Mackenthun: Why Lake Fork, Texas, is the best bass lake in the nation

When you think of big largemouth bass, you think of Lake Fork, Texas.

Created from scratch in 1980 by the Sabine River Authority state agency and intentionally managed as a premier fishery by Texas Parks and Wildlife, Fork is now a fabled bass fishing destination.

Bassmaster Magazine named Fork the No. 1 lake in the nation for 2021 and for good reason. Everything is bigger in Texas, and such is the case with huge, Florida strain largemouth bass at Lake Fork.

Bassmaster’s Elite Fishing tournament series visited the lake in April, and two pros caught more than one hundred pounds of bass in four days of fishing.

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The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s ShareLunker program is operated near Fork Lake because so many big female bass come from the lake, like the nearly 18-pound largemouth that was the first entry (and at that time, state record fish) in 1986, to 20 fish over 13 pounds being caught in the first quarter on Lake Fork in 2021.

15 of the 20 largest bass caught in all of Texas have come from Lake Fork.

Since Lake Fork flooded 27,000 acres of land, mainly wooded river corridor, the result is a very brushy reservoir. Over the past 40 years, many of Lake Fork’s treetops have broken off at the water’s surface from wind and wave action. The result is a veritable forest below the water’s surface.

Fork is navigated by driving in safe lanes marked with buoys; leaving these channels is done at your own risk and many lower units and propellers are destroyed every year as a result. The brushy flats, points, and humps, combined with eelgrass flats, lilypad pockets, docks and bridges, and creek and ravine fingers, create an amazing mix of habitat types.

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Greg West calls Lake Fork home as well as calling the lake his office. He can walk out on the deck of his Skeeter ZXR20 fiberglass bass boat and be fishing in minutes on one end of the lake and within twenty minutes get to the far corner of the lake to another spot.

West has been a fishing guide on the lake for seven years. Growing up in Richardson, Texas, West and his father fished club tournaments all over the state. West's passion for fishing led him to Fork, where his knack for catching big bass has him on the water with clients every week.

West and I explored Fork on a hot and muggy August afternoon. The air temperature was 97 and the water’s surface was 90, a first for this Minnesota native. Greg is building a client base of Minnesotans; he had a father and son visit and notch a couple of personal bests on the morning of my visit, and he guides many snowbirds in winter and spring.

West is your home run hitter guide; if you want to go for big fish, you go with Greg.

West’s frenzied approach is akin to fishing in a sprint car. With enough years under his belt, Greg has many seasonal locations dialed in and checks his graph for fish. Once he’s found his marks, he’ll line up the boat to the fish and cast to them.

We pitched shad swimbaits, raising and dropping to fish suspended near the bottom for a couple bites. Greg showcased big crankbaits, also in shad colors to match the reservoir’s threadfin and gizzard shad. We lobbed Strike King 10XD crankbaits out, then pinned the baits on bottom with geared up baitcasters, tempting a pair of bass into biting. Large, Texas-rigged plastic worms with heavy weights allowed us to finesse deep fish.

Throughout the afternoon, we cooled off and worked new fish by staying on the move. A 65 mile per hour artificial wind chill created on the boat ride does keep a person cooled off, as casting baits worked up beads of sweat at each stop.

West showed pods of fish on his depthfinder; balls of shad but also single and grouped bass hanging on structure or flats. There was no doubt we were in the right places, we just needed the right bites.

“This lake will make you question your abilities one day and then it’s like someone flipped a light switch and the fishing is on fire,” he told me. “This place is magical. One stop can make your whole trip, your whole day if you’re willing to grind for it.”

While a hot August afternoon is not ideal, we did boat a few bass and I got the grand tour of Fork. The lake is amazing and can really show out at times.

“My favorite time of the year is February and early March,” Greg said. “Everything that time of year is weather-related. You’re not fishing for a lot of bites, but each bite could be a giant. The spring on Fork is tons of fun. The shad spawn is always really good. Late April to early May is really good for topwater. But after about the third week of May, it starts getting hot and the bass go deep and you have to move with them.”  

You can find Greg on Instagram at tx_tightlines, on Facebook at Greg West Lake Fork Guide.

This is the opinion of outdoors columnist Scott Mackenthun, an outdoors enthusiast who has been writing about hunting and fishing since 2005. You can follow him on Instagram @scottmackenthun and on Twitter @ScottyMack31.