No arguing that Lake Fork was an anomaly Randy. However all lakes have a life cycle, even the Mighty Fork. I have been in water treatment for almost 30 years so that makes me kind of a water doctor so to speak.

Timber, vegetation, flooded debris begins to degrade & rot over the years. As it does it begins to emit sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) in the process. Many of us have waded in a lake or pond and smelled a foul rotten egg smell as we pulled our feet from the muck. Those are SRB's you are smelling.

SRB's occur in water, sediment, or water with a lot of decaying organic material like our lakes. The sulfate-reducing microorganisms reduce sulfate over time and emit acidic sulfide as waste. The chemical reaction that happens during this process depletes the dissolved oxygen in the water thereby making it less inhabitable for all marine life.

The acid produced by the SRB's lower the pH as well. This is why most private lake owners add tons of lime to their lakes about once a decade. The lime (calcium carbonate) helps buffer the pH of the water back up to a more neutral & healthy for freshwater fish life range of 7-8. The pH on the bottom of a lake can be as low as 1.0 if SRB's are present. This pH will not support most types of aquatic vegetation.

If left unchecked, the depletion of oxygen & lower pH levels will support much less plankton in the lake. Without plankton, the threadfin shad, glass minnows, baby bluegill population have no food source. It takes a TON of baitfish for a bass to grow to even ten pounds, much less state record status. All the stars have to align.

Additionally with the lack of grass in the lake, the baby fish have less habitat to hide in and survive the first few months of their life. Big fish eat little fish. It is the cycle of life.

This is not to say Lake Fork is doomed by any means. All lakes cycle but it is not a matter of months. It is years or even decades. It has been 18 years since Fork produced the State Record. All indicators would tell me that Fork is not capable of producing an 18 pound bass in the immediate future.

Don't get me wrong. I would love to see it happen. I would love to see ANY lake in TX produce a fish larger than 18 pounds public or private.

I think ken meant 28 years not 18 since the record.

Good Grief I am getting old!! I had to get out my calculator. Let's see 2020 minus 1992 is... Uhh, err,, Wow 28!!

Math was never my strong suit......

Thanks Jarrett

I have serious doubts about an 18+ in our Texas waters. Don't get me wrong. Nothing would make me prouder of Texas than for someone to catch a 20 pound bass in ANY LAKE, public or private in the Lone Star State!

Private land owners have been trying to grow an 18+ since the beginning of time and nobody has done it yet. I truly believe there is a ceiling of about 16 pounds for largemouth bass here in NTX. The weather gets too hot in the summer & too cold in the winter for optimum growth. At one point 20 years ago I would have bet my last dollar there was a 20 pounder living in Fork. Not any more!

We've had this debate many times on here. The reason Cali has grown several 20+ pound bass is pretty simple. The weather is much milder than NTX. The water temp at Lake Casitas never drops below 55 in the winter and never gets above 80 in the summer. The bass there live in air conditioned comfort - they live longer & are less stressed so they get bigger.

Plus they stock rainbow trout from Oct thru March for the locals to catch. Those trout are farm raised and have never seen another fish in their lives except for a mirror image trout so they have no fear of any predators. There is a video floating around of several DD bass under a dock at a Cali marina waiting for the trout truck. The truck shows up & dumps the trout and the feeding begins. It's not even what I would call a frenzy. The stupid trout have no fear of the bass. Some of the trout even after being engulfed & released by a bass won't flee for their lives.

They swim right up to the bass like, "Oh hello, can you give me directions to the trout farm?" They are such easy prey for the bass. They expend virtually no energy to eat those protein-rich trout. That's why they get so big in Cali.

That's funny right there. I GUESS most of ya'll might be too young to have seen this, and I would have missed it IF my dad hd not showed it to me.A article& photo. in sports page. CIRCA 73/ 76 of what would of shattered the current STATE RECORD. Caught by my boss. Out of his private pond. In the Dallas city limits, {was over 20lbs.} Aint No fish story.

It will take a lake going through a new cycle such as flooding or extreme drought then flooding in my opinion. Such as falcon a few years after it fills up. If it wasn't for the cycles of flooding Rayburn wouldn't be half the lake it is now.

I suspect there are brief periods every couple years where the stars align and such a fish may exists. As a general statement I agree 100% with Ken. It's too hot in the summer (shortens lifespane) too cold in the winter (slows growth). Every couple years though, maybe after a dry spell that is followed up by high water... a fish that normally swims around at 12-13 pounds, has a couple banner years and shoots up to 15-16 lbs, then gains a 1lb of spawn, then eats a 2lb crappie. It's possible. She may only top 18 lbs for a day or two while she's digesting that fish, but it could happen.