Johnny Guice's

LATEST LAKE FORK FISHING REPORT AND NOTES FROM JOHNNY

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July 1, 2018

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-The crappie bite continues to be on fire this year on Fork. We had a good spawn and many limits of large crappie were caught in the shallows. Crappie have now moved out to brush piles and standing timber and they are schooled up and feeding on small minnows and Shad.

 

-Ms.Terri Moon is a well known and successful guide out of Lake Fork Marina and she and her clients have been having one of ghe best seasons ever. I see Terri and her customers out almost every day in her new Skeeter Solara Boat and they are usually reeling in big crappies.

 

-Terri works hard at getting her many brushpiles freshened up each year as well as putting out new ones so that no matter what depth the crappie are in or which way the wind is blowing, she always has a good place to take her customers to get a limit of crappie.

 

-An ultra light spinning rod and reel is the best equipment for catching crappie. While a long fiberglass pole will work, the spinning outfit allows you to easily fish all depths from shallow to deep. Many times the crappie may be at depths of 20-30' and light tackle allows you to easily fish these depths.

 

-Terri likes to use a small crappie jig tipped with a minnow. Sometimes she Rigs two jigs on one line but usually a jig tipped minnow will get the big ones. By tipped, I mean you hook a small minnow through the lips on your crappie jig.

 

-Everyone seems to have a favorite color and some days color may make a difference but usually the jig weight and size is even more important. You can't beat just a plain crappie minnow on a size 4 hook with a small split shot tight lined in the brush.

 

-Some days you may find the crappie suspended above the brush piles and other days they may be on the shady side or sunny side of the brush piles. A slight wind is better than no wind at all and try to minimize getting hung up in the brush.

 

-I prefer to use six pound line and I like the fluorescent yellow lines which helps you see the bite and it is usually is easier to see when you tie one on. You will lose a few jigs and hooks to the brush piles but a heavy 2-3oz sinker with a swivel works great to get un hung. Just clip the lead to your line and drop it down to the hung lure. Carefully yo-yo the weight up and down and it will usually knock the hung up jig loose from the brush.

 

-With modern day electronics, it if fairly common to be able to locate brush piles and you can also see the crappie suspended many times. Side scan and down scan technology has greatly aided in locating schools of crappie. It is best to sink your own brush and put in your way points but it doesn't take long to locate the many man made brush piles on Fork.

 

-There is a 10" minimum length and a 25 crappie limit per angler but please consider releasing the trophy size crappie. No other game fish is better table fair than crappie. They are easy to fillet and Terri Moon cleans and bags her clients fish after every trip. If you are looking for a great crappie guide I've her a call.

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Fish are biting great.  Get out there and catch you some big ones!