A R Sachtleben sachtl@peoplescom.net 903/765-3619
Mark Stevenson stevensn@peoplescom.net 903/765-3120
Barbara Stevenson stevensn@peoplescom.net 903/765-3120
October 30, 1998
It's Halloween, the fish have looked at the calendar and it's fall.
Lots of bass, crappie and bar fish are being caught on spoons and Johnson Bait Company's new Thumpin Shad tail spinner, in 22 to 34 feet of water.
Creek bends, points and ridges producing the best. Be sure and look for shad over the bass on your graph, these fish bite much better. If you are catching a lot of bar fish, keep working the area because there will usually be some big fish in the same area.
The afternoons are producing a lot of schooling bass off of tree lines and secondary points in the creeks. A few days ago we caught a lot of 3 to5 lb. bass on Johnson's Glimmer Shad Spinner Bait in 1/4 oz. size out of these schools.
On the cloudy days we are catching lots of good fish off the grass. Best catches on spinners, buzzbaits and Chug bugs. When the sun breaks out we are throwing my new 1/4 oz. jig in the pumpkin neon color with a pumpkin green Pig Claw on the back and catching some quality fish off the deeper grass lines.
November promises to be a great month. Before long the big fish will start to bite on the creek channels on a jig and a crankbait. Also, the deep fish will really start to gang up. There will be a lot of days that will offer some great top water fishing.
Our really good fishing will last until well after Christmas. Give us a call for a fun filled trip.
My Mark Stevenson Lake Fork Jigs are ready for sale. For more info call after 7:00 evenings or e-mail us.
Thanks, Mark
The Alba Gang
August 14, 1998
It's hot, the lake is down about 2 feet and guess what - The fish are biting day and night. In fact I think everyone is suprised at how well the good bass are biting during the heat of the day.
At night the best two baits have been the jig and the 10" Power Worm.
My new jig, which was designed to handle the grass and timber of Lake Fork, is working very well in the 3/8 oz. size with a neat new skirt called a Starflash Skirt in black with red metal flake. Most of the good bites are coming in 6 to 8 feet of water as the jig comes off the grass and hits some kind of wood.
About every third night we have been getting a fair spinnerbait bite, but it's usually late into the night.
There are a lot of fish shallow, mostly on the grass beds, but also a lot of bass on shallow wood.
Creek channels are very consistant from 6 feet on the sides to 30 feet on the sides. The best bets are deep crankbaits, worms and jigs along the channels. A Carolina rig with a 4 inch leader, rigged with a shad or Watermelon Fluke will get some heavy bites.
The grass is starting to grow well in a lot of places. This will give us some good September, October and November topwater fishing. In fact all of our fall fishing should be great. This year there won't be a McDonald's tournament in September, so the fishing pressure will be off of the lake.
Give us a call for some good big bass fishing in September.
For more information on my new jig, send me an e-mail. stevensn@peoplescom.netSpecifics on the new jigs will be added to our Web site soon.
Thanks, Mark
The Alba Gang
June 13, 1998
Well the Randy White Tournament is over and we've got one more big tournament this weekend, then the water should calm down and steady fishing should be right behind. As the weather gets hotter, the deep cranking fish and deep worm & Carolina fish should bite steadily.
Most of the ridges, points and creeks will have good schools of fish on them. The big problem is, there is a thermocline forming at about 26 feet so a lot of fish will be suspending. Most of the deep bass are biting when they move from the 26' suspended mode to 20-24 feet on the bottom.
The grass is finally coming on and the fish will soon be caught on jigs pitched in the voids. A white jig or a bream colored jig will get a lot of bites.
We are finally moving into our night fishing and it's looking good. Barbara and I have fished 7 nights and we've had 5 great nights and 2 so-so nights. The slow nights we've had 15-20 MPH winds which really made it tough to fish good spots.
Our best night was the Friday before the Randy White Tournament. We had 6 fish over the slot, 2 over 8 pounds and 1 over 7 pounds out of 25 fish.
July and August will be prime night time. Call soon for a night trip. Remember, you don't need a full moon to have great fishing. We'll be using a Johnson 1/2 oz. spinner bait and a 10" Berkley power worm.
Thanks, Mark
The Alba Gang
May 23, 1998
Memorial Day weekend is here - and so are the crowds. The wind has been whistling all day, we all three stayed home today, but we'll be ready to go again by the time the weekend is over.
Give us a call to book a day or night guide trip.
