List your current top three trophy Lakes ,weights and date. Where can You go in Texas and consistently catch the BIG ONEs?????

Texoma = #1 #2 #3

27.3 lbs along time ago fishing from Preston Fishing Camp before the big flood. On Red Fin.
Weighed at Mitchell's in Pottsboro on cert produce scales in a plastic bag.

15 lbs 2 weeks ago. On Fluke We fished along side a friend who is a guide, we just happened on each other there, both of us had a 100+ fish day, we had so many 10-12# I lost count, fish weighed and all released. We left them biting at 8:30 pm.

15lbs Wow!!! I need to take a trip noth. I have been spending most of my time fishing hybrids on RC , CC, and Belton, caught a 15.5 on Canyon , but that was the only fish we caught that day. I am tired of 7/8 lb hybrids. Haha

Used to be below the dams at lakes such as Texoma, Possum Kingdom, canyon lake and a couple others. The lakes really never held a candle to the consistant numbers of bigger fish and I am talking 30plus pound fish with 40's and 50's mixed in. Oh how I miss the late 80's and early 90's!

Tawakoni, Cooper for big hybrids and Texoma for Stripers although Twok has its share of big stripers as well.

Ok I know you said Texas but Arkansas isn't that much farther for most of us and you can catch a true trophy there. You might make 50 trips to Texoma and not catch a 20 but you stand a really good chance of catching one your first trip to Arkansas

#1 - Texoma, by a long shot!
#2 and #3 are a toss up between Tawakoni and Whitney

Although, I've had some pretty good outings on Bridgeport over the past few years. Haven't fished PK since I was a kid. But, I know its got some monsters in it too.

Real question is ,what do you consider a trophy ?

I consider my 17+ pound Striper caught out of Lake Tawakoni with www.mattsguideservice.com a metroplex trophy for sure!
See sig pic below!

I would consider a 12/13 lb Hybrid and 18 or up striper in Texas a trophy JD. What do you cosider a trophy.
My PB`s for Texas are 12.5 hybrid out of RC and 21.75 striper out of Whitney. Cought a 27 on Ouachita.

I'm really don't know about hybrids...but I guess I would consider 15+ a trophy in Texas.
A trophy needs to be attainable..not an everyday occurrence but attainable.
On Texoma I can catch a fair number of 15-16 lbrs during certain times of the year..true 16-18 lbrs much less common but still a few a year , and TRUE 18+ lb fish per year, maybe only a couple a year
Real 20lb fish.....only two in 15 years..

I say "true" because a lot of people make up numbers...I see pics of fish people call 20 lb fish that really aren't even close..

I dont know if you can use a picture to tell weight. I think a talented photographer can add weight.I have also seen pictures of fish that have been weighed on certified scales and the pics dont do them justice. Fishermen in general have a tendency to fudge a little. Especialy the one that got away. Ha Ha

I've taken pics of 8 lb fish that look like they could be 20's and pics of a 25 lbr that didn't look big at all...it's all in the angle of holding em and the angle of the pic

IMO, there are far better places to look for trophy stripers than Texas. Don't get me wrong, I love Texas and stripers here, but have watched a steady decline in the top end size of stripers over the years. My speculation is that the lack of fresh genetics may be a contributing factor...the same genes coming every year from the Livingston tailrace, year after year. I've made inputs to some who listened, but it seems it always comes back to money.

In terms of driving distance...and of course this isn't the same for everyone...Ouachita is closer than Texoma for myself and arguably offers a substantially better chance at a trophy striper. Go to the public cleaning tables around a major Ark. striper lake and you will almost always see honest 20 pound plus fish, sometime 30 pound plus fish, occasionally 40 pound plus fish. Twenty plus fish really won't even raise any eyebrows on Ouachita, for example.

I have caught a 16 pound "trophy' striper on Livingston that is among the smallest fish I have ever caught on Ouachita. Texas striper fishing is great fun...but if you truely want the best odds at a trophy striper, you might want to look elsewhere. Just my opinion.

Probably doesnt help that all the lake to the west ar jacked up. I have cought a few 20 lb fish on kemp. It is dry. 18`s on Spence it is dry. All the lakes on the Brazos are hurting. I think pressure and lake level killed Buchanan. All those anglers are fishing East and TPW is having trouble with their spawning progrm.I fish Ouachita but it is just different.

The drought has hurt Buchanan more than anything. There are still DD fish but not like in the hey day. Once lake levels come back and we get into a normal pattern the big fish will return. Inks still has some big Stripers but they are difficult to catch. Jackie had one over 30 last year and a couple in the 20's. IMO the sleeper in the Highland lakes is Lake Marble Falls.