LAKE FORK GUIDE ANDREW GRILLS

Summertime in Texas… Yep, it’s hot. It doesn’t get much hotter than a midday deep cranking session. It’s about the most physically strenuous scenario we face on the water. However, the burning forearms, the sweat dripping down the forehead, the soreness of the wrist… it is all forgotten in the moment you feel the head shake and a big bass has engulfed your crankbait.

The fact of the matter is a deep diving crankbait has the power to trigger bites from bass that ignore other presentations, and it delivers big bites. This is why a deep-diving crankbait is one of the first tools I reach for in the summer for big fish.

It’s no mystery to me why deep cranking produces big sacks of fish consistently. Bigger bass are often duped by a “reaction presentation” of some sort. Whether it’s a lipless bait ripping through grass, a heavy jig falling in front of their nose, or a crankbait careening through their hangout, big bass are fooled when they make a hasty decision.

In deep cranking, there is always a “sweet spot”. It may be a rock or laydown log, but there is something down there that triggers a reaction when the crankbait deflects off of it. Often, it takes the perfect cast, at the perfect angle, to unlock an area’s true potential. When that precise spot and angle are pinpointed the crankbait can do things I believe nothing else will.

When approaching summertime fishing, we are looking at typical deep structure such as points, humps, and roadbeds. I rely on my graphs to tell me whether the fish are present. Once that is established, I like to make a few casts with a crankbait to try and “fire up” the school. Getting that first bite can lead to triggering a frenzy of activity. I find that I get more bites paralleling the structure with the crankbait, as opposed to casting from deep to shallow or vice versa.

I never throw a crankbait if I can’t reach the bottom with one or make contact with some form of cover. For instance, we will occasionally see bass suspended in tree tops that are well beneath the surface. Even if I’m in 35 feet of water, if the top of that tree is in a crankable depth I will still try to hit the branches with my crankbait. Nearly every bite I can recall that I’ve had cranking has been while my lure is making contact with something. Therefore, if the fish are suspended and I can’t bang the crankbait against something near them, there are probably better lure choices.

When I do hit something with my crankbait, I like to hit it hard. I want to wake up whatever lives down there. That is why I use a 7.2:1 ratio, high-speed reel. I know that kind of goes against the old school logic of low geared, slow retrieve reels for deep cranking. Yes, using a lower speed ratio takes a little torque off of the forearm, but I feel like I get bit better with a fast retrieve. My typical retrieve is nearly as fast as I can turn the handle.

The perfect cranking reel for me is the Shimano Curado. I like it because it has a large spool capacity which is important for long casts. My favorite thing about the Curado is that it will cast a crankbait a mile. The biggest challenge in deep cranking is getting the lure out far enough to get it down to the desired depth. I pair the Curado with a G. Loomis Deep Flex Crankbait rod. I use the 7’5” heavy action. It’s a stout rod for cranking but has an incredible parabolic bend. This helps with casting as well as landing fish. I normally use 15lb fluorocarbon line, occasionally stepping down to 12lb test if I need to get a little deeper.

We have been fortunate over the past several years to have some important advancements in lure design available. Crankbaits are diving deeper than ever. There was a time hitting that 20′ depth was the Holy Grail of cranking. These days it’s not unusual to be digging bottom in 25′ or deeper with the right equipment. My deep crank of choice is the Duo Realis G87. There is a deep model (15A) and an extra deep model (20A). I honestly believe it’s a game changer when it comes to crankbaits. The lure has a built in magnetic weight transfer system. I could go into detail about how it works, but I’ll just put it this way: I can cast it 30% further than any other crankbait on the market. It casts like a bullet, even into the wind. It gets down deeper with less effort as well.

Next time you’ve marked a few fish, but can’t get them to bite the jig, carolina rig, or spoon, try knocking on their door with a crankbait. Sometimes I see my customers cringe when I break out the deep divers. Yes, it may seem too much like work to some, however it’s a valuable tool that definitely has a place in our pursuit of big bass.

Below are some of our most recent catches. Many of the fish pictured fell for the Duo Realis G87 20A!

The bass fishing on Falcon Lake is making a big time comeback! After a busy spring on Lake Fork, I decided to make a short two-day trip to Falcon Lake to see how good the fishing was. It’s a pretty good haul from Lake Fork, but boy was it worth it! Fellow Lake Fork guide Jay Kendrick and I probably put over 100 bass in the boat in the two days we fished. I knew the numbers would be good, but my concern was about the big ones. We kept making adjustments and eventually got them dialed in. We had two bass over 10 pounds and a few more in the 7-8 pound range.

Keep in mind, we had a great trip and no one should expect that to happen everyday. However, the fishing is so good that we are going back in July and staying through mid August to guide our customers there. July and August are two of the best months of the year on Falcon, so I expect the fishing to be great. Also, I want my customers, who have been so good to me, to get to experience what Jay and I did.

Of course I will be staying busy here on Lake Fork until then, and afterwards.