Thanks,
The Alba Gang
A R's customer Jim Moss caught these 2 over-slot fish 7.33 & 6.1 during the Monroe Shock group trip.
MAY 1998
Here's a fish story for you.
Barbara's customers both caught the same fish,
at the same time, with 2 different craw worms. I'll bet they had
fun with the story when they got back home.
Mark caught this 10 pounder while fishing with Ron Randall of Dallas. I think Ron's fish was 8 or 9 pounds.
A R's customer Jerry caught this nice 8.21 pound fish on a Black Berkley Power Worm May 13th.
Fishing for numbers has been good for the last couple of weeks. The weekday crowds have thinned enough that you can fish anywhere you want. The weekend choices are still a little more difficult to come by..
Carolina rigged Ring Frys and Centipedes have produced well in 10 to 25 feet, off the main lake points and pond dams.
Texas rigged Berkley Power Worms in black or red shad have done well in the shallower water, 2 to 8 feet deep on the main lake flats. Yamamoto's Senko has still been a really productive bait.
Give us a call to book a day or night guide trip.
Thanks,
The Alba Gang
We've got about 3 weeks left of spawning, but, I expect the good topwater bite to start this week and continue through May. Some good catches starting on jigs and Texas rigged worms and craws in 8 to 12 feet of water.
Slow rolling a Johnson 3/4 oz. spinnerbait in 8 to 15 feet of water will produce some big bites. June will kick off our night fishing. With the water clearing up it should be a great year for catching some big fish at night.
The most productive bait continues to be a Carolina rigged ringed fry or lizard with a 3/8 oz. weight and a 24" leader in 2 to 6 feet of water. The best colors for the Carolina rig: Sour Grape, Watermelon, Chartreuse Pepper & Black.
A small shallow diving crankbait will catch numbers of fish. Both these patterns will last until the spawn is over.
Water temperature - 68 to 72 degrees. Water clarity: Upper end - stained. Middle - 2 ft. visibility. Lower - 3 ft. visibility.
We still have a few May dates open.. You need to call soon to get good June day or night dates.
Mark's customer Ron Randall of Dallas caught this nice 9.32 lb. fish on Wednesday, April 8th.
Saturday of last week the big fish turned on. There was a 14, 13 & 12 caught that I know of. We were able to boat a 10 1/2 pounder plus some 5 1/2 to 7 pound fish.
Sluggo type baits and a Ringed Fry from Lake Fork
Trophy Tackle, fished Carolina style, in shallow water are the best ways
to catch the elusive swimmers.
April is going to be good, May is going to be
the fun month. There will be lots of topwater and shallow crank bait
fish. June of course we will start to night fish. Late May
and June will also start fishing our jigs in the grass.
You need to call soon to get good May and June dates.
Return
to home pageI have been using a Gary Yamamoto Senko and catching quite a few fish up to 6 1/2 pounds. The Senko is a fat straight worm, loaded with salt.
A 13.0 lb. and 12 plus were caught yesterday in the K101 Radio Tournament. Wish I'd caught them! Maybe next week.
We will try to update more often, but you know how we lie.
Thanks,
The Alba Gang
This year there is plenty of grass in the 4' to 10' range. This means, in January, there will be some really good spinner bait fishing. For this type of fishing, I like to use a 1/2 oz. spinner with a # 2 Colorado and a # 5 Gold or silver willow leaf blades. I like to slow roll the bait right down to the edge of the deepest grass. A stop and go retrieval seems to get some of the biggest fish. Some fish are also starting to hit the old faithful rattletraps.
February should start to produce a lot of bass over 9 pounds. On most days the spinners, rattletraps and suspending jerkbaits will catch fish all day long. The key will be covering a lot of water until you hit a batch of fish. Normally you will be able to catch 5 to 8 fish out of one area, then you need to move on. Pitching a jig in 8' to 12' of water around heavy cover or a creek channel edge will produce some really big fish.
By the end of February there will be some good fish on the nest. Most of these fish will be found in very protected areas, usually in the backs of creeks.
Most productive baits:
1. Spinner Bait - Chartreuse/White
2. Rattle Traps - Red, Shad & Gold
3. Storm Suspending Thundersticks - Shad, Gold &
Firetiger
4. Rattleback and Denny Brauer Pro Model jigs - All colors
We'll have a new report about the end of February along with some pictures of the January & February fish.
It's time to book for January, February and March right now. Call A. R., Barbara or Mark soon.
Good Fishing,
The Alba Gang
We never throw anything away! Have a look at our '97 Lake Fork Fishing Report
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