I've caught carp in Cally, but I do not believe there are any alligator gar, seen and caught spotted gar. I'd guess a big cat or real big red.

Really? That is not cally in the background, got any pictures of it at cally?

i'd put money on it that it was one of the 25 year old corvina... wow ... and they didn't stock tarpon or nile perch in cali so we can rest assured it wasn't a 30 year old tarpon.. I think we're safe in assuming it was definitely an elderly corvina

I have had a similar experience at braunig on a boat, huge live shad I saw my line pick up, knowing it was a big bait I fed out some excess line then set the hook, whatever was on the other end didn't seem to notice me tightening drag and thinning the spool. My fishing partner tried to pick up the anchors to follow the fish as I was getting spooled fast, all of my braid was ripped off and I could see the metal under my backing, had the same thing happen my hook pulled loose bc of the pressure I was putting on it to slow him down. Now I've caught tarpon, ling, sharks, big bull reds and I have to say this sucker pulled like it was a tank. Will never forget that night, makes me want to go back and try again just thinking about it.

When was the last corvina reported out of those lakes? Maybe these are giant reds like they catch off the east coast that reach extreme proportions compared to texas.

I've fished both lakes since they were first built. Calaveras actually had visible trees and brush, and Braunig I used to fish off the old bridge and over the fence before they opened the lake to the public.

I've hooked fish in both lakes that have almost spooled my line before it turned loose and broke free, and I had a red that came to the surface that I followed around putting steady pressure and running my trolling motor on high trying to keep up, that was bigger than any red I've seen caught out there, and that once it saw the boat, dove straight to the bottom and broke off.

Most people who fish there don't fish with tackle that can handle a really huge fish and that is why you get these stories.

These lakes have been around a long time and the forage base is high enough to produce and maintain huge fish.

If anyone remembers bass fishing on Braunig before the reds were introduced, they will remember how fast the bass grew, and the fact that you would catch a Braunig bass they looked like footballs and their heads looked too small for their big bodies.

I caught a 9 1/2 pound bass back then that was 24" long, with a football shaped body and a head that looked like a three or four pound bass would have, as I could barely get my fist into it's mouth.

They grew fast and it was unique to Braunig, but both lakes had, and still have an abundant amount of food supply.

I wish they would bring the corvina back or introduce something new.

I caught a few while they were there, and they are similar to speckled trout without the spots, but they grow bigger.

From what I was told by one of the biologist that used to do creel serveys out there, is that TPWD didn't want the Orange Mouth Corvina which was brought here from California, to get into the San Antonio river below the dam gates and into the bay system and breed with the Speckled trout, and thus hybridize the species, so that is why they stopped stocking them.

I think, if memory serves me they are supposed to grow to 30 to 40 pounds but I may be wrong. I do know they are much larger than the Speckled trout cousin.

I found this link and I was wrong!...They get bigger!
http://www.mexfish.com/fish/omcorv/omcorv.htm

WOW!!! After reading that I really would love to see them reintroduced now.

Yep, they have a ferocious appetite and feed on smaller fish, so that may have also been a factor in their decision to stop stocking them.

I'll bet they would put a dent in that plecostomus population in a hurry!

I wouldn't look for TPWD to reintroduce them any time soon though. That was a case of they let the genie out of the bottle, and stuffed it back in before it got out of hand!

Looking at the stocking history, not only did they do corvina but the Spotted Seatrout X Corvina hybrid. I didn't know that.

If you look at the chart it shows they last stocked 13 adult OMC in 1987 and 6 adults the previous year.

That's interesting in that those must have been the adults that they had at the hatchery and just dumped them to get rid of them.

Any one else get the cali monster?

Wow, bringing up a 2 year old thread.....

Well, it seems like we need someone to target these leviathans! Ultralights obviously don't do the trick.......