Old enough to remember it not being uncommon getting into schools of 3 - 4 pounders on top water and catching over 100 in a day. How long since that has happened on Toledo Bend?

My thinking also.

You can still catch 5 good ones but those might be the only bites you get all day. 10 bites is a decent day for me sadly.

It is what makes a Mexico trip worth it...

been over....several years now....but I still go to just sit in my spots and catch what I catch....talk to dad, God, and seek peace...

With a few rule changes it could be like you guys remember. Catch a bass 2 pounds or under = point reduction. 2-3.5 pounds = 0 points.

Goal is to have everyone fishing for females (if you're going to win a tournament you have to fish for fish that will win). Takes out those targeting small males on the beds guarding eggs. A female caught and released with eggs can still spawn.

And for those naive enough to believe that isn't happening: search for "how to catch spawning bass" on google. You will find 57,600 videos on the subject (maybe more by now).

Of course, fishing for hatchery fish may be the only future. Really up to the young people.

I don’t think it’s over personally. If anything, I think the pressure will help glean some people that think a 5-10 fish day is too slow over to another sport. Don’t get me wrong, I want to catch a lot of fish too, but there’s something satisfying about grinding a day on the lake that still thrills me. (As long as the weather isn’t insane I don’t mind working at it all day).

Yes. Everyone sell your boats!

Plus #1.

I will say for sure the sport has changed! The fish are more pressured and lots more people out there! I’ve seen up’s and downs in the fishing over all these years. About 50 years I can remember fishing Sam Rayburn, Livingston and every water hole I could find to fish in. It’s the lack of respect for your fellow man that I have the hardest time dealing with in these new times!! Used to it was one or two guys back in the day. Now it’s crazy.

Nah...just wait til only way to fish in a boat is if you got an electric outboard and they cost twice as much as the boat because of the cost of a battery to run it...lol
Then the only ones fishing in a boat will be millionaires, the rest of us will be bank fishers...again...tmho.

Damn man.. would hate to see what you can do when the fishing was still good.

It depends on your definition of good times. First time I went to Fork I caught 33 fish over 3-1/2 pounds on the first day. Broke a couple big guns off due to equipment and ignorance. Didn’t need 14 rods on the deck with different offerings. Just throw a big spinner bait and catch em. It slowly went downhill from that day until it is what it is now. So for the guy’s that have been doing this for 40 plus years I would think we are all on the same page. The good times are definitely over. Also the fisherman back then were taught to fish by their elders and were taught manners and to respect where other people were fishing, it wasn’t near as bad for your blood pressure.

Fork is a mudhole, how come we gotta always talk about fork. It's a tourist trap

I'm wondering how many of you fish on lakes that are better today than they were just 10 years ago. For me the answer is simple...ZERO. I'm one of those guys who could go back and talk about bass fishing 40 years ago, but I don't need to in order to answer the OP's question.

Sorry, I can’t comment on 40 years ago (before my time lol).

35 years ago....
Fork, Toledo, Roberts - not better
GVine, Lew, Athens - better
IMO