Time To Shine: MLF Returns To Fork With Right Conditions For Big Finish

Published 4:38 pm Thursday, February 10, 2022

It is always eye-opening the way professional fishermen can dissect a lake when they come to town. Next up is Lake Fork.

After a year’s absence, Major League Fishing’s 80 Pro Tour anglers will be back for the Toro Stage Two event Feb. 19-24 out of Oak Ridge Marina.

Guide Brian Duplechain is in his 36th year on Fork, and in that time he has seen it all when it comes to February fishing. He expects the pros to light it up.

“It is all about the weather. If it doesn’t get out of control, they are going to catch fish. The lake is down six feet, actually a little more, but that is not a problem. To me that is always better,” Duplechain said.

Even for Texas it has been a relatively mild winter in Northeast Texas. Prior to last week’s cold snap, the water temperature ranged from the upper 40s into the lower 50s.

“The water temperature has never dropped below 46 before the cold front. It has been such a mild winter the fish never really went deep. I kept graphing deep water to check on them, but there was nothing out there,” Duplechain said.

The timing of the tournament comes as Fork’s bass are starting to look toward spawning. As proof, Duplechain’s clients have recently been producing several 8- to 10-pound pre-spawn fish.

“They are going to start thinking about reproducing. Bass have two purposes in life, one is to survive and the other is to reproduce. February triggers spawning there,” Duplechain said.

He added there has traditionally been three spawning phases on Fork, a minor followed by a major and then another minor.

“We always have spawning fishing in February. The first phase is a minor that runs from mid-February to mid-March, and then there is a major that runs from mid-March to mid-April and then another minor from mid-April until mid-May,” Duplechain explained.

The combination of early spawning activity, warm water and a low lake level should benefit shallow water fishermen.

“The fish I am catching are in the back of the creeks. When the water is dropping, the fish have to follow the water. The fish that were in one foot of water have to pull back, so they are all concentrated,” Duplechain added.

He said shallow water fish seldom move far throughout the year anyway, a view that is supported by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s tracking study on the lake.

Duplechain said without any grass on the lake, the bass are going to relate to structure like piers and all the stumps that are now in shallow water.

With plastics being unproductive right now, he expects crankbaits, lipless baits, jerk baits, chatterbaits and maybe jigs to be the most productive.

“If the weather is halfway decent, they are going to crush it. If we have one of those fronts where the temperature drops down to 14 to 17 degrees, it is going to be difficult because Floridas are temperamental when it gets cold,” Duplechain said.

In the end, Duplechain is rooting for the pros to have a big tournament. Among other things, it is good advertising for the lake and his business.

“They will probably break another lake (total) record. I hope they catch 150 pounds,” he said with a chuckle.

The MLF format features 40 fishermen on the water the first and third day, while a second group will fish the second and fourth day. From there the top two in each group move straight to the Championship Round while the next 19 from each group compete in a Knockout Round Feb. 23 for the final eight spots in the finals. For the Knockout and Championship rounds all weights are zeroed and it is a mad dash for the $100,000 top prize.

Tournament days are split into three periods, 8-10:30 a.m., 10:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m. and 1:30-4 p.m.

Unlike in 2020, all six days of competition will be held on Fork. At that tournament, won by Ott DeFoe, the final day shifted to Lake Athens.

Like all MLF tournaments, the Lake Fork is a catch-and-release event so there will not be a weigh-in, but launches and returns are open to the public. There will be a presentation after the championship round.

The Fork tournament is one of seven MLF events held nationwide in which the Pro Tour anglers compete for points to qualify for the 2023 General Tire Heavy Hitters tournament, REDCREST 2023, the tour Championship.

MLF will return to East Texas on April 9-14 for the 2022 General Tire Heavy Hitters tournament on Lake Palestine. The field for that event consists of the 40 anglers with the heaviest single tournament totals from the previous season.

BASS returns to Fork on May 19-22 for the Simms Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork.