Headin to TX to fish, hunt & show my boat

I'm headed Texas way to show my boat to a couple people that have expressed an interest. I've always wanted to visit Texas, do a little fishing, shoot a hog or two and scout a place to retire. So this Thursday I'll head out for my first stop in Albuquerque but from there into Texas I have little knowledge of the greatest state in our union! If you wouldn't mind some suggestions I would greatly appreciate your input into lakes, hog hunts, eateries and places to stay.

Here's my boat... http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbt...ay#Post11738976

What part of Texas?

Exactly. Very distinct parts in each corner/side of the state to give suggestions without knowing what part you are visiting. It reminds me of the old commercial the state would push out to boost tourism..... "its this whole other country".

Anyone coming to Texas has a few lakes on a bucket list, many are in the east. Rayburn, Fork, TBend, Palestine. North Texoma and Ray Roberts (plenty of others). Down South Falcon and Amistad. Gotta realize it is 900 miles across the state on I-10 and from Texoma to Falcon is over 500 miles. Just depends on how far you want to drive and how much time you have. Plenty of other waters and those suggestions should be coming.

Fresno eh? My family is from the los banos/Merced area. I would move to east Texas if I was you. A lot of good fishing lakes and the scenery can't be beat.

Thanks guys! Pleased keep them coming. I will probably head to Dallas area first as I have two maybe three individuals interested in that general area. I know Lake Fork is a good lake, any others or places to stay? From there probably east then south to Houston where I purchased this boat almost three years ago. Last would be San Antonio/Austin. If she don't sell by then back to California via Falcon/Amistad.

There is a large selection East of Dallas, if you're planning on hitting the lake Fork area. Lance Vick has very good success hunting hogs, he is also one of the better choices of guides on Fork.
Sounds like a great trip, best of luck, if I can help, just ask..

Thanks once again, packing tomorrow cant wait to get on the road.

For hog hunts west of Fort Worth, contact mbennet on THF. He's a good guy.

Lake athens can be a good little lake to fish, but it hasn't been too good lately I'd imagine if you went you could do decent. Lots of numbers, schooling, and possibly some decent size.

If you want to just go out and slaughter 3 and 4 pounder's all day, lake Kurth, just north of lufkin is a nice little lake to go fish. A two day pass will run you about 50 bucks though.

On the road in 10... 9... 8...

Will monitor this thread along the way.

Once again thanks for all the tips, rest assured I will put them to good use.

Fish are biting on Fork for sure. Good luck and safe travel.

Thanks again! Dang I love my truck! 2015 RAM 1500 Ecodiesel, I'm getting slightly over 20mpg and the second day from Needles to Albuquerque was almost all uphill. 1100' msl to over 5,000! Smooth, quiet ride and tons of pulling power, would probably never drop below 6th gear if i didnt have to slow for truckers passing each other.

Tomorrow I get up early to watch balloon festival, then back on the road. Will make Dallas by mid to late afternoon!

u sell it? I bought a champ 202 in june. Super clean. This one looks cool also! Someone gonna get a nice one it looks

Just got to Ray Roberts, Lantana Resort & marina, will fish in the morning and meet with potential buyer after they finish a tournament.

[img]https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/KQ1fZsv6FkUMK8pgf40EODh5YNxS39ZeyOGPgd2CRcc[/img]

well? How you like ray roberts? Should've caught a few, and at least a 3lber or so... Good luck!

Update, fished Ray Roberts today, beautiful lake, beautiful day but fishin was off. Three on, one dink and a 15-20lb.+ Snappin Turtle! LoL! Really, the turtle was hung up in a tree, looked like someone had baited a line with a three-five pound catfish. These things probably arent well liked around these parts but I don't like to see critters suffer so I cut him free. Besides, I left my Hogleg 460 S&W Magnum in the truck. Anyway the little turdhead still tried to nail me. As i reached in with my pliers he pulled his head back as far as he could and just as i was closing in on the line his head shot out like that little creature in "Alien" stretched out about six inches I S H I T you not! Screamed like a little girl!

Thinking about a guide for Lake Fork. Found this place to stay http://www.oakridgemarina.com/guides.htm seems a good place to start if'n you dont know the area or any guides. Just musing now, your thoughts?

Oakridge is a good place stay with a nice tackle shop and good restaurant. Zach Hughes is a great guide on Fork (he posted a couple of post up).

Enjoy your visit to Texas!

You may want to detour to el paso and fish ascarete lake.

I will tell you now , stay out of El Paso unless you want your truck and boat stolen while you stay . Guarantee someone will try ! Hit IH20 around Pecos or better yet head to Hobbs , go through Seminole and keep going east all the way to East Texas . Nothing in west texas worth stopping at to fish and hunting is hard to find places . Anywhere around Lake Fork is a great place to retire and settle in . That way your close to more lakes than you can shake a stick at and then your only a hop skip and jump to south Texas and the beach . Not far from New Orleans if you like the Mardi gras event in Louisiana . In other direction a couple hours or so from Dallas/Ft Worth . But as I said STAY OUT OF EL PASO !!

