Doug Druse, 6.75 lb.
Me, measley 5 lb.
Les Pappan, 6 lb
Doug Druse, Les Pappan & I went to Texas in search of the BIG BASS, and came away disappointed(again, for me and Doug… this was Les's first trip to Fork).
We drove all night Friday night & went to Purtis Creek, a little bass lake south of Fork about 40 miles. We pulled some nice fish from there, the largest being about 5 ½ pounds. The next day, we went to Mill Creek, another of the area's smaller lakes with a reputation for big bass. We saw some huge bass on beds, but only got a 5-pounder into the boat. About 13:00, we took off for Fork, checked into the motel and hit the lake. We were soon into some fish in some deep water, using Carolina rigs & jigs.
Monday AM at 06:30 we met with Larry Barnes, our guide for the day. The weather had turned on us, with rain and cold winds from the north with gusts up to 50MPH. Nasty. We spent some time in a relatively protected bay, where I pulled a 4 ½ pounder with a red trap and several in the three pound range with a Carolina rig ran really slow. We got nine fish by 11:00, and were all tired from fighting the wind. Did I mention that it was really cold? The water temp was 61.8 when we put in about 08:00, and 54.3 at 11:00 when we pulled out. Big difference! Larry had done the best he could to put us on the fish, but conditions were not conducive for bass fishing.
Tuesday & Wednesday were both cold & windy, but the rain had stopped. We fished a relatively protected bay, but there was no relief from the wind. I caught a 5 ½ pound bass on Tuesday, and that was my big fish for the trip. We picked up some sub-fives and Doug had his 6.75 on Wednesday and Les got a 6 ½ the same day. Also on Wednesday, both Doug & Les broke off some big fish, and I had one straighten a hook on a Carolina rig. Ah, the ones that get away!
Thursday was a beautiful day, and the fish were somewhere else; we couldn't find them. About 13:30 I started feeling bad & had them take me back to the room & they went out again, but still no luck. That night Doug called Larry Barnes again & he put us on some fish at the top of Birch creek, where he and his Thursday clients had tore them up with fish up to 9 ½ pounds on rainbow sluggos in the afternoon.
We were there Friday AM and everyone said yeah, there were fish there, they had done real well yesterday. So we waited for them to turn on. And waited, and waited. We had a brief flurry of activity in the 3-pound range, then a five, then nothing. About 17:00 we got discouraged and headed home. Next year, on Fork, it will happen. Anything can happen at Fork…
Doug Druse, 6.75 lb. | Me, measley 5 lb. | Les Pappan, 6 lb |
| Rantings | Poetry | Nilknarf Main Menu | Mail Me! |