Grew up fishing Cypress Springs, got to fish it while it was full of grass and had many great days out there. Even after the grass first started to disappear we had them dialed in on brush piles for a few years. Now its tough to catch 5+s out there, but back in the late 90s early 2000s it seemed like we would catch a couple every trip. Did get to fish fork until later on but when i first got out there it was still covered in grass and had some great days throwing the frog and swiming a skinny dipper along and through the hydrilla. Seems like both had one thing in common... Grass. If TPWD want to grow monster bass they need to make sure aquatic vegetation is healthy in the lakes

never saw a smallie at monti.

7 pages and none of you fools has got to the REAL DEAL yet. Fork would’ve never been Fork, or any of the rest of ‘em for that matter, without Lake Echo. It’s pointless to tell y’all, you wouldn’t even believe it.

Echo
Echo
Echo

Beyond words!

West Texas guy here. 1. E.V. Spence 2. Lake Kemp. 3. Hubbard Creek

What ever happened to this lake?....Is it still there? Wasn't it a private lake?

Think it depends on where you live. I fished Rayburn, Toledo and Fayette mostly. Those would be my top 3. Spent alot of time on Livingston growing up.

1. Fork
2. Monticello
3. Cypress Springs

Oh yeah; and you and me unless you're native. Of course, even Native Americans came here only 10,000 years ago.

Yep Believe it or not Livingston, from what I was told is the first lake in Texas that had hydrilla. You could go into any cove or pocket and it was crystal clear. You could literally see 4-5lbs fish swimming around like a fish tank. Great lake at the time for numbers.
Rayburn was also unbelieveable in the early to late 80's. My mom would drop off me and a friend at Tiger Creek in the morning and we would wade fish all day and catch 20lbs sacks.
Caught the end of the good fishing at Choke and Falcon about 2008 to 12. If you didn't catch a couple of 7-8 lbs bass it was considered a bad trip.
Dunlap was on fire when we first moved to New Braunfels pumping out 8-10 lbs fish weekly, until word got out on a few forums. Until about 2015 I had my boat close to Dunlap so I could fish after work.
Still can't believe it's gone! SMDH

My glory days were a few years back:

Thomas Hill - best warm water lake ever. Colder it got, the better the fishing.
Shelbyville - new lake effect, could catch over 100 per day easy. No monsters though.
Stockton - new lake effect. could make 3 casts gong down a bank, catch a 4 lb LM, a 6 lb walleye and a 10 lb northern.
Kinkaid - new lake effect. Honorable mention. Huge northerns mixed in with the LM.

Originally a Yankee.

Monticello, Fork, Purtis Creek

Lake Nacogdoches around 2000. Little grass but acres of pads and 4-7lbers that had never seen a frog before. Neither had we....found some snag proof and the rest is history. It was as good as frog fishing can get.

Kurth 1999-2010....early 2000's was the best sight fishing that's possible on a body of water. 35-50lbs literally every day nearly the entire spawn. Almost hard to believe looking back. It truly was a peaked out unpressured fishery. I know of atleast 3 fish over 13 caught and a 15+ found floating. It was nuts. Some days you'd see 5-10 dd's in several hundred yards of bank.

Of course falcon 2011 ... easiest 40lb bags ive ever caught cranking. 25lb fluorocarbon and dd22's. We didn't know just how good it was. Should've stayed a couple months.

Holbrook in the early 90's.
Fork in the 90's

Ray Roberts