Between Houston and Austin is Fayette(Best Little Basslake in Texas). Fish can be on or off but when they are on you can catch 20+.

Hope you enjoy your trip! I'm located in East Texas about an hour from both Rayburn and Toledo so let me know if I can help with anything.

Sweet! You guys have been a great help! Will be staying at Oak Ridge through Wednesday night and fishing Fork with A guide on Wednesday. Still dont know what I'll be doing onThursday but thats the way I like it!

Dang! Fork is a tough lake! Besides I don't know why they call it "Fork" they should call it "Lake Stumpy!" Fished 8 hrs today started the east edge of the west most fork then up Little Caney with zero results, except for all the stumps. Good thing I have the "Gorilla Hull" on my boat! After lunch I tried Searcy Branch and lucked into one bite for a single 1.5-2 lb bass. I quit on that high note. One bite, one fish I guess I would be proud if I was a fish sniper but I'm not! it was a humbling experience.

Tomorrow I go out with a guide.

You got Forked

If you feel like fishing some freshwater reds, hit up Caldaveras Lake in San Antonio!! Decker Lake for bass fishing in Austin, fish them reeds!!

I was stumped! LoL!

Up in Kimberling, MO now fishing Table Rock. Some Champion owners fron "Bass Boat Central" are having a gathering called "Tournament of Champions" will return to Dallas area this Monday. Wouldn't you know it, just as I was leaving town 3 more fellas called wanting to see the boat! LoL! Two from Dallas area and one just north of San Antonio. Got one offer for $12,500 sight unseen but am holding out. This is a unique boat and its setup perfectly for these Texas lakes. Come on guys you'll miss out if'n you wait, tell ya what, I'll sweeten the pot by throwing in a 6-pack of Lone Star! What do you say? Heck I'll even help you drink it.

How was your Guide trip on Fork?

You'll have to! No rightly minded Texan would touch that horse p.... spit!

Now, make it Shiner, and you'll get some offers!

You are an expert on Fork now, fish the Berkley with us next weekend!

Man is there any way u can snap some photos at that Champion gathering??? Id love to see some of the champs there and possibly go to something like this sometime!

Hey guys, sorry for late reply. Had a couple rough days, even had to down a couple bottles of your local "horse pi$$ spit" to get over it. Wednesday was the guided trip, I made it plain I wanted nothing to do with anything that weighed less than 5 lbs. He was excited to go lunker hunting. We gave it all we had but in the end the Basstards came out on top. Last forty minutes we put around a dozen fish on board just for the fun of it, all under 2 lbs. Now that was a hoot!

After returning to shore around 1pm I packed for the trip to Table Rock only to find truck battery completely dead and shorted out. Sometime between packing up, doing the things necessary to tow my truck to dealership for warranty work and the repair at dealership someone took my graphs. Didnt discover they were gone until late Friday so I never got a chance to fish the tournament. Didn't want to run the lake with depth reading or charts. Also missed out on a Lew's rod at the weigh-in were they had drawings and prizes. One for the longest distance travelled to attend the TOC. I would have easily won that but wasnt there to collect, my bad.

Anyway this CHIT happens to me all the time, boo hoo

Got some serious buyers lined up, I'll miss that boat some day, just not right away as I'll have some pocket change for awhile.

89Jav will post link to pics soon or just goto BassBoat Central for and look in the Champion forum for link.

Wow man bummer to hear the troubles you had. Man I looked on BBC like one or two times and even tried finding where top become a member, etc, no luck and seemed to me to be more of a data site and it kinda didn't interest me besides reading the owners section. Anyhow ya Ill give it another try. Good luck with the boat for sale.. Sucks about the graphs.

It ain't over till the fat-lady sings.



Broke the Fulton Fold-Away hinge on my trailer tongue today at about 65 mph! It was exciting!

I was merging with Northbound traffic on I-635 from Westbound traffic off of I-80. Let me see $165 for the tow, $100 for a new hinge, probably $50-$100 for install and $104 for a room.

Did I mention that the dirtbag that stole my graphs also took my meds? Yep, expensive stuff too, $1,000+, not covered under insurance. I have enough in my weekly carrier for another day and a half. Just enough to get me home.

Sorry to hear about your graphs being stolen and your trailer tounge. Those fork thieves will eventually run into the wrong one. Can you explain the issue with your truck? I'm about to pull the trigger on a 2016 Eco diesel Laramie for $38k and trying to find/read all I can about them. Sounds like you got great mpg on the way here. How's the take off unloaded?

wow man, this must be a sign to keep the boat,,, I dunno.. What a round of bad luck. Im sure you will be happy to be home..

Probably left something on and drained the battery so low that it shorted out. Overall I got over 18mpg and that was doing 70-75 most of the time. Get that Laramie you will be very happy!

LoL! Just got home and that's what I'm telling my wife as to why I brought the boat back.