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That is exactly the kind of steps that I would like to see taken in TX. I would be complety happy and 100% supportive of a law/rule like this in our state. However, I just think that we as tourny anglers/organizers should just start implementing it ourselves, just because it is the most ethical way to do things! My main problem with the way tournies are run in TX is that there is way too many of them concentrated on just a few lakes. This might affect me more than others because my home lake, and my 2nd lake, are 2 of the most tournament fished lakes. Choke Canyon and Falcon! By limmiting the amount of Tournies on each lake, I garuntee that the quality of each tourny would go way up! Plus, I think it would add alot more fairness and spice to the trails. There are lots of awesome lakes in tX that never hardly get fished and I think people would be surprised to see how many lakes in TX would actually give up 25 lb plus sacks! Great example, I would like to see it happen here!

BTW, when I had the 2 bass jump in my boat I WAS NOT FISHING A TOUNRY! I was only fishing for recreation and no money was on the line! Under NO circumstances would I ever add fish to my limmit, during a tourny, that I did not hook legally!

I absolutely love electronics and have become a big advocate of them in the past couple of years. They do give a big advantage for anglers on most lakes. However, it is not an unfair advantage bcause everyone has the ability to purchase them. There are many types of equipment that give advantages and everyone has the same ability to buy them as long as they come up with the money! Lets face it, a big part of tourny fishing is money! The best tourny anglers are not always the most skilled, but alot of times the most funded! A big part of tourny fishing is working to get sponsors, and build up your fishing arsanal. It takes time, you just dont jump in right away and have everything. Most of the guys that do have been doing this for a long time and worked their way up! However, where the unfair advantages come into play is in these so-called "amatuer" tournys! Thats a joke! Alot of these TX tournys have such good pay-outs that there is a population of guys that basically make a living off of fishing them. For instance, every BassChamps event has at least a $20 k payout for first place. If you take the time to look, its the same handfull of guys that win the majority of BassChamps events every year. Sure, some other names are mixed in here and there but look at the overall picture. These guys are full time fisherman and spend alot more time at their craft than the guy that has to work a 9 to 5! I think that a seperate division should be made for these types of anglers and they should not be allowed to fish in "real" amatuer tournys. I would like to see someone create a good trail, with a good pay-out, for the working fisherman! Im talking about guys that can prove a 40 hr workweek, or an income other than fishing! Right now, the weekend fisherman just does not have much of a realistic chance competeing against guys that fish everyday for a living!

Lets just all do our part to continue to get better! This includes anglers and organizers! We represent a brand and it is much better to police ourselves than to let things go and have someone else step in and impose restrictions! Nobody should be happy untill every fish swims away as healthy as it was when caught!

I got the story of all stories about bass jumping into the boat. It happened last year in early Feb on Choke Canyon. Me and my dad were fishing the river portion of the lake, just above the 99 bridge! We were fishing a section of rocky shorline, creeks, and coves just past the first bend in the river channel past the bridge. We just happened to be there during one of those "Magical" moments and found a thick concentration of bedded/spawning fish! This area has thick patches of hyicen covering the shorline, and the fish seemed to be right on the edges of the hyicen! We were quietly moving along parallel to the shoreline and a few feet off the hyicen line! We were sticking fish left and right, lots of females in the 4 lb range and full of eggs! Now, the water is very murkey in this section of the lake, and as we quietly moved along, the bass that we didnt catch would spook as the trolling motor came over the top of them. We would spook a 4-5 lb fish every couple of minutes! Now that I set the stage: I was intently working a bait when I heard a fish flopping around on the deck next to me. I looked down and saw a solid 5 lb fish! I said, "Nice Fish" to my dad! He replied, " I thought you caught it?" I told him that I hadnt and we soon realized that it must have jumped in! We thought that it was very cool. Now, this is were the story gets wilder! We soon forgot about the fish and got back to fishing. I was working the trolling motor and flipping, when all of a sudden, another 5 lber launched itself from the front of the boat and speared me right in the growing region. Now, I will tell you that a 5 lb fish realy hurts when it launches into the "family Jewels!" I instantly dropped to the ground both in pain and laughing, my dad was rolling at the other end of the boat! We could not believe that we had just got 10 lbs of fish without putting a hook in either! We said, "Nobody will ever believe this!" I got a great pic of the bass that hit me, but it is in my old phone that is broken now! It is crazy what happens when you fish enough!

