Lake Fork Information

Lake Fork Reservoir is located 65 miles east of Dallas on the on Lake Fork Creek, a major tributary of the Sabine River between Quitman, Alba, Emory, and Yantis, Texas.  At 27,690 acres and 315 miles of shoreline, Lake Fork is one of the 10 largest lakes in Texas.

Established by the Texas Parks and Wildlife in 1979, Lake Fork was designed a premier bass fishing lake with 732,514 Florida Black Bass stocked from 1979 through 1987. Lake Fork offers excellent fish habitat with 80% standing timber left intact, and hydrilla, milfoil, and duckweed being the predominant vegetation. The lake currently holds records for 34 out of the Top 50 and 15 of the top 20 Texas State Record Largemouth Bass.  Other species of fish include Catfish, Black and White Crappie, Sunfish, and Bluegill. The predominant food source for the larger fish is Shad, Minnows, and Crawfish.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife implemented a protected slot limit to preserve the great Lake Fork bass fisheries.  Therefore, bass between 16 and 24 inches must be returned back into the waters of Lake Fork immediately. A 5 bass per day limit can be kept, consisting of 5 under 16 inches, or 1 over 24 inches, and 4 under 16 inches.

Lake Fork was impounded in 1980 and reached is normal pool surface elevation of 403.0 feet above mean sea level in 1985. It consists of 27,690 acres between the towns of Quitman, Alba, Emory, and Yantis, Texas. At 315 miles of shoreline, the lake includes a drainage area of 493 square miles and a 12,410 foot dam.

Lake Fork Reservoir is located on Lake Fork Creek which is a major tributary of the Sabine River. The reservoir is owned and operated by the Sabine River Authority of Texas.  Lake Fork Creek rises in the southwestern corner of Hunt County and flows east for 78 miles to where it joins the Sabine River southeast of Mineola. The stream drains an area of approximately 685 square miles in Wood, Rains and Hopkins Counties. Over 490 square miles of the Lake Fork Creek drainage area lies above the reservoir dam site. The topography of Lake Fork consists of gently rolling upland hills transected by the moderately wide flat floodplain of Lake Fork Creek.

The Lake Fork dam is over 12,400 feet in length with a crown width of 20 feet. The upstream slope of the embankment is protected from erosion by 2 feet of soil cement with a spillway length of 250 feet. The flow of water over the concrete ogee weir is controlled by five 20x40 foot tainter gates. Also contained in the spillway structure are two 5x8 low flow outlets and three metered water release pipes. The design discharge of the spillway is 81,900 cubic feet of water per second.

As you can see,Lake Fork is an excellent vacation destination or year-round lake home. If you are interested in vacationing at Lake Fork check out our Lake Fork vacation rentals and cabins. If you'd prefer something more permanent then browse our list of Lake Fork real estate waterfront listings.