You will want to be throwing a “Super Fluke” or something similar. Pick your favorite color (the one you feel most comfortable with) and go with it. When selecting those colors bear in mind at that time of day it is usually very dark. The darker the day is the darker the color you want for your bait. The lighter the day is the lighter color of bait you will need to use. Watermelon with a chartreuse tail works for me. Red shad works as well.

Location: #5
“The Flat” – This flat does not have “lay downs”(logs) nor does it have a bunch of stumps. This area has scattered cedar trees, a sandy soil base, and is mostly shallow water. Its vegetation in the past was mostly hydrilla with some scattered coon tails. If it doesn’t have grass you’ll have target fish the available weeds and reeds.  It’s a shallow flat that extends out into open the water with no protection from the wind. So just remember that it can get rough here with wind. The wind here can however be your friend in the fact that it will often blow bait fish up on to this flat. You’ll see more south winds here in early May. And historically you’ll find that there is a wind that swirls onto and across the lake upon this flat. So in effect, the great thing here is that you will constantly having bait fish up on to this flat.

Other things to remember about “The Flat” #5 – A couple of other times during the year have shown to be productive as well. A significant temperature to look for is when the water temperature turns 52 degrees. You will observe this temperature in December, January, and early to mid February. When you catch the lake turning to this temperature, be up on “The Flat” itself (location #3).  You’ll want to be throwing a red rattletrap. If you catch this area during this time you have a good chance of catching a really nice fish. The time of day is somewhere in the middle of the day, anywhere from mid-morning to mid-afternoon is a good time. Just pull up there and work “The Flat” with a red rattletrap. Go up and down one, two, or three times. This will tell you if there is a good fish up there feeding or not. Normally if you are going to catch a fish during this time it will be a better fish than normal.

Timing: December, January, and early to mid February – when the water temperature turns 52 degrees.

WHAT TO DO:  Throw a red rattletrap

Now also located on the flat is the mentioned pond. This pond has a very nice dam to go with it. The dam gives you shallow water close to the very adjacent deep water. Looking down at the pond you also have deeper water in the pond itself (25 feet) and you have even deeper water on the open water or east side of the dam. This situation obviously makes the dam become a “hump”. Both sides of the dam will provide bass sufficient depth for the 8 to 12 feet of water that bass on “Fork” like.

You will want to look at this spot is during mid-summer. Starting in July you will want to move over to the pond on “The Flat”.  You will want to throw bottom-bouncing lures. Use something like a jig or a Texas Rigged Worm or a Carolina Rig. Something in a black, black/blue is good. A good time to fish it is right at daylight. This can land right during the first time that the fish are going to move up there and feed. Because of the small differences in water temperature, thermoclines, and the fact that they are just starting to develop and start the day, you will want to concentrate on just the dam area of that pond.

Before you go further you need to understand the term “thermocline”. The thermocline is simply a lake condition that you should be on the look for around July & Mid-August. It is a condition that influences fish to reside in a certain depth or layer. The reason we look for this condition to occur is that it can help you eliminate unproductive water. The thing that clues you in to when this condition takes place is time & temperature. Normally what happens is the thermocline will occur when the water reaches over 80 degrees.  It’s very noticeable on a depth finder as it will be represented by a thick dark line at a certain depth.

So when you are in July & Mid-August start looking for 80 degree water temperature. If the thermocline (“or bunching up”) has not developed then fish can be in any layer or depth and this makes this hump not so hot. If the thermocline has developed then that tells you that it is ok for you to fish this 13 foot deep dam prior to the thermocline beginning in just a few weeks at location #3.

Timing: Starting in July & Mid-August.

What to Do:  Throw bottom-bouncing lures. Use something like a jig or a Texas Rigged Worm or a Carolina Rig. Something in a black, black/blue

