Been quite a few 15-16 lb'ers caught but the last time a 17 was caught was 1991. I'm thinking with the increased amount of anglers out there and the awesome technology available the time has maybe come and gone for a new state record. There are way too many outstanding anglers here in Texas for one not to have been caught by now. If there is one she's probably swimming around in either Rayburn, TB, Falcon or Amistad but the odds are slim. Still fun trying though.

I think one is out there but finding and catching that ONE big bass is almost impossible. They don't get big by hitting lures.

A bunch of them used to live in California.

Apparently somewhere other than where I fish.

try northern Florida

A bunch still do... but with recent history, I�d say Marine Creek...

If Texas had the rainbow trout like the San Diego county lakes do, it be different. Here we have talapia, I just don�t think the bass eat them much like the monsters in San Diego eat the trout...
But there�s are few lakes here that are getting primed to kick out many fish in the 12-14 pound category
Fork
Falcon
Ray Roberts
Marine Creek
Lewisville (maybe)

I would add Palestine to that list!

That would be a heck of a jump from the 13 pound lake record.

I think Conroe is under-rated. Not a numbers lake, but definitely some big fish in that lake.

A lot of Truth in that Jimbo!!!

I have predicted to some friends there will be a 15+ caught this spring or next from public water but not from the lakes mentioned.

I think when the record is broken it will be from a Cinderella Lake that seldom gets any attention .

I don't know. I haven't hooked into a true giant since April of 1995. That one was on Lake Nacogdoches and was a monster, easily a Sharelunker that my buddy and I got a good look at before she made a run and snapped my 20 lb line. Then she came up right behind the boat trying to throw my worm and hook just to add insult to injury. A couple of years before that I broke off another fish that I am sure weighed in the teens bank fishing a 4 acre private lake that one of my employees had been dumping the big fish he caught at Murvaul in for over 20 years.

It is surprising that Texas apparently reached the peak of its big bass growth 30 years ago. What were we doing in the 80s and early 90s that we're not doing now? The main change I can think of from a fishing standpoint is the eradication of grass in so many of our lakes.

^^^^^
The human population around I35 and east of I35 has exploded in the last 30 years
A lot of our larger reservoirs have aged and aren�t as fertile as they once were
The drought from 2007-1015 was bad
There�s a lot more electronics pinging on the water now