Lard goes well with Big Yellar-Cats.
Turn the Big Blues over 15lbs lose. Channels over 5, lbs as well.

depends on what lake and the fishing pressure it receives. Twok is so well known that it could easily be fished out as fishing pressure increases. personally, I believe in releasing >10lbs. I know a guy who keeps everything and kept a 52lber- caught from the bank and he kept and ate it. Said it tasted like leather. what a waste!

If anyone was genuinely concerned about fish populations they should first look to the issuance of $132 Fresh Water Guide Licenses. Fishing guides clearly put the majority of pressure on fish populations and dont pay their fair share for farming our public fisheries. Pretend all you want, but many guides are filling this forum with protest because these are "their trophy fish" and want to use them to stir up interest from clients. CPR is just marketing..not conservation. True conservation would ban commercial harvesting of our public lakes. And for all those that want more government regulation, be sure to vote democrat this year.... it's their moto dont forget.

Mr. RecFisher,

Welcome to the forum and what a nice first post. Thank you for your opinion.

I'm not a fan of keeping fish. I maybe kept 10 freshwater fish all of last year.

However at the same time I will never criticize a licensed fisherman for harvesting legal game.

If you have some beef then ask for stricter regulations, don't harass people who are keeping legal game.

Also agree with the guides thing. The guides are easily responsible for majority of the fishing pressure.

+1

Very well said and welcome to the forum!

OK, I'm just trying to figure out who's permission I need to ask before I keep a fish I catch legally. Oh and what size too? 5lb? 10 lb? Is it ok if it's between 9.5 lb and 45 lb? There's more opinions on here than Carter's got little Liver pills and not much science to back it up. Guides have been blamed, commercial fishing, jug liners and everyone but the little kid on the bank with a cane pole. I'm sure he's next.
Oh yeah, if your MY guide and I catch a legal fish of whatever species and I want to keep it... I'm keep it thank you.

Keep fighting that good fight.

Spud, let me also say i absolutely love guided fishing trips. Put you right on the fish and dont have to clean the boat after we are done. I learned all i know about striper fishing from guided tours on Texoma. Im not against fishing guides on our public lakes, but i am against commercial interests unduely influencing TPWD regulations.

I dont care what anyone says, after i get done cooking at 35 lb catfish... it tastes like cornmeal and hotsauce to me!

after i get done cooking at 35 lb catfish... it tastes like cornmeal and hotsauce to me!
-100

all of you ecologists that know more than tpwd.. sure do make me laugh,i think they have been doing a damn fine job..but i am sure all of y'all would do so much better

Hey Rec,

No offense was taken personally. Anyone who knows me knows that. I believe in free speech and everyone's opinion and that's why I've served and fought for it. I believe in selected harvest, and too a point guides can put a lot of pressure on a lake or a particular species of fish. Especially when their are a lot of guides on a particular body of water or it's a small body lake. That is why most if not nearly all guides push for strict regulations. We all know most weekend anglers don't fish as much as the guides do, all I was saying in my original post is with this day and age of internet know how and forums like this EVERYONE'S SUCCESS is increased, guides included. We are all learning more from each other and at a faster rate. Plus technology has increased so much in just the past few years. Harvest rates are increasing also, unfortunately the reproduction rates of fish do not. I look at it like this, if you go into a high fenced hunting area with great genetics, good food source with a large and diversified herd of deer with trophies and culls alike and now introduce a larger number of seasoned hunters with better weapons, better ammo and etc..... And with no restraint from them would not take long to for an impact to show up. Deer take what......5-8 years to be considered mature or a true mature trophy? Blue cats are estimated to live 3 times as long (20-30 years) therefore would take a lot longer to rebound a fishery. Yet there is very strict regulations on deer. Remember gentleman, these fish can't jump a fence and go to the next lake. I know people keep large fish, and to an point that is good for a fishery, but if all guides let all their clients keep big fish how long would it take to impact a lake? I know of at least 10 cat guides on Twok, all are great fishermen, know their stuff and all will state that Twok is not the lake of past years, not even 2 years ago! My OPINION was we need to all think how much impact we have and leave some for future generations to enjoy. Was not wanting to start a debate of upset anyone. :-)

What Spud said +1. Pressure has increased, no doubt about it. Everyone do as he/she pleases within the law. However, we all need to keep in mind, our kids may want their kids to catch a big ole whatever one day. Hopefully, there'll be some big 'uns there.

