My wife and I took our 2nd annual Lake Fork trip. We fished on March 26, 2008 with pro guide Larry Barnes. The days leading up to this day were very windy with some rain, so we woke up not knowing if we would be able to fish or not. To drive 260 miles from Houston and not be able to fish would have really been bad. Luckily, the conditions were just barely good enough to fish.
So we pull up to the first spot and my wife throws her split shot rigged Zoom Lizard out and on her very first cast...WHAM! A 7-8 pound bass hits and starts fighting and jumping like crazy! Unfortunately, because she was so startled to hook up on her first cast, she forgot to set the hook and the fish gets off! We were bummed but encouraged by the good start. If I had known how the rest of the day was gonna go, I wouldn't have been so upbeat. That fish was by far the biggest one we saw that day.
The wind kept picking up and by late morning, it was really howling. It's hard to feel the bites when the wind is blowing the line around. When we were running to other spots, it was like riding a bull. We were getting thrown around like rag dolls and my wife's bad back was hurting.
Anyway, we continued to fish and I ended up with 7, my wife boated 1 and lost the big one, and Larry caught about 4. On most trips and on most lakes in this country, that would've been a good day, but the standard is set so high on Lake Fork that it was a little bit of a disappointment. It would've been great if at least one of our fish was a HAWG, but not this time. My biggest one was about 4 1/2 lbs. The cold front, wind, and the fact that the spawn was about a week behind schedule made for a "better luck next time" day. I heard a few big ones were caught, but the numbers were down. About 3 days later, the action really picked up.
Hopefully, we will be back next year and try for a 10 pounder!
Lake Fork Marina is so much better than the place we stayed at last year. Nice rooms and super nice staff.
I rarely get to ride and fish from a boat
These are Larry's battle-worn tools of the trade. Shimano curado classics and newer citicas and Falcon Cara rods. Nice rods!
Lake Fork Tackle Live Magic Shad. This thing swims so realistically. Might be something to try at Lake Wilson.
My fishing partner. Lake Fork is being attacked by these water hyacinth plants that are choking out the little bays and creeks. They have to do something about it soon. Sections that we fished last year are now covered with this plant. Not as bad as S.molesta, but still bad. My wife fished with her custom Texas Sidewinder spinning rod and new Shimano Saros 3000F reel. Smooth as butter. 12 lb. Trilene XL line.
Action photo!
This was my best fish this time. About 4.5 lbs. Pictured are my Antares AR reel and the brand new Shimano Cumara that I bought the night before at the store at the motel. I couldn't resist the deal he gave me although I swore to never spend that much on a rod again after buying my Kistler. It worked great. So light and sensitive. Used fluorocarbon for the first time too. BPS XPS fluoro 17 lb. I like it a lot. It doesn't get torn up from logs like mono does, and it is very sensitive. I will be buying more fluorocarbon from now on, except for my wife's spinning reels. It sucks for that. Caught all my fish on a ZOOM lizard in green pumpkin. Split shot rigged (1/8 oz. bullet weight pegged 14" above the hook).
I took this photo because it looked like Taro!
Larry and I
Larry and one of his fish. He caught a 17 lb. bass on 2/14/88. It was the 2nd largest bass in Texas at the time and he nicknamed it Valentine. It lived in a tank at Lake Fork Marina for 3 years.
Here is a replica mount of Valentine in Moser's restaurant. Pictures don't do her justice. A 17 lb. bass looks GINOURMOUS in person.
Larry with Valentine. He emailed me yesterday and told me a client of his just caught a 10 pounder! Damn, why not me! I'll keep trying.
New BPS in Pearland, TX. My wife wants them to ban me from this place. My nephew and I had a lot of fun.
We had to get this shirt for our nephew Landen!
My wife was responsible for buying this, not me!
I ordered a Cabela's Mag Touch casting rod to be delivered to my in-law's house in Houston and this is how it arrived from UPS. Thankfully, the rod was intact.
Pflueger President reel. I couldn't pass up a good deal even though I prefer left-handed reels. BPS had it on a one-day special for $50 off. The free line they spooled it up with resembled wire, however.
I couldn't leave out a picture of SHAMU! We had "dinner with Shamu" at San Antonio Sea World.
Looking at your pics and the lake in the back ground makes me really miss Texas bass fishing. 
Good catches though plus you had fun. That's all that matters. I see you spent some time at my favorite store. 
Everytime I go there I get lost in my own little world for hours upon hours! It's crazy what a store can do to a fisherman eh? 
