I saw a few vids of a place near me stocked with trophy fish. Looks awesome! I start making plans for a day of trophy fishing. Get to web page to book, no prices for entry. Hmmmmm.... Search and search on the web. Finally call the owner. Said it's $1500 a day for two people.

Hoping to find something a little more in my price range with decent fishing that is not located in Mexico. Anyone have any recommendations? I am getting old with major health issues and need to clear a few things on my bucket list this year.

That's a tough one...

Although obviously nothing is guaranteed if I absolutely had to catch a DD, I would go to Falcon and fish with one of the guides down there. Fish for two days maybe if you can afford it.

Deep diving crankbaits in summer have accounted for a lot of double digit fish. Looking at recent reports a couple of those guys really have them dialed in and I've seen a lot of fish right at or very close to 10 lbs being caught lately.

Check out these guys-

https://www.privatewaterfishing.com/

They have access to hundreds of small private ponds/lakes all over Texas that specialize in trophy fishing. $1500 a day sounds like Camelot Bell!

Live shiner trip in Florida maybe?

I lived in south Florida for 20 years, so I'm familiar with waters in central to South.
I haven't checked on the recovery progress of Stick Marsh (a hurricane years ago blew it up in a bad way), but wild shiner fishing there was once an experience of a lifetime.
For sure, I'd go for West Toho, shiner fishing with a guide, and last but not least Lake Kissimmee. (Grape Hammock is THE place to stay at Kissimmee.)
There are guides that will split up time, part of it shiner fishing, and part with artificial baits, all depending on what your goal is.
The best time? January through March will be prespawn/spawn there. You just need to hope you can not line up with the cold fronts. With no bad cold front, the weather then is mild to warm at times.

All 3 of those are near Orlando. I'm not sure about Stick Marsh right now, but absolutely the other two are top notch places for big fish. Do not bother with Okeechobee when you have options such as Toho and Kissimmee. The potential fish size is actually lower as you go South, so Lake O will not have bigger fish.

With all that said, it (Florida) would not be cheap either. I agree with the other post about Falcon being hot for big fish right now, and the guides are dialed in on them. Even for myself, looking at "what dollars would it cost me?" I'd say a Falcon trip fishing with guides would still be a good bit less on logistics and $$$ than a Florida expedition.

One other side note about Falcon, it is also the home of trophy sized crappie. Several of those guides will also take you crappie fishing. I'm sure they'd be happy to split the day between doing both if that was your thing.

Not everybody is into catching trophy crappie but if that'd be something you would be into you could definitely catch a crappie of a lifetime down there as well.

+1 on Private Water Fishing. Great Folks!

CB is most likely the best place in the country right now for your chances at catching a true DD but it is expensive.

Private Waters Fishing

I agree that 1500 is expensive but you will spend way more than that going to Florida. Also if you go the Falcon route, after you pay for a guide for 2 days , tip and travel expenses you are probably pretty close to 1500. Catching big bass isn't cheap or guaranteed .

If it is a true bucket list trip and I am are worried my days are numbered, then I would defiantly spend the $1500for a day on Camelot Bell. If I could not afford it, I may "hint" to my family and friends of my wishes. Just say'n

The website says 70 private lakes in Texas and Oklahoma, not hundreds. I have no idea how much the yearly membership fee is. The daily fees for the lakes I looked at range from $85 to $150. I do not know if that is per person or just an access fee. No, these are not the fees that Camelot Bell is charging but it could add up to an expensive day of fishing. A typical fishing trip for me ranges from $50 to $75. Of course, that is not fishing a private lake and is within a 150 mile radius.

I was also interested in those answers and this is what I found for anyone interested:

They have a trial fishing day for any lake you choose In your area

A number of us on here know Steve Alexander (TFF handle is salex) who runs Private Water Fishing and he runs a top notch operation

I’ve met a number of PWF members and they all really like it

Thank you. We love what we do. Appreciate the kind words and recommendations from the TFF.

Accessing private land is not inexpensive and we certainly understand it is not in the budget for many. However, it is an option for those who can afford it and enjoy having a lake all to themselves.