Weekly Lake Fork Report From Guide Jim Reaneau

[jreaneau]

Well, winter has come to Lake Fork as I sit here in my nice warm house. Mercy this week has been cold and plenty of wind to go with it. I have not fished this week and at the last writing the water temp had dropped to the mid to upper fifties. I am sure it will dip below the fifty mark for a while till the weather warms up. This will make for some slow fishing for a couple of days. The bite will be very light and you will have to really pay attention. This should get the crappie stacked up.
This weekend I would look deep and use tail spinners, jigging spoons, Carolina rigs, and drop shots. Work the baits very slowly. Don’t over work the bait. This time of year SLOW is the key and stay in tune with your bait. Lighter line in the deep water is a must. Spoons and other baits will fall different on the lighter lines. When you are out deep you are usually not around much timber and hanging up is not a big factor. Use a medium action rod and set your drag loose enough so the fish can pull drag if it needs it. The fish will usually not fight as much in the cold temps as they are sluggish but if you get the right fish on you don‘t want to lose it.
The key for bass and crappie is to find bait fish with bass and bar fish close by. Main lake points and humps are key areas. Remember that in winter the fish may not be around the above mentioned areas. I have found them scattered out in the middle of boat lanes. So leave you graph on and idle around and look for bait or bass. You may find fish so close to the bottom you can barely make out arcs. I have caught fish out of 30 feet of water and they had mud on their bellies. Some may not believe this but it is true.
Remember this time of year can be a big fish event but more importantly it can be a DEADLY TIME. What I am talking about is hypothermia. If you fall into the water this time of year if you don’t get out quick you will die. You have plenty of clothes on and this hampers you from swimming and weighs you down. Your life jacket can be a big plus but it can hinder you from getting back in the boat. Remember this. Should you fall out and are alone, if possible swim back to the big motor and put your feet on the plates above the prop and wrap your arms around the motor and push you trim that is on the motor. This will trim you up onto the back of the boat. Here you can climb over the motor to get back in. If all else fails this will get you out of the water. I had to do this one year to get a customer back in as he was a large person and I couldn’t bring him over the side by my self.
This may save your life one day.
I had some questions about our crappie limit this past week.
As of December 1st the first twenty five crappie you catch you have to keep. There is no slot limit. You are allowed twenty five per person per day. This will last till the end of February. At that time the slot will go back to ten inches.
Don’t forget the yellow bass are very good eating fish and there is no limit or size. These fish will fry up MUUUM MERCY GOOD!!!
If you are still looking for a great Christmas gift get that someone a guided fishing trip. I can send you a Gift Certificate to wrap up for Christmas Morning. Give me a call.
Jim Reaneau
1-888-918-5088

[Fishie]

Wish I could be there.