AROUND EAST TEXAS: Lake Fork

Located in Wood, Rains and Hopkins counties in Northeast Texas, Lake Fork has a surface area (at full pool elevation) of 27,690 acres, with approximately 315 miles of shoreline. 

Construction of Lake Fork was completed in February 1980, and the lake reached full elevation in December 1985. The deepest section of lake fork is 70 feet. The main body of Lake Fork extends a little over 15 total miles in a northwesterly direction.

The City of Dallas is the largest user of Lake Fork water, acquiring some 42 billion gallons annually (131,860 acre-feet). Sabine River Authority (SRA) was created to control, store and distribute water from the Sabine River, on which Lake Fork is located on one of the Sabine’s tributaries. SRA also permits leaseback area around Lake Fork for private use. If you have property that touches shoreline you can lease back – for a small annual fee- the strip of land bordering the shoreline. This strip of land can be used for boat docks/piers/boathouses, gardening, extension of your yard or grazing of animals.  Additional permits are available to pull water from the lake onto your property for non-commercial uses: landscape irrigation, filling a pond, watering animals, etc.

15 of the Top 20 Texas Record Largemouth Bass have been caught on Lake Fork.

Texas Parks and Wildlife began stocking Lake Fork with Florida largemouth bass in 1978. 

The current record largemouth bass in the State of Texas was caught in Lake Fork in 1992, weighing 18.18 pounds.

Of the Texas Top 50 list of largemouth bass, 34 were caught in Lake Fork. The lake is considered to be the best big bass lake in the state of Texas and many consider one of the best in the nation. During the peak Spring bass fishing season, you will see license plates around the lake from as far away as Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Channel and blue catfish are also predominant in Lake Fork. Additionally, populations of Yellow bass, bluegill and red-ear sunfish and black and white crappie are in heavy supply

The Sabine River Authority operates four public boat ramps and a free day use area. Accommodations on the lake and nearby include motels and cabins, tent camping and RV sites.