A friend of mine said his boss went to Tawokoni this past week and caught a big fish, he saw the picture, he can't send pictures on his phone so I will probably never see it, but he said they only had scales to 50# but they guessed it at 75-80#, now I know it's easy to put the Big-Eye on a fish, but my friend said it was big, anyhow, this fish didn't get weighed and certified or measured, or released, they took it home with them to eat, it is legal to take them home so really I can't complain too much, but I wish he would have put it back so someone else could have had a chance to catch it again!!!

That is a shame. One less for us this weekend.

It was probably a 50+. But yeah it would had been nice if they would have released it. Lol

That is a shame. Time to get on my soap box a little. It is the individuals right to take home any legal catch he or she might catch but just because it is legally correct does that make it morally? Think about this, with all the publicity that everyone INCLUDING MYSELF has put on lakes like Tawakoni it has taken it major beating. Yes alot on here I know practice CPR (Catch Photo and Release) put look at the 1000's of people who read our post. who we don't know, do they? The good and bad thing about the interenet is it puts out there the information on how to catch the great fish of these lakes and what is in there to catch. The forum has been great to everyone, from the seasoned anglers and guides to the novice on everyone getting a chance to learn some new technique to catch these truely remarkable fish. How to read sonar, drifting, bait etc... Unfortunately we do not emphasize enough on releasing these great creatures. Look at the boat shows every weekend on Tawakoni! Can't go anywhere without having 6-10 boats in site almost any day now. Can we all say we release all big fish? At this rate how long till the Big T comes the the average t? I have expressed my opinion to many of my close fishing friends, we need to take responsibility of what we have done to ourselves and to our lakes we love. We need to stress more the catch and release of these beautiful fish and not just the size and bragging of what we caught. Most people don't relize these fish are like trophy bucks, we need their genetics to continue the trophy size and growth. Now that taken just like any of gods creatures there are some other factors like food and such but there is more. Most people also don't relize the true impact that one large fish taken can make on a individual water. Lets look at this. If one 50-60 pound fish can increase by 20% (i think i read this somewhere) in the spawn with eggs that is 10-12 pounds of eggs! Tens of thousands of genetically proven beast eggs. Now lets look at the average 5-10 pound fish. 20% is is 1 to 2 pounds of I don't know genetics. It takes around 10 of these fish to equal one large blue and you get the same quality and quanity of fillet if not more and better from the 5-10 pounders. What makes more sense gentlemen and ladies? I ask my fellow fisherman on the forum, and all you readers to please practice CPR and let these gorgeous creatures be enjoyed by all including our children and grandchildren. It is your right to take any fish you want if it is legal.......but really should you?

well said !slot limits are needed I.M.O.

Agreed!!

Yes slots!

+1

That's why all of you guys that fish that lake should call and write you're local state rep. Ask them to go on your behalf and request TP&W put at maximum size on blues on twok. You can type on this forum till your fingers bleed but it's not doing one dad gum thing to help the situation. Call Austin and talk to the TP&W. Personally on my boat it's 10lbs and up go back. Spud is right about all the lurkers. We're all preaching to the choir here if this is where our gripe lays.

over 10 lbs throw it back.

if yaa got a full freezer throw'm back

DON'T abandon your trott lines either. - sorry nother topic

buck

I totally agree and second what y'all are saying. I caught the pending Lake Conroe record on 12/19/11 and have turned down opportunities to be interviewed by the local Conroe paper and the Houston Chronicle. When I was asked why I said it would not be in the best interest of the fish that I work so hard to protect. "What do you mean"? If I were to answer all the questions that you wanted to ask me it could spell a death sentence for the trophy blue catfish in the lake. The only accolade that I am interested in is the one registered with the state as the water body record for Lake Conroe and if I published the how to guide how many big blues would be eaten. That thought appalls me. I volunteered to be listed on the TPWD web site as a source of a certified scale for the lake last year as none of the marinas had a scale more that weighed more than twenty pounds. Guess what the first fish I weighed was? It was the current rod and reel record and that fish was brought to me dead. I was not happy at all about that. My fish was released unharmed and here is a link to the weighing and release if you care to see it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l1jpi835...mp;feature=plcp Keep up the good work y'all are doing up there, I hope to make it to the Big T one day, John3:16

I agree for sure. It would be nice if who is holding a tournament could get a permit or writen permission to bring inn trouphys between the slot for way inn. I mean really this time of year they make it just fine. I dont remember one dieing last year. All the ones i saw swimmed off no problem.

According to TP&W there is 400lbs of catfish per acre in Tawakoni. Personally I dont keep anything over 20-25lbs. And that might be once or twice a year. But I dont think its healthy for a fishery to be all big fish either. I dont think it hurts to take a few of the big ones out. If your taking all the little eaters home to eat then what happens when all the big ones are gone? There were no little ones to grow into big ones so now you have a fishery with no big fish. Just food for your thoughts.

Heres some food for thought. CPR WORKS

LOL.

I agree on cpr to a point to help the population. But i also agree there needs to be some culling of fish especially fish with obvious defects regardless of size as well to help the population. Theres proof to support both sides. I usually throw them all back but last week i kept a dozen OVER 10 lbs and i know they are in a mans freezer and he didnt waste it. There needs to be checks and balances and i leave that up to TPWD to decide, its not my job. I rather just go fish and worry bout my ownself and not others or judge other catfisherman. Now if i see some illegal activity i probably call the warden and let him handle it. Again, not my job.

HERES some more food for thought!

Everyone that post every single fish they catch from Tawakoni is to blame for all the fishing pressure! So it's kinda hard to sit on this forum and preach CPR when you bring all this pressure to the lakes knowing that most people arent gonna realese the big fish....sorry thats my 2 cents! Post now CRY LATER HAHAHAHA

Tournaments may be one thing you have to sacrifice for the good of the fishery if you really care for it. You can't have it both ways.

Let's say I hired a guide and he put me on a 50lb fish. He wants me to CPR but I want to take it home to eat, which is legal. What happens now?

That would be discussed before the trip even begins!

Most guides already have it on their site what they will harvest. My site has it and as well on your release forms. I know atleast a dozen guides and all of them have it clearly posted on theirs also.

Right now admitedly TP&W just doesn't understand the significance of the harvest or lack of regarding trophy bluecats. Its with all the attention that the sport has got in the last couple years that has caught the attention of the authorities to see in fact "if" a slot would help the fishery. I have spoke at length w/ biologist overseeing the slot project.

With this being said, its my opinion that the lack of the slot on Tawaknoi is proof enough as to what happens to a lake that is fished as often as Tawok is. Most of us on this forum don't keep large fish. However, consider yourself the minority. I consider myself a man on a mission to help others understand the need of larger fish in the lake and based on the hundreds of catfishermen I have spoke to either on the internet or in person, most keep larger fish and it shows.

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 activily fished Tawok back 5 - 10 years ago and compare it to today.

TP&W has done a fantastic job on the largemouth bass fishery in Texas. Better yet, the bass fishing community has done a fantastic job on appropritate harvest of larger fish...and it shows in our waters.

Hope we all can do the same.

I totally agree! This is one thing we can learn from the bass fisherman.

Less competition for food means more food which will result in bigger fish. Just my opinion.