Lake Fork Marina Cove-and other areas for the spawn – An excellent example of the spawn could be seen near the Lake Fork Marina area. The Lake Fork Marina area is a very good place to witness the spawn and to observe how this all takes place. You will notice in this area that there is deep water that goes into the mouth of this cove and there are well-defined creeks that stretch all the way to the back. These avenues will provide the routes for the big fish. What you want to look for is the secondary points. The secondary points are where your bigger fish will bed up. The fish like the fact that this cove has nice, well-defined creeks with close, deep water. Essentially you have a two-fold effect going on here. For one, you have the natural effect of the fish coming into the creeks for the purpose of the spawn. And two you also have the effect created by the release of fish back into the creek by boater releases at the marina. People naturally will be bringing in their fish to the marina to weigh. They’ll be taking pictures, measuring the fish, trying to win tournaments and all that. In the process a lot of those fish will be released at the marina. Those fish released tend to stay for a short period of time in that cove before they move back out. They can find their way back home however they may linger a while before they do.  It’s an angler’s win-win situation. This provides you with two sources of fish catching opportunity. Consider it a double whammy of sorts. You have the movement of fish coming into the cove and you have the fish (that are already large enough to have their picture taken) being released back into the water. Many of these may come from other parts of the lake. These two things are what make the north shore of Lake Fork Marina area a prime area to catch a big fish.  This is definitely a factor for your consideration when competing in a tournament.

Fishing During the spawn:

Throw a lizard two different ways. You can throw either a Carolina or a Texas Rigged lizard. This is the best producer for catching bed fish right before they go up on their beds. Use the lizard from 60 to 64 degrees. When it hits 64 degrees let the “sight” fishing begin. You can do this with a Gene Larew 6″ hog craw. When you say sight fish this is when you can actually spot the fish visually in the water before trying to catch it. Throw the lure up on the bed and try to entice the fish to take the bait. When the fish picks the bait up they usually are just trying to remove the bait from the bed. The fish are usually pretty smart about how they remove the bait from their bed. Sometimes the fish will pick the bait up by the tail to move it. Usually, after repeatedly removing the lure from the nest the fish becomes upset and so angry at the bait that the fish attempts to kill the bait by swallowing it. When you notice the bait has disappeared you know that the bait is in the fish’s mouth and that is when to set the hook. Use a Texas rigged 6″ Hawg Craw for this weighted with a 1/8-oz bullet slip weight to keep the bait in the bed as to put action on the lure. A twitching action makes the bait seem to be feeding on the bed fry/eggs. Bumping up and down in this feeding fashion many times brings the big response that you’re looking for from the bedding bass.

Timing: Pre-spawn, Spawn.

What to Do:  Pre-Spawn use a Carolina or a Texas Rigged lizard. Use the lizard from 60 to 64 degrees.  At 64 degrees (spawn) let the “sight” fishing begin and use a Texas rigged 6″ Hawg Craw for this weighted with a 1/8-oz bullet slip weigh.

*Important Information:  Explaining the Spawn – Earlier, it was mentioned that there were basically two types of patterns for fish. Those patterns were “feeding patterns” and spawning patterns”. We explained feeding patterns in the earlier part of this talk.  Let us now explain in detail spawning patterns.

Spawning patterns are not as glamorous as the feeding patterns are. This process is a very basic instinct behavioral pattern that is triggered by water temperature and the amount of available daylight. The timing of these two elements,historically begins around March 15th on this lake. This is the time for the beginning of the spawn.  Some areas of the lake warms up sooner than others so does have an effect that may vary the specific area spawn date.

Essentials
The spawn will take place when the water temperature hits 64 degrees (magic number) and the lake is stable. The word “stable” means that the lake’s floodgates are not open and the lake has not received a great amount of rain. Also the temperature of 64 degrees must be a steady, solid 64 degrees. Just hitting 64 degrees will not achieve it. When the temperature hits this solid 64 degrees you’ll want to pull up in those secondary points and fish for the larger females spawning on those points.

The word “available daylight” means that daylight lasts longer this time of year and therefore provides more time for the day to heat the water. If you get a lot of rainwater and the floodgates are opened, then the fish will pull back from spawning because they are unsure of the spawn location. The fish will typically hold positions out in four to six feet of water.  It wouldn’t be a bad idea to check for any water releases planned for the dam.

You need to also remember that this scenario in the past was not much of a factor on Lake Fork. In fact, Lake Fork’s favor never fluctuated a great deal in the past. Things may change now that Fork has a new pump station that sends water to a lake closer to Dallas. So far the word is that they (the pump station) are withholding pump operations during the spawn.  It is hard to tell (at this time) if this gentleman’s agreement (as I assume that it is) will continue. There are some other extenuating circumstances related to the future price of that pumped water, so the eventual outcome is not clear at this time.   Hopefully you won’t a great deal of water released during spawn season.