If interested in booking, just let me know! Jay and I can handle groups too. Here is a video to give you an idea of what to expect, along with pictures of some of the big ones Jay and I caught.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIUMPrPL28k

This has been a fantastic year so far for big bass here on Lake Fork. However, our overall numbers of fish have been lower. That wasn’t the case this week! We had good numbers and some really nice fish as well. I’m still catching fish shallow but some big ones are already showing up deep. I believe the key to our success on the better days has been covering a lot of water and hitting productive spots a few times throughout the day. Letting an area rest and replenish for a couple hours is adding to our numbers considerably.

I’m checking deep spots every afternoon and already graphing some wolf packs of bass on deep structure. Over the next several days I expect more fish to migrate to these areas. The shallow bite should remain consistent for weeks to come with all the shallow vegetation and normal lake level.

Here are some nice ones we caught on recent trips.

What an unusual year it has been so far! Water temperatures are still in the mid to upper 60’s and the lake level is slightly above full pool. We had a some heavy rains over this past week, therefore the water is somewhat stained and the gates are open at the dam to keep up with the rising water. These conditions make for some tough fishing here on Lake Fork.

However, I’ve been very fortunate to have very understanding customers the past two weeks who have been willing to go for broke and try to catch a giant bass. My philosophy is if we aren’t going to catch many anyway, the ones we do catch might as well be big! 

Things will stabilize eventually and fishing will get back to normal, but until then we will continue to do our best to put a few big bass in the boat on a daily basis.

Here are some trophies from the past two weeks:

Lake Fork is in great shape right now, considering the amount of rainfall we’ve had. The lake level is back down to full-pool now, although it reached nearly two feet above that at its’ highest point last week. Surprisingly, the water looks pretty good in most areas. The slightly stained water and flooded cover will provide much needed protection for our fish as the spawn continues.
We are ahead of schedule this year with water temperatures in the mid 60’s, even on the South end of the lake. Some areas are getting above 70 degrees already! There are some fish on beds in nearly any creek or pocket on the lake, with more to come. There are even some post-spawn fish biting already. 
So far, this week has been pretty good for big fish and numbers. I’m attempting to stay on bigger, prespawn fish as they move into spawning areas. Often, this means sacrificing quantity for quality, but some decent numbers can still be caught even when targeting big fish. The best bait so far has been a Smashtech Convict swimbait. It’s a 7” weedless bait that can be presented in heavy cover without hanging up. It is responsible for most of the big fish pictured recently in my boat. The Convict is available at Oak Ridge Marina, or can be ordered on Smashtech’s website. The key areas have been around the flooded brush and patches of grass. I’m focusing on areas close to spawning flats, these may be secondary or main lake points, shallow pond dams, or even straight stretches leading in.
At times, when the bite really slows down or there is no wind, I can hit shallow areas and cast a weightless soft plastic to pick up some numbers. I’ve been having best results with a rattlesnake or senko rigged wacky style on a weedless hook. The key is to find some areas with grass or flooded brush. Finding the right flooded cover takes some time, as most of the visible cover is very shallow. I’m doing better around the vegetation that is in 3 feet or more of water. Pockets on the main lake or in bigger creeks have been good. I think slowing way down has helped a lot. We catch most of these fish while the bait is sitting totally still for a few seconds.
Hopefully you’ll find some of this information useful, whether you want to swing for the fences and get a big one, or play it safe and catch some numbers. 
The fish pictures below are from the past week. It’s been great to see personal best records in the boat nearly everyday!
   
    
   

I have to admit, I’ve been I little lazy about posting fresh reports over the past few weeks. I’ve been too busy fishing! 😀 

A quick update on current Lake Fork conditions: Lake Fork is .25 feet above full pool. We have some rain in the extended forecast so that may fluctuate in the near future. Water temperatures are in the upper 50’s to low 60’s. The fishing has been a little slow for numbers but decent for size. This will likely improve over the next couple weeks as fish move into spawning and prespawn areas. Other nearby lakes are often producing better for now. These lakes get much less pressure than Lake Fork, and if a short drive is what it takes to give customers the opportunity for a great trip, I don’t hesitate.

Below are some big fish highlights from the past few weeks. Keep in mind some of these big fish were taken while I was alone scouting.

We had a great time this year at the 4th Annual TFF Lake Fork Guide Tournament! This is a fun event where guides along with one or two customers each get to compete for bragging rights and some prizes. This year there were 33 Lake Fork guides entered. 

Our team had a good day with a 2nd place finish and a 5 bass total of 27.56lbs. Congratulations to Gary Paris and his team for the win. If the weather holds up we are in for some heavyweight bass this month!

Here are some pictures from our day.

Here are couple good ones while I was out scouting. Fork is muddy to stained even on the lower end from all the rain lately, but there are still some good ones to be caught. A dry forecast ahead should make it better. Water temps around 48-50 for now.
I still have some dates open the last week of January and some good weekdays in February. Let me know if I can help if you are looking for a Lake Fork Guide.