Now, this may sound extreme, but if you ever fish there, you'll realize how nice it is to be able to catch six and seven pound bass almost every trip. We bring a camera and digital scales with us and take pictures of the fish before releasing them. A picture tells the story just as well as a stuffed fish on your wall. I have released bass weighing: 11.04, 8.72, 8.00, and several in the seven pound range all of which were well above the slot limit.

It's a really good feeling watching an eleven pound bass swim free and knowing that your letting the bass "grow up".

The first time I went to "The Fork", we stopped at several places that had big aquariums with huge bass in them. Lake Fork Marina had a 17+ pound fish in a thousand gallon aquarium. The latest lake record that I know of is: 18.11 pounds.

Attitude is the Key

One of the first things I realized is how different the attitude towards catch and release is at "The Fork". Being from this area, we use to keep everything we caught. Over there, almost everybody releases all the bass they catch. If your hell bent on putting a big bass on your wall, you can measure the fish and have a fiberglass replica made.

Now, I realize that every lake can't be a "Big Bass Lake". I also realize that people like to eat fish. This is where attitude come into play. With proper management and enforcement, we could find a balance that would allow people to fish the area lakes and keep six to eight bass a day.

The other day I fished at Cotile. I saw two different boats putting 7 to 10 inch bass in their live well. I personally caught five bass all about 10 inches long. Of course, I released these fish.

This is where the management and enforcement is needed. A seven inch bass probably produces little more than a couple of potato chip size fillets. I would like to see either a minimum size or a slot limit on every lake in the state depending on biologist's recommendations.

I also fish at Toledo Bend. I have noticed a definite improvement in the size of the bass that I catch since the inception of the 14 inch minimum size limit. These management techniques WORK!