+1000000

When i see people wagging their fingers it always gives me pause. Postings calling for anglers to alert TPWD officials to greivous acts of harvesting by recreational anglers of "majestic fish" will make a long timer reader / first time poster jump on the forum. If anyone is concerned about fishery conservation, take a look red snapper harvests in the Gulf of Mexico by commercial fin fishermen. The species has been so overly fished that recreational anglers are looking at such low limits that its not worth $3.25 a gallon to ride to the rigs. Commercial fishermen are maxing out their quotas while rec-fishers are lagging behind with only 65% of quota taken. Clearly commercial harvesting is what potentially endangers fish populations, not the actions of recreational fishermen. Anglers, look for the wolf in sheep's clothing!!

well instead of writing on here why dont cant we just write this to the state rep instead of wasting time on here

gotta love a demagogue

what a waste

flavor i ment

Had to do a paper in school today on a conflict and decided to write about this and send to my state rep and TP&W

Harvesting Over-Sized Catfish
Lake Tawakoni located in East Texas is recognized as the Catfish Capital Lake. There has been a dispute going on with the fisherman who fish at Lake Tawakoni for catfish. The dispute of harvesting over-sized catfish has been going on for awhile especially on the Texas Fishing Forum online. Some are asking for TP&W to put a maximum size slot on blue catfish.
CPR known as Catch, Photo, and Release is what many of the Fishermen say today on fish 15lbs or higher. I see that TP&W has done a good job on the largemouth bass fishery, why can’t they do the same with the catfish. In recent studies catfish are the species group accounted for 44.6% of directed angler effort on Lake Tawakoni.
Some cat fishermen including myself encourage people to harvest the smaller fish. Eating the smaller fish to me taste much better because they’re fresh, as the bigger ones taste a little rubbery. Harvesting the bigger fish put an impact on the fishery, most catfish guides and fisherman that have fished Tawakoni in the past will say that fishing isn’t the same as it used to be.
Trophy catfish (20lbs or larger) take a while to get that big I’m only 15 and I’m hoping when I have kids and so are others that there will still be a lot of trophy catfish in the lake. Another thing is commercial fishing if you go out on Lake Tawakoni you will see jug lines everywhere. One person averages at least 15jugs but I even see up to 32. Same for trotlines, but the thing is some people abandon theirs or forget about them killing hundreds of fish.
What I am asking, so are many other people is that TP&W put a slot limit on blue catfish at Lake Tawakoni. One person on the forum stated, “Not to be selfish in the matter, but I’m looking out for my sons generation. And, to see how potentially dangerous the over harvest of large fish can be, you needed to have actively fished Twok back 5 - 10 years ago and compare it to today.”

Fish probably wasn't 75+. First time I saw a 33 I was like holy sh**!!! Now I look at them differently. It's just a matter of perspective/experience.

I don't know about anyone else, but, when I was born, I went home from the hospital to Lake Tawakoni. My father hunted the river bottoms of this area before Lake Tawakoni was built. He knew where all the deep holes were, which, previously, were stock tanks and ponds. I grew up on Lake Tawakoni, fished Lake Tawakoni and hunted Lake Tawakoni. I helped rebuild the dam on Lake Tawakoni. I know it is a recreational lake, both for fishing and other water sports, but, I have watched for years as more and more people come to our lake by way of a fishing guide.
Now understand, I don't hold anything against a man who is able to do what he loves for a living, but, when people use a guide service, they are looking for fish, a lot of them and the bigger the better. Then you have the commercial fishermen. Flat out, this should not be allowed. You want to harvest catfish for market, buy some land, dig some ponds and sell YOUR fish, not OUR fish.
I have participated in keeping large fish, 60+ pounds. Keeping fish that big doesn't really interest me any more, but, if I do keep them, I know how to cook them and they are as good as a 5-10 pounder. I was raised on catfish, growing up, we would eat fish at least three times a week. I love catfish, it is my favorite fish to catch and to eat.
I don't really agree with a slot, it might be a good thing for the lake and the fish population,especially where guiding and commercial fishing are concerned (as long as people realize that fish population is greatly affected by natural factors also). As far as I am concerned, guiding is a type of commercial fishing.
It is hard for me to say a slot is what we need, it might not be bad idea, but, it would be hard to throw one back, just because it was 11 pounds, instead of 10.

I have enjoyed this forum and don't usually have anything to say, but, first post or not, I had to say it.