Do you think that catching a 9 pound or bigger bass out of these lakes is still doable? I see reports of the bass fishing at these lakes but are the fish still there? I know these lakes used to produce double digit bass.

Yes; the potential is still there. There is reasoning behind what has or will eventually happen to every lake to cause it's downward spiral from the hay days. One of the area Biologist and some of the Old Masters that fished the lake would be good sources to find out what happened.

I’m not convinced bass still exist in Calaveras. I live about 15 minutes away. I’ve tried it multiples times in the last 1 1/2 years and all I ever catch while bass fishing are redfish. I’ve done decent on reds until the water got cold,, but I’ve yet to catch a bass there in probably 15 trips. They haven’t stocked bass in years and I’m convinced the redfish out competed ( or ate) the bass. I have no idea who makes up the TPWD fighting reports, but they don’t match with what other anglers or the people in the store tell me.
I recently talked to someone who used to do pretty well on Calaveras during the spawn, but he told me he hasn’t caught a bass there in the last 2 years.

What bass that are left in Cally are few and very far between. Braunig on the other hand is still producing bass. I know anglers who are still catching bass out of Braunig. I only know of a couple of bass that were caught over the last two years that went over 6 pounds. I personally do not think either lake will be a good bass fishing lake anymore. Reds and catfish are the main fish on both lakes. Good bass fishing is only a memory.

Both those lakes were some of the earlier Florida strain stockings because of their warmer power plant waters when the state originally believed the Florida bass would only do well in the “hot water lakes”. Turned out later they did good in every lake and subsequently were stocked everywhere. The big bass fishing in those two lakes is long gone.

Really a shame. Fished Calaveras and Braunig a lot in the early 80s through 92 or so...Bass got tough so we brought home stringers of reds. Heavy stringers. Then got into the Corovinas. Those were tasty, Take three boats limit out in about 20 mins under the bridge lights. They turned on we hit em and they would turn off. Next day fish fry. Bass got pretty tough. Fished for them hard. Got to where the bass were up in the rush weeds. Had to fish with 30 pound test. and heavy flipping rods. We had nets with 15 feet of handle on them. Caught a lot of 5-7lbs. Few at 9 but none over 10. We stopped going after awhile. Shame how TPWD biologists use good fisheries as experiments. I am 5 min from a Lake Austin Boat ramp and don't bother there anymore either. Guy got a good one last week however over 13lbs.

[quote=SouthTexasHookup]Really a shame. Fished Calaveras and Braunig a lot in the early 80s through 92 or so...Bass got tough so we brought home stringers of reds. Heavy stringers. Then got into the Corovinas. Those were tasty, Take three boats limit out in about 20 mins under the bridge lights. They turned on we hit em and they would turn off. Next day fish fry. Bass got pretty tough. Fished for them hard. Got to where the bass were up in the rush weeds. Had to fish with 30 pound test. and heavy flipping rods. We had nets with 15 feet of handle on them. Caught a lot of 5-7lbs. Few at 9 but none over 10. We stopped going after awhile. Shame how TPWD biologists use good fisheries as experiments. I am 5 min from a Lake Austin Boat ramp and don't bother there anymore either. Guy got a good one last week however over 13lbs.

If the power plan on Calaveras is shut down...wont the redfish die off ? If yes, the bass could make a comeback like the appear to have on Fairfield. Comments ...

Started fishing the lake in the early 70's.
I learned to bass fish on both Calaveras and Braunig and the bass fishing was unbelievable!
People will find it hard to believe, but Calaveras was a top destination as a bass lake in Texas back then, and even was written up in B.A.S.S. and mentioned more than a few times in articles.
I'll keep my memories of the bass fishing back then, and everyone else can keep those transplanted redfish!
It was also one fantastic crappie lake, and thank you to TPWD for stocking those Florida strain bass, but they blew it with everything else they dumped into the lake.

Oh, and I would be amiss if I didn't also thank CPS for killing all the grass and duckweed, coontail moss that never returned.
If you ever had over 75 to 100 schooling bass smash a topwater lure on the edge of a grass line at high noon in July in 100* sunshine weather, you don't know what you are missing.