The Actual Spawn:
The fish will be in a pre-spawn feed from 52 degrees up to 60 degrees of water temperature. Mother Nature steps in at 60 degrees (W.T.) and tells the male fish move in and select his spot to develop the nest. An indicator of this process is when the redbud trees blossom and bloom. These trees usually bloom into a red bud at 60 degrees (W.T.). That is the time that the male bass moves in to prepare the nest. The male fish begins the pre-spawn by selecting the site of the spawn. Once he has selected the site he begins the process of preparing the nest. He does this by fanning the selected area with his tail. What this does is prepare a nice area for the deposit of his sperm and the female’s eggs. This ends up being a 2 or 3 foot circle. If you look at the bottom of the lake you will see these circles. This is the nest. When you catch a fish whose tail is bloody, this is the result of this fish fanning the nests. This tells you that this stage of the spawn cycle is currently taking place. At 64 degrees (W.T.) he will go and get the female and they will unite and join together and travel to his bed. It will not be a far distance for them to go. She will be in a holding position in about 6 feet of water. The whole process is about a three-day ritual. The three days of time spent, will be with the female in the nest. This is what usually happens. The Female bass lays her eggs at the same time that the male deposits his sperm into the bed. Once this begins, both fish begin fanning the nest with their tails. She fans the nest with her tail to get the eggs out and they settle in the sand as they are fanning the bed. Not all the eggs are fertilized or hatched. Now for three days both the fish stay on the bed. At some time after these three days the eggs in the nest hatch. After the third day the female will leave the nest and travel back to deeper water to suspend. She will be completely exhausted. This is what some people call the post-spawn blahs. The male (or buck) will stay on the bed and continue to protect the nest. He will stay long enough on the nest for the eggs to hatch and develop. He may be there three days to a week. He will guard the bed from things that comes in to the nest such as bream, blue gills, turtles, other fish, birds and etc. At the end of the ritual he becomes exhausted and frustrated. This is the result of the increase of numerous and different predators that he has to protect the nest from. The nest at this point has fully developed hatch-lings hanging in the bed. Probably the last thing that this male may do before he abandons the nest is to eat some of his own hatch-lings. He does this as he is leaving. This would tend to put a fear factor in his own offspring. It essentially says don’t trust anything bigger than you. He won’t eat a lot of fish but he will eat some of them before he leaves. Once the male leaves the nest, the spawn process is over.  The male fish is exhausted and is heading to sanctuary where he too will become suspended, pending some well deserved rest.

Three conditions when met provide the time of year that you are more likely to catch the big fish.

Watch the night air around March the 15th. The red bud and the dogwood trees will be doing their thing as mentioned, the males will be making their beds and the females will be coming into the cove at the magical 64 degrees. The best time during the spawn to catch that super big fish will be before she lays any eggs. The conditions that you want to be looking for when trying to determine the best time to hit the lake will rely on three key observations. Look for these three things:

Spawn Observation One:
The water level has to be *stable and the water temperature has to be at a constant 64 degrees.

Spawn Observation Two:
Look for the first five nights of consecutive air temperature of not less than 50 degrees. On the fifth day you will have a lot of big fish coming in to roam and feed right before they get on the bed. This is usually the day that the big female comes in to forage before the spawn. She’s getting ready for the arduous task that lies ahead of her. She does this by making sure she has a full stomach before all this takes place. She will need the energy.

Spawn Observation Three:
Look for the full moon. Combine the last two essential observations with a full moon and ooh-la-la. Three days before and three days after a full moon are the best times to fish the full moon.  Keep in mind that the females usually spawn during the full moon. If you’re lucky enough to have all of the first two things happening and you are near having a full moon, then you are in the mythical, magical, period that you will make you want to be on this lake 24 hours of the day. This time coordinating jackpot is the very, very best time to catch a big fish.  You will catch her when she’s roaming and feeding at this time. This is right before this female bass lands on the bed to drop her eggs. Once she does drop those eggs she will start loosing weight. That is why you will want to catch her before she gets on that bed.

Keep this in mind as well:
If you want to catch a huge fish, the time is historically March. Also remember that when the male is making the bed, either fish, male or female is cache-able.