Too bad we can't pump em full of trout like the Cali lakes.. Then we'd be talking world record instead of state record.. Although falcon can probably still do it naturally...

Not to be a jerk, but I'm familar with Dottie's story. If memory serves correct, he didn't immediately release the fish as California law required for a foul-hooked fish.

While I'm sure he didn't mishandle the fish or keep it very long, I believe he took it to the certified scale on the dock to have it officially weighed.

And because of that (not releasing immediately), there was some question at the time as to whether the IGFA would have been able to accept the record.

Oh and last year fork had a fish caught that was right at 16... Then thrown back... It should be close to 18 soon.. This record will fall someday..

515 SAL's to date from 62 different water bodies in Texas.

40 of those water bodies have had 3 or less SAL's caught from them

Here's the top 22 water bodies:
Fork - 245 SAL's
Alan Henry - 25
Sam Rayburn - 23
Private Lakes - 23
O.H. Ivie - 22
Conroe - 16
Choke Canyon and Falcon with 13 each
Amistad and Austin with 12 each
then Bob Sandlin, Murvaul, Caddo, Casa Blanca, Gibbons Creek, Baylor Creek, Toledo Bend, Mill Creek, Purtis Creek, R-C, Cooper and Ray Bob.

What are the main factors that make a lake/habitat conducive to lunker sized bass? Forage? Structure? Depth? Pressure? For example, Lake Austin you've got a lot of grass but only part of the year, then the LCRA lowers the river to kill it off. Are those bass being caught when the water is down. I've read that Ivie is down and this is one reason big bass are being caught. All these lakes have forage as much as I can tell. What are some of the thoughts on the forum?

I'm going to catch a 19 lber on Caddo tomorrow. Texas side!!

I believe all the SAL fish get returned to the lake after they have spawned out, some fish getting recaught again. With that the biggest fish are mostly returned to get bigger. On a side note I heard it was the Mexican side of amistad where there were big fish being cleaned daily hurting the lake.

On a side note, look at what month's most of these were caught in.
mostly in the colder month's

Mishandle? They hoisted the fish with a rope off the dock....lol

Go launch at Diablo, come in about dark, and stop by the fish cleaning station on your way out. I will depress you to see all those big carcasses. A lot of the motels have freezers for the guests to keep their catch in. They stay full. I'm all for keeping fish under 2.5# if you want to, but bass any bigger than that don't even taste good...

It's ashame that Jerry New's fish's weight was certified until the following morning. She was caught while night fishing and went 18.5 on the handheld. Put her in the tanks at Rainswood. My Dad told me the owner at Rainswood took awesome care of that fish. I can't imagine what some of those fish may have weighed if they were caught in the spring!

There is probably several over 18 in Falcon, they grow too fast for there not to be...it's just getting her out of the cover thats the problem.

18.18 by a perch jerker. It's been driving Fork Guides crazy for 20 years now.

With More tournaments , and there are, less of a chance- Todd Driscoll, TPWL, Jasper Tx and a tournament fisherman,and the premire person for stats, said that 25% of all tournamnet fish die within a week , the larger the bass the higher the mortalitty rate . So if 25% die within the week he said , then getting to the ripe old age is hard.He wrote an article in the Lakecaster, Dec. issue and he said it now takes over a 1000 fishing hours now to catch a bass over 8 lbs on S Rayburn - enough said , fact show that pressure reduces the size of the bass ,by TPWL's own fact sheetes. - it will be Falcon if anywhere

With More tournaments , and there are, less of a chance- Todd Driscoll, TPWL, Jasper Tx and a tournament fisherman,and the premire person for stats, said that 25% of all tournamnet fish die within a week , the larger the bass the higher the mortalitty rate . So if 25% die within the week he said , then getting to the ripe old age is hard.He wrote an article in the Lakecaster, Dec. issue and he said it now takes over a 1000 fishing hours now to catch a bass over 8 lbs on S Rayburn - enough said , fact show that pressure reduces the size of the bass ,by TPWL's own fact sheetes. - it will be Falcon if anywhere

25%! Geeze, that's more than I would have ever guessed. Like it or not, bass tournaments will never go away.