Lake Fork Guy has returned to the Texas reservoir that started his career for a one-fish big-bass derby with fellow Googan executive Trey Epic — a session that produced a near-miss seven pounder on a glide bait, a 19-crappie haul in the afternoon, and a verdict that Lake Fork is healthier than it has been in years.
The trip, hosted out of the 515 Cabins, was an LFD-run company derby focused on the heaviest single bass. Lake Fork Guy and Epic teamed up under standard tournament rules and split the pot if they cashed. They did not — an eight pounder won the comp — but the day was as much about reconnecting with the lake as it was about weighing fish.
"It's been years since I've wet a line at Lake Fork, the place that started it all for me," Lake Fork Guy said. "It's where I first fell in love with bass fishing with its abundance of aquatic life, and it's where I first picked up a GoPro Hero1 and started making creative content and sharing what I was learning about fishing over 15 years ago."
Conditions were unusually clean. "I noticed the lake was a little low, but it looked healthy," he said. "It seemed like there was a lot of male bass up in the shallows for the spawn and even some post-spawn fish that were pretty hungry. The grass seems to be returning. It's a very good sign to see."
The big bait of the day was a yet-to-release Googan Baits Gizzy Glide — a 1.99 oz, 6-inch glide bait in a bone Andromeda finish. Lake Fork Guy attributed his recent willingness to throw glides to that specific lure. "This is the bait that gave me confidence to throw other glides because I can work it with the rod, kind of like a jerk bait, almost," he said. "It's really hard to work a big glide with the rod — you almost have to use it with the reel. You'll wear yourself out."
The closest call came late in the comp: a fish Lake Fork Guy estimated at seven pounds came up and engulfed the bait at the surface but did not stay buttoned. "I actually saw the fish's mouth open and my bait disappear for a second," he said. "I had to lean back. He had it in its mouth, dude — how did I miss him?" Multiple smaller fish followed the bait to the boat in the final 30 minutes, but the upgrade never came.
With the tournament a wash, the pair pivoted to the crappie bite — a fishery Lake Fork Guy reckoned he had ignored for too long. "I feel like I spent so many years not crappie fishing on Lake Fork, and it's so good that I need to make up for some lost time."
The crappie were staged across pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn windows, scattered through laid-over timber from 10 to 20 ft of water. The pair targeted them with 1/8 oz jig heads — Lake Fork Guy on a Dangle Dart, Epic on a Bumping Bug — picking apart "every good-looking stump, especially ones that are laid over." The cooler closed out at 19 crappie plus a barfish, with the best two on the day measured at 17 and 19 inches.
The takeaway for visiting anglers is that Lake Fork in spring still rewards a multi-species mindset. "You see crappie fishermen out here, but it's mostly you just walk across the bass boats," Lake Fork Guy said. "You just never get bored on this lake if you're fishing for both those species."
