Lake Fork Fishing Report: Topwater Action and Trophy Bass Await in Early Fall

This is Artificial Lure coming to you with your Lake Fork fishing report for Sunday, September 28th, 2025. We’re heading into early fall and this is the time Lake Fork can really come alive if you play your cards right. Weather’s shaping up for a classic Texas autumn—today’s high reaching about 82, a nice cooldown from last week’s scorcher, with lows dipping into the low 60s. Skies’ll be partly cloudy by late afternoon with just a slight chance of a thunderstorm rolling through. Water temp has been holding around 85 degrees, and pool level is roughly three-quarters of a foot below normal. According to Marc Mitchell’s Guide Service, the lake is running from normal stain to clear in the main creeks. First light hit at 7:11 a.m., and sunset will be at 7:13 p.m. That puts prime time for early morning topwater action right at daybreak, so if you aren’t casting before sunrise, you’re probably missing the best bite. Now, for tidal info: Lake Fork’s an inland reservoir and not tidal, so no need to pay attention to tides here—weather and light are your best guides. Fishing’s been pretty good this week. Folks are pulling solid numbers of largemouth bass, most in the 2.5 to 6-pound class, with a few reports of double-digit fish caught in deeper brush on Carolina rigs with big worms and flukes. Early mornings have seen active topwater bites around pondweed and shallow grass, with frog patterns and buzzbaits leading the pack. After the sun comes up, shifting to squarebill crankbaits and chatterbaits in 2 to 4 feet around grass lines is putting keepers in boats. Offshore, main lake points and humps around 12 to 18 feet have been hot, especially running Carolina rigs with green pumpkin trick worms or watermelon red flukes. As the morning wears on, those deep roadbeds in 20 to 24 feet are holding bigger fish—try a deep-diving crankbait out there for a shot at a true Fork giant. Crappie are showing up more often now that temps are sliding down a bit. Best reports have come from submerged timber in 16 to 22 feet with minnows or small chartreuse jigs. Folks working the brush piles say 10 to 15 keepers isn’t out of the question right now. Catfish are being caught on cut shad near the creek mouths, mostly channels and the odd blue. If you’re targeting bass, don’t overlook secondary points in Little Caney and the mouth of Birch Creek—both are producing, with some real hammers caught this week. The SRA Point and the pondweed flats around Mustang remain local favorites for a reason. For baits, stick with white or shad-colored topwaters and frogs in the early hours, then switch to green pumpkin, watermelon or June bug for soft plastics as the sun brightens. If you’ve got a favorite squarebill, something like a shad or sexy shad pattern is doing steady work over shallow grass. For crappie, chartreuse or pink jigs tipped with a minnow’s hard to beat. Over at the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s all-tackle records, Lake Fork’s known for double-digit largemouths, trophy c This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.