I met a guy at the Boat ramp named Robbie Rose and he had one that weighed 20lbs and was only 18" long. Alot of the people you meet around Fork will tell about the big one that got away and they are usually 20+ or close to it.

didn't they find a 20lber floating at fork back in the day

Wasnt the state record caught in a brush pile in like 50ft of water? How many people are bass fishing in that depth in Texas.....like ever? If fish that size live in that depth then who knows whats down there.

There is a argument that a bass could of grown that big if the body of water was fertile and rich with nutrients.I have talked with a bio on Dale Hallow Lake And he was explaining to me how another D/D Small mouth will never likely be caught there.As when the D/D fish were being caught there the lake was fairly new and rich with nutrients.Its hand to grasp that was the contributing factor,as the lake is plentifully with bait and has trophy slot limits.But it is what it is

That's only part of the equation when dealing with record sized black bass.
The other main ingredient is hybrid vigor when you cross the Florida strain with northern strain.

A little fun fact about the World record bass from GA and the largest Whitetail buck from GA......both came from the same Co.Makes you go hummmmm

Two were found floating dead at Fork. Tony Clark found one near the ramp at Val's and Brian Duplechian found the other in Big MUstang

The northern strain tops out at 16lbs (Massachusetts freakish state record)

Georgia was 100% northern strain at the time Perry caught his lmb.

There is zero chance it was any bigger than 16lbs.

Yes back in the day, but Fork is not like it was back in the day. They keep spraying the grass out there.

Just think how big that sucker would be now if it hadn’t died.

16 years ago I saw one sight fishing in Dale Creek. We use to catch 10s and 11s alot back then. Now we are lucky if we get a 9lber

They stocked some hybrid fingerlings in Grand a couple of years ago. I believe the goal was to produce a few big fish.

Currently I don’t see any public watershed in the US breaking the WR langemouth.There are some private places that are trying.My current interest is in the big Small mouth that are being caught.If this trend stays on the upward path,I can see someone breaking a SM record.

There’s quite a few #9s showing up from Idaho. Dworshak is on the right path having Kokanee in the lake. I never would’ve imagined I’d see a DD smallmouth in my lifetime but then the #10+ was caught out of Lake Erie last year. Erie probably has the best chance of any of the Great Lakes with it being shallower, warmer and a little further south than the rest

We have a 20acre lake we stocked with Camelots I guess 7-8 yrs ago. I would love to think we can grow one 20+. I lost one at the bank that was in the 14-15lb range. That was 2 yrs ago. Last year I hooked one and never could turn her before she wrapped me up in some deep trees. One thing I have learned about Pure Floridas the older they get the much harder they are to catch.