Different Fish — Different Stories

Different Fish — Different Stories

Biologist says spring tourney results at Lake Fork reflect missing year classes on bass, while adult crappie are fat and sassy.

Story and Photography by Matt Williams

I’m not a tournament junkie, but I do keep close check on the how the competition shakes out on Texas lakes. Fishing tournament results can be pretty reliable indicators as to how well the fish are biting from one week to the next. The most favorable results are those where solid weights down the line rather stacked two or three deep, right at the top.

Weigh-in tallies also provide beneficial intel for helping fisheries managers gain valuable insight on fish population trends for specific lakes as well as angler success rates. The experts say it’s good stuff to accompany data gathered using other sampling methods like electrofishing and angler creel surveys.

Texas Parks and Wildlife fisheries biologist Jake Norman of Tyler says the final results of a couple of fishing tournaments held at Lake Fork back in March and early April told him some things about the lake’s big bass and crappie populations that he was pretty sure he already knew. It ain’t all good.

Running Short on Mega Bass

Norman says he believes the final results of the Bass Champs Techron Mega Bass tournament held March 26, 2023 are pretty solid evidence that fish outside the upper end of lake’s 16-24 inch slot limit aren’t near as plentiful as they once were. Just so you know, Fork’s restrictive slot limit prohibits the harvest of bass measuring between 16-24 inches long. Nor may “slot fish” be taken to a tournament weigh-in.

Bass 16 inches and less or 24 inches or greater in length may be retained, but only one 24 inches or greater may be retained each day. The daily bag limit for all black bass species is five in any combination.

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