Elite

A look at Lake Fork 2022

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Captions by
Mike Suchan
After a five-week hiatus, the top circuit of B.A.S.S. returns to action this week for the Simms Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork, the famed fishery that ranks No. 1 in the 2021 Bassmaster 100 Best Bass Lakes.
The May 19-22 tournament will be the fourth consecutive year at Fork for the Elite Series, and each time the winner has eclipsed 100 pounds. Fork is a big bass factory, producing Texas’ largest bass at 18.18 and more than half of the top 50 entered in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s successful ShareLunker program.
Lake Fork, about an hour east of Dallas, is a 27,000-acre reservoir of Lake Fork Creek on the Sabine River system. Ponds were stocked before impoundment in 1980, and 80% of the timber was left standing, helping provide habitat.
The timber makes Fork tricky to navigate, and it could be even more difficult this week with water levels down almost 6 feet for dam repairs. But low water will help bunch bass and put a premium on remaining lake vegetation of hydrilla, milfoil and duckweed.
Competition days are Thursday through Sunday, with launches, weigh-ins and expo activities at the Sabine River Authority at 353 PR 5183 in Quitman. Daily takeoffs are scheduled for 8 a.m. ET and weigh-ins are set there for 4 p.m. ET. All B.A.S.S. venues are free to attend.
As in past tournaments on Fork, B.A.S.S. will implement weigh and release, with judges overseeing the process. They hold the scale and verify the weight of each bass, record it on a scoresheet then enter it in BassTrakk, which will be official at this event. Clifford Pirch brought in last year’s Phoenix Boats Big Bass, a 9-pound, 13-ounce monster.
Judges also oversee the measuring of fish. Bass must be longer than 14 inches to be a legal catch, and only bass longer than 24 inches may be brought to the weigh-in. In 2019, Brandon Cobb replaced an 8-pound, 13-ounce “over” with an 11-1.
With the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the event — the largest the Elites have weighed at Fork — Cobb had 37-15 on Day 3 in winning with 114-0. A distant second was Garrett Paquette, who also earned a Century Belt with 101-15. “That was the most amazing four days of fishing I’ve ever had,” Cobb said. “When you set the hook at Lake Fork, you never know what you’re in for.”
Because of COVID, the 2020 Fork event was rescheduled for the fall when fishing is more difficult — only around 50% caught limits on Day 1 compared to 83% in the Elites’ first visit in 2019. Patrick Walters solved the fishery with forward-facing sonar, enticing bass after bass from the timber.
Walters lapped the field with 104-12. He caught three limits topping 25 pounds, including 29-6 on Day 3. The greatest drama on the final day was if he would earn a Century Belt. He only needed 17-14 but started slow before a late flurry allowed him to break 100 and celebrate. His margin of victory, 29-10 over Keith Combs, was almost double the previous largest in Elite history.
Walters earned his second Century Belt in the 2021 Fork event. He led after 32-14 on Day 1 and stayed in the hunt. Walters had a big final day, landing this 9-5 in his limit of 31-3 to total 102-5, but it wasn’t to be. “If you’re going to get beat on Lake Fork, it has to be a 40-pound bag,” Walters said. “Big hats off to Lee, he is the man.”
That would be Lee Livesay, who guides on Lake Fork. Livesay exorcised demons from past Fork tournaments — he was 39th then seventh — with a monster Championship Sunday. “I caught big ones everywhere I went,” he said. “It’s so cliché to say, but the stars aligned. Every single thing went right, from timing to never losing a fish on a topwater, to catching 42 pounds.”
Livesay landed a 9-2 early and kept catching “baby whales,” topping 30 pounds before a lull in the action. His bite reignited in the afternoon, and he culled with an 8-14 and then a dramatic 7-14 that gave him 42-3, the third largest limit in the five-fish era of B.A.S.S.
Livesay totaled 112-5 to win on his home lake and give him his second Elite title after winning on Chickamauga in 2020. Livesay comes into the 2022 Lake Fork Elite on a high. Mired in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings and in jeopardy of missing next year’s Classic via the points, Livesay won the St. Croix Central Open on Ross Barnett to earn an automatic Classic berth.
Spring has been odd at Fork with late cold fronts through April then high winds keeping anglers off the water. There’s a steady pattern of high temps and wind for practice and the first two days of competition, but a front bringing storms will drop weekend highs into the upper 70s with lighter winds.
There have been five Century Belts awarded in the three Fork Elite events, which ties it for fifth all-time with Lake Guntersville. Santee Cooper jumped into second behind Falcon Lake’s 15 with two belts this year to total eight. California’s Clear Lake has seven while Amistad has six. The last time two lakes produced 100 pounds in a single season was 2007.
With Jesse Tacoronte leaving the Elite Series for family concerns and Brad Whatley taking a medical hardship, the field is down to 92 anglers. They will all be vying for the $100,000 first-place prize and AOY points in the fifth Elite of nine scheduled. As in the past at Fork, expect big things.

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