It took me over a decade of trying, but I finally documented my 10th freshwater species big fish award. That equates to completing the Freshwater Elite Angler qualification twice. The freshwater elite angler qualification is much harder than the saltwater qualification. Here is a list of the species I caught:

Common Carp
Largemouth Bass
White Bass
Hybrid Striped Bass
Channel Catfish
Rainbow Trout
Black Buffalo
Black Crappie
Bluegill
Redbreast Sunfish

The Elite Angler Program is a lot of fun. You should give it a try.

Here are the guidelines:

https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/programs/fishrecords/rules/other_awards.phtml#elite

Nice! I've had my eye on the channel catfish cert but that's a heavy lift.

No rio grande cichlid? That's not too hard to get in the Austin area.

Anyone max out all the big fish certs? There should be an extra award for that.

I have worked hard to get the channel catfish and missed it by a half inch a few times. Still on my list.

I don’t fish much in Rio water, but it is also on the list.

I doubt if anyone has maxed out either list, but I would love to hear about it. I am only 6 short on the saltwater, but getting all of those would be a really heavy lift. I suggested that TPWD add a 2X or 3X after an elite anglers name for multiple completions, but there wasn’t enough interest to change the program.

I have gotten BFA on the following.

#1. Bluegill
#2. Longnose Gar
#3. Blue Catfish
#4. Flathead Catfish
#5. Redear Sunfish
#6. Redbreast Sunfish
#7. Rio Grande Cichlid
#8. Hybrid Sunfish
#9. Large Mouth Bass
#10. Common Carp.
#11. Rainbow Trout
#12. White Crappie

That is an amazing list. I founded it interesting that they included Sunfish on the list. That is the only name listed that would cover multiple species.

I am also surprised by that also about sunfish being on the list. They did not add the Rio until 2010. I think that was the last fish added to the Freshwater Elite Angler list of trophy species.

And did you have anything to do with adding Rio to the list?

I too have caught 10 big fish species, plus a couple hybrid species that don't count. All on the fly. I thought about asking Grace if she would add the other 5 species to my elite angler certificate. Never did yet though and not sure it's possible. 2 that I've caught not on the lists above are a Guadalupe bass and a small mouth buffalo.

Copy the 5 new big fish awards and send copies to the angler record site and request a new certificate for those species. It worked for me. I have 2 freshwater and 3 saltwater certificates now. The program is 20 years old and several anglers probably have multiple completions. Maybe if enough of us request it they will add recognition for multiple completions.