Lake Fork Reservoir is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

located in

Wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

, Rains, and Hopkins counties in the state of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, between the towns of Quitman,

Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingd ...

, Emory, and Yantis, Texas. It was impounded by the Lake Fork Dam in 1980, and reached its normal pool surface elevation of above mean sea level in 1985. It consists of , offers of shoreline, and has a drainage area of . The dam is in length and impounds Lake Fork Creek, a tributary of the Sabine River, and other major creeks are Big Caney and Little Caney. The dam and reservoir with a maximum capacity of are owned and operated by the Sabine River Authority, a state agency. It officially serves as a

for Dallas and its suburbs. However, it is best known for its fishing, as it holds 15 of the top 20 Texas State Record

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

ever caught, making it one of the premier trophy

bass fishing Bass fishing is the recreational fishing activity, typically via rod-based angling, for various North American freshwater game fishes known collectively as '' black bass''.Henshall, James A. (Dr.), ''Book of the Black Bass'', Cincinnati, OH: R ...

lakes in the

world The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

Fishing

Lake Fork Reservoir was created as a textbook fishery, including initial stockings before the lake filled. Lake Fork Reservoir was established, by the Texas Parks and Wildlife, as a premier bass fishing lake, with 732,514 Florida-strain

being stocked from 1979 through 1987. Lake Fork Reservoir offers excellent fish habitat with 80% standing timber left intact, and hydrilla, milfoil, and duckweed being the predominant vegetation. Other species of fish include

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

, sand bass, yellow bass,

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

and white crappie, sunfish, bowfin, gar, and

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or, in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands ea ...

. The predominant food source for the larger fish is

shad The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family (biology), family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species. The shads are Pelagic fish, pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadr ...

, minnows, and crawfish. To preserve the great Lake Fork Reservoir bass fisheries, the Texas Parks and Wildlife implemented a protected slot limit of no bass between will be kept, and will be returned into the waters of Lake Fork immediately. A five bass per day limit can be kept, consisting of five-under , or one-over , and four-under .

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, the Lake Fork Reservoir has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded at Lake Fork Reservoir was on July 19, 2006, while the coldest temperature recorded was on February 16, 2021.

References

Resources

:''source: Army Corps of Engineers, and

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

External links

* {{authority control Protected areas of Hopkins County, Texas Protected areas of Rains County, Texas Fork Protected areas of Wood County, Texas United States state-owned dams Dams in Texas Dams completed in 1980 Bodies of water of Hopkins County, Texas Bodies of water of Rains County, Texas Bodies of water of Wood County, Texas Sabine River (Texas–Louisiana)