Lake Fork Fishing Report: Topwater Blitz, Midday Grassy Flats, and Post-Spawn Crappie Action

Lake Fork is fishing real good this week and today’s another fine day to be on the water. Water temps are sitting around 73 degrees and levels are about three-quarters of a foot below pool, with the water a bit stained. Early mornings are really the ticket, especially with a strong shad spawn. You’ll want to target shallow grass and edges with topwater frogs and poppers—bass are blowing up on them quick. Sunrise was at 6:24 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:16 p.m., so get out early for the best topwater bite[1][4].

Midday and into the afternoon, the bite’s moving deeper. I’m seeing action on flukes and yum dingers out over grassy flats in 1 to 3 feet, and there’s some fish pulling out a little deeper to 5 to 10 feet, especially on secondary points. Carolina rigs have been picking up steady fish out in those depths. Bass are in post-spawn mode, but a new wave of spawners is coming up—look for fresh beds and target those fish with creature baits or soft plastics[4].

Crappie are settling into their post-spawn patterns. The smaller black crappie are loading up on brush piles, laydowns, bridges, and docks, while the bigger white crappie are just starting to move onto the deeper timber for the summer. Minnows are working great, but any colored jig will get bit. Focus on 10 to 30 feet of water—sometimes the fish are just a couple feet down, sometimes hugging bottom, so adjust your presentation[4].

Bream and channel catfish are also up shallow. Wooly buggers and clousers have been catching good numbers if you're fly fishing, but standard worms will do the job for bream. Catfish are cruising 2 to 4 feet and hitting live bait readily[4].

Hot spots right now: Hit Little Caney in the early morning for bass busting shad, and check out the SRA Point for midday fluke and Carolina rig action. For crappie, try the bridges near Big Mustang and the timber around Wolf Creek.

As for the weather—today will be warm, highs climbing to the upper 70s with light south winds. Expect stable pressure, which should keep the bite steady through the day. There’s no tidal influence on Lake Fork, but keep your eyes on that early morning and late evening window for prime fish activity[1][4].

Lure pick of the day: Black or white frogs for topwater, watermelon-red or junebug flukes and dingers for plastics, and 1/8 to 1/4 ounce jigs in chartreuse or blue for crappie. Live minnows always produce if you want a sure thing.

That’s the scoop from your local expert, Artificial Lure. Good luck and tight lines out on Fork today[1][2][4].