I am getting sick hearing all of the fish killing stories... I hoped that some of the things I had been hearing/reading were exaggerations...Then I talked the area (Live Oak county) game warden a few days ago and he said it was a BIG problem, he said he has personally witnessed several fish over 10 get the knife this year and lots of bass over 5. He did say one fella almost got his a__ whipped last year when he put the knife to a 14#.... It really bums me out, unbelievable where peoples heads are...

I am all for catch and release of most fish and mainly LMB but why would some fight somebody for taking home a legal fish? If you don't want big fish taken out of lake why not do two things
A) slot limit like Fork and others or straight up catch and release only ala Purtis Creek SP
B) No bass fishing or keeping whatsoever from say Jan-April like some lakes in CA?
Also is there any data/proof that a 14lb bass that spawing the off spring will grow that large if given time? AKA share-a-lunker I have read as much as I can about the program and think its cool but a legal fish is a legal fish. If you put a knife to it as long as you eat it thats cool with me.
I guess the same goes for hunting (not a hunter) but I do think I would pass a on giant trophy buck in my sights and go for the smaller buck because of breeding. I am looking for the big one and lots of food on the table.

I would love to see an upper limit on the major lakes here in South Texas (Choke, Falcon, Amistad). Winter Texans present a unique challenge for this area and I imagine its our seasonal friends from up north who are doing most of the keeping & cleaning. They dont have any long term interest in our fisheries and are used to fishing for northern species which arent typically subject to catch and release.

Anything above say 18-19", require em to throw em back. Keep all the small ones you want. Would probably help the lake.

I agree totally with the upper limit idea, there have been more studies done than are countable on this, showing the impact of keeping (or killing) of large females.... I literally could write on this topic for hours and use lots not "facts" (google George Bush/Will Ferrell global warming youtube) and theories to validate the position that many of us take on this issue, but i am about to pour some love on some fine Texas meat and watch my boy Brees pepper the Colts. Good day fellas.

I think you should have to live in TX to keep our fish we pay for LOL!!! The Snow Birds should not be able to keep any fish if they want fish go to HEB leave our fish in the lake. Those people will kill a lake they keep everything they catch and you see it at Falcon ton of big fish at the station every day makes you sick.

I think you should have to live in TX to keep our fish we pay for LOL!!! The Snow Birds should not be able to keep any fish if they want fish go to HEB leave our fish in the lake. Those people will kill a lake they keep everything they catch and you see it at Falcon ton of big fish at the station every day makes you sick.

There was either a 15.09 or 15.90 caught on Choke yesterday. I don't know who it was but he is with the SAPD (San Antonio Police Dept, I think).

Fishing for most was tough and slow, the SAPD had about 25 members fish and only about 12 fish caught and my little club had 9 fishermen and only 4 fish caught which included a 7 1/2 pounder.

Well here it is guys....

I caught fish!!

I fished 4 areas. Early around 7am I went to a hump I found earlier this year and did ok. The hump is a old tank dam and it has some good access to deeper 15+ water. I used my go to bait cranks(fat free shad 8-10 foot running in sexy shad) and caught 4 fish on that hump in 7 feet of water. All fish were 2-4 pounds and I had one that was lost at the boat that I think would have gone 6-7 pounds. All fish just picked up the bait while slowly bouncing it off the bottom. The bite was just a small tick. Then the fish usually only had a back hook on. ALL fish had a huge belly!

The second spot I hit was a deep ledge in 20 foot of water around mid lake. I used a car-rig rattle snake and I had some hits but the only thing that made it to the boat were 2 white bass. I had one on that I know had some shoulders to it but I cant say it was a LMB cause I never saw it. But whatever it was took some drag and had my heart beating like 1000 beats a sec!!

Then I went to lunch and decided to hit the river. Bad idea I had no luck at any of my spots and the water looked like chocolate milk. I went home around 430p

I am very upbeat about the upcoming year. If I am getting hits on a blue bird day with dirty cold water after a rain then I know when the water gets right and the air temp gets good its going to get crazy good.

I had a great day on the lake.

Thanks for the report Skeeter151. The river will pick in a couple of months but sounds like the main lake is the ticket right now. I was on LBJ the other day and it was chocolate milk too. All the run off from the rain. Rain is good! We have gone too long in a drought! Come on warmer weather!

Skeeter 151 - Thanks for the report!

Man,

I can not wait to get back on Choke, I have not been there since December and I need to go fishing. OH Well will probably not get there until March, but plan to be there often after that.

BTW- I talked to a lot of people and the White Bass are really starting to make a run right now! I caught 2 back to back on typical LMB baits and spots. I don't know if either a school went by or they were just there to begin with, but they pull pretty good!

I do not have much knowledge of Whites but the ones I caught were about 16-20 inches long. Which I now know was decent size fish. Yes they were Whites I know the difference! lol

Any ideas of a typical run on Choke for Whites??

Now! Typical Run is Now! Once the water clears a bit up river it will be boat to boat I bet.

Thanks for the report.

I fished falcon this past weekend a caught a few fish. Talked to some guys that did really well on the deep bite. I plan to hit choke next week if the weather holds and I will post my results.

Sorry, but I beg to differ. Alot of the guys I see carving up the fish are locals. We "northerners" as you call us don't want your lakes to falter. Why would we!!! I drive 26 hours to fish your lakes. Why would I want them to go under. Then I wouldn't even have a good place to fish. I agree, there are alot of people carving up the fish on many lakes. It's a combined effort on locals and out of staters. I'd love to see Texas lakes go to catch and release. Then my 26 hour drive would still be worth it. You want catch and release, I'll be the first in line to sign the petition. Out of all the places I travel to, I love Texas best. Not just the lakes, but the people. Texas people treat out of staters very well and that, is appreciated. So lets just be careful before we start stereotyping.

Lots of people hand wringing about people eating the bass, but it's been going on since before limits were imposed.

I remember 15 bass limits when I first started bass fishing tournaments and we cleaned and kept all the fish after a tournament, and had a big fish fry at the end of the year.

Texas Parks and Wildlife hasn't changed the limits in years, and I don't see it happening any time soon as it's not as big a problem as everyone thinks it is.

Gators, comorants, and gars eat their share as well as all the other big fish, and the fishery is still going strong.

If you see game laws being broken by all means report it. If no law is broken, then it's better to just go about your business.