Deets: How To Fish Fork in Summer

Ain’t it great when a local stick shares some specific knowledge about a local lake – especially if that lake is one of the best in the country? Here’s “big bass guru and Lake Fork guide Dean Stroman” giving some tips to the Sherman, TX Herald Democrat.

Great stuff, man. Just like Bassin’master Mag, I’m riveted even though I’ll be lucky to ever fish that lake…again. (Have to tell you that the few times I have fished it, the bass were big, strong and angry – I saw no fat, lazy ones – and it’s a great feeling to know that any cast could get you a double-digiter.)

Excerpts from the article:

> Stroman’s late summer strategy starts by tossing DD-22 deep-diving crankbaits in the early morning light. Why the DD-22? “It’s hard to improve on perfection,” Stroman said. “It has been around a long time and it still catches fish. It gets down quick, it hits the right depth, and they make it in a lot of good colors.”

> On Thursday morning, those colors were the #41 Smoking Joe with a green back and a new color from Bill Norman Lures, the Suicide color with a speckled yellow/black back and a shad-white belly. [Great info!]

> He’ll throw those on 15-pound test Berkley Big Game green mono tied to a Shimano Calcutta 200DC baitcasting reel and a Custom Angle rod made on the banks of Fork. Once it hits the water, he’ll crank it down quickly and then settle into a steady rhythm trying to keep in contact with the bottom.

> “The key to this bait being effective is that you’ve got to bounce it off the bottom and off of timber,” Stroman said. “With this low water, there’s not as much grass this year, so you can throw it right up on the bank and crank it off into the deeper water.”

> Which is ultimately the key, deeper water present in the form of a quick vertical drop.
“What you’re looking for are ledges and vertical drops, with the better spots being the ones that aren’t getting hammered every day, the stuff that nobody else is fishing,” he said.

> “The faster the vertical drop, the better. And the more timber around that vertical drop or ledge, the better. What you’re actually hoping to find are spots with brush in the drop-off itself, those are the magic places.”

> Later in the morning…the crankbait bite died off a bit and Stroman switched to a monkey blood red soft plastic trick worm [Gene Larew] on a Carolina rig…a 3- to 5-foot leader tied to a swivel with a red bead and a heavy slip sinker attached.

> “In the summer months, I like to drag the Carolina rig back, keeping the weight on the bottom, using the rod to drag the bait along, and using the reel only to reel up the slack line.”

> “If the fish and the bait are on the shallow side of the ridge or ledge, they’re active. And if they’re on the deep edge of the ridge, they are not active.”

> Stroman said that for the angler that can stand the heat, the fishing on Fork usually is at its best in the hottest part of the day as the shad begin to move around and look for more comfortable water.

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> Article sez you can reach Stroman at: 903-850-5083.