Elite

Dock talk at Lake Fork 2025

Find out what the Elites have to say as they return from the final practice day before the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork.

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Photography by
Logan Crumley
The fifth stop of the 2025 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series is set to begin on Thursday at legendary Lake Fork. Anticipation is high for the potential slugfest that will take place at the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork. Why is the anticipation high? Because heavy weights are destined to be seen – all five Elite events at Lake Fork since 2019 have produced century belts.
They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that is certainly the case when it comes to Lake Fork. Big bass will inevitably be a big part of the equation this week, but how will the Elites attack it?
According to multiple anglers, the lake appears to be in a bit of a limbo. With the water above full pull, the bass have plenty of options. Will anglers spend their time up shallow searching for bedding bass, or will they concentrate on offshore locations that could hold groups of fish?
Let’s hear what the Elites had to say after completing practice.
Lee Livesay
How about we kick of this edition of Dock Talk with the two-time Lake Fork Champion Lee Livesay. “I know everyone is going to call me a liar, but I literally haven’t found anything,” he said. “This has been the worst practice of my life. It’s just a weird week of the year where the bass are just in limbo.”
“There’s still some fish on beds, and the shad spawn is still going on but when the lake is this high, they just don’t get on the points very good,” said Livesay. “The fish are wanting to get out deep, but it’s just not time yet. A lot of the fish on bank could probably be caught frogging or swimming a jig, but I just haven’t done it yet… I’m still out there looking for a needle in a hay stack.”
As for the winning weight? “I think it’s going to take 112 pounds to win,” said the Lake Fork expert. “You’re going to see guys absolutely smash them up shallow frogging, and the forward-facing wizards do some pretty incredible things as well.”
Jamie Hartman
“This is definitely the toughest I’ve seen Fork since we’ve been coming here,” he said. “The fish must be in a heck of a transition right now. The water has come up, and I just don’t think the fish know what to do.”
“They’re not really out deep and they’re not up shallow, and that’s the worst spot for them to be in,” Hartman said. “I saw water temps around 73 degrees yesterday, but it’s definitely gotten colder after that cold rain yesterday.”
“Based on what I’ve seen, I may spend some time shallow and then move out later,” he said.
Justin Hamner
“These fish are all over the place and you can really catch them however you want to,” he said. “The frog bite is absolutely phenomenal, but I don’t think you can win that way.”
 
“The bigs are out deep,” said Hamner. “That’s just the way it is here. If you pull up on the right spot out deep you can get right in a hurry. The water level is the deal though, it’s got them scattered.”
How about a bold prediction? “I think the biggest bass of the week will come off a bed,” he said.
Jake Whitaker
“Practice has been pretty decent,” he said. “There’s been periods each day of practice where it’s been really good and then it slows down a little bit.”
“There’s still a lot of fish up shallow,” said the North Carolina pro. “There will be fish caught from super shallow to out super deep. We’ve had pretty crazy conditions throughout practice which actually may have helped the fishing during practice.”
“Even though there’s a good number of fish up shallow, I think that we will see fish get caught even deeper than we’re used to seeing here.”
Beau Browning
“Practice has kind of been all over the place for me,” he said. “There’s fish on beds all the way out to deep school in 20-plus feet of water.”
“It’s really been a pick your poison deal,” said the Arkansas pro. “I think everyone in the field will be able to fish to their strengths if they want to. As a shallow water guy, I’d like to spend my time up shallow, but in the back of your head you know the potential out deep.”
Winning weight prediction? “I’m going to say that it’ll take 128 pounds to win,” he said.
Bernie Schultz
“Well, they’re going catch them,” he said. “There are guys fishing up shallow and guys fishing out deep, and I think there’s potential in both.”
“I think the high water has helped keep a lot of fish shallow,” said the Elite Series veteran. “As long as they don’t pull too much water, I think those fish will stay up there. There’s still a lot of fish in between in the mid-range depths too.”
“Guys will absolutely be able to fish to their strengths and do what they want to do in this event,” said Schultz.
Tim Dube
“There’s still fish on beds, so there’s plenty of sight fishing to be had,” he said. “From what I can tell, the majority is still out deep or leaving the bank though.”
“The main thing is that this is the Elite Series and these guys are going to catch what the lake has to offer and Lake Fork has absolute giants in it,” said Dube. “The population of bass in Lake Fork is just insane.”
“I’m just going to stick to what I know and hope it pans out,” he said.
Patrick Walters
“The fish are doing everything,” he said. “From top to bottom, they’re super deep and they’re super shallow.”
“The water is high but they’re sucking it out of here, so it really has the fish in a funk,” said Walters. “You’ll see it be pretty inconsistent. Guys will catch big bags and then back it up with not a big back – it’s just really up and down.”
Winning weight prediction? “103 pounds will win it,” he said.
Evan Kung
“It’s been pretty tough for me,” he said. “I’ve never been here before, so I’m just trying to learn the lake.”
“I can go catch a lot of fish, but the big ones seem to be really scattered and random,” said the Elite rookie. “We’re just going to go out tomorrow and hopefully run into those big ones and see what we bring in.”
“I’m going to go out and do a good bit of everything,” he said. “There’s fish spawning, there’s fish done spawning and I’ve caught a couple of fish that I don’t think have even spawned yet.”

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