This is a very reasonable comment to make, I have no problem accepting reasonable comments that arent personally offenseive. This being said, alot of other post here seem to miss the point, and try to turn everything into a defensive contest with numbers, namecalling, and blame passing! Ive clarified myself so much to individuals that I feel that there is no use doing so anymore! Im not trying to get personal but its getting pretty aggrevating and Ill try one more time: Catt, what do you want me to do? The presidents of BassChamps, Sharelunker, and other large organizations are not going to step aside and let me take there spots. Basically, all I can do is try and persuade my peers. Its hard to not "sit on the bank and just chunk rocks" when you have no chance of being let in the water! This being said, let me clarify again that I am not saying that these groups are not trying to take proper steps in conservation, and I am not saying that they are the worst or only factors involved! All I am saying is that they should beef up a little more in the conservation area in order to combat the growing tourny craze! Frankly, I find it very difficult to understand why you guys are so oppossed to making things better. Matt, why cant you realize that I am not trying to call anyone out, or make anybodies trail, tourny, or organization look bad in particular. I am not responding to your questions because thats not what Im about. Im just trying to persuad "US" as a whole to get better! One more time, I am not saying that Tourny fishing is the only or worst factor lakes have to deal with. Yes, there are many other factors, some far worse! What I am trying to drive home to you is that Tourny fishing is an element that "WE" can control, unlike a drought, and there are several simple things that we can do to make are presence less harsh to TX lakes. I feel that we just need to increase our efforts due to the growth of the sport! Thats it! Just a re-cap of changes or steps or ideas that I would like to see, none of these would hurt anybody! 1. Less summer time tournys on southern lakes 2. More 3 fish events 3. Periodic weigh-ins during events 4. More consevation literature and training for anglers 5. Spread out events to other lakes Matt, just to let you know; most S. TX anglers saw BASS as the worst thing to ever happen to Falcon, and the elite serious was a disaster as far as fish kills are concerned. Trust me, Zapata gets its money from a much more lucritive business than fishing! Thats a dirty little secrete! Why do you think that nobody ever has theft problems down there, " Theres too much money being made elsewhere?" Believe me, I am pointing the finger at myself as well. I am constantly trying to get better at taking better care of the bass that I catch, and our lakes. I am just asking that you think about doing the same! Trust me, we can do a whole lot better and it is arrogant to think that we are already doing enough! We should not be satisfied till every tourny fish survives! P.S. Please notice that I keep using the words "We, Us, Our, etc.!" I too am a tourny fisherman and am in no way trying to badmouth any event or organization. We are all involved!

Well, I thought it was pretty obvious that I was just being silly, but these days I have learned to never assume that people have a sense of humor, or the smarts to understand even when someone is laying it on fairly thick!

Matt, Matt, Matt; you like others just wont allow yourselves to see the big point I am trying to make! I have written and erased several replys to your comments because I am just tired of this! Either you want to be open minded or you dont. And thats fine either way, its your opinion! There are so many factors that contribute to fisheries that we cant change, thats why I say that we should do are best to improve in the areas we can control! Thats all! BTW, my father used to fish Fork in the 80's and said it was waaaaay better back then! Also, if pressure doesnt do anything than why is everybody so pumped about the re-opening of Squaw Creek?

BTW, i was just joking about the city people comment and them not wanting new people on Conroe. I dont want anyone thinking I was being serious. Just a joke!

Ok, so what you are saying is that I have to like and agree with 100% everything that these organizations do because they are what is in place! You are saying that there is no need for them to make any sort of improvements whatsover, just because they have already made certain attempts at conservation. Listen to what you are saying? Guys, just because an organization is in place doesnt mean that it is doing the best possible job. On that note, an organization or person that can not take constructive criticism from outsiders will never be as good as it can be! Quit putting words into my mouth, I know that alot of people in these organizations care, I just think it is time to shake some things up and take some new steps to combat the every growing number of people in our sport. There is nothing wrong with that! Another thing, if you are going to be involved in a public organization that caters to the "public" than you need to be able to take outside criticism without getting all bent out of shape. Those may be your friends or family or whatever, but my suggestions are in no way a personal insult to them as individuals. When you run a big organization, you just have to understand that it comes with the territory! Do you expect everyone to just shut up and totally except everything that they do? That is arogance if you ask me! I am a business man and I have to take criticism from customers all the time. If I took it all personally than there is no way I could keep my cool or stay professional. Its just business, not personal! Then, if I didnt alter my service to fit their needs I would loose alot of good customers! So, instead of getting offended, I make the small changes and keep everyone happy. I'll tell you right now, I fish several BassChamps (Choke Big Bass) events every year and I have never had anyone from the organization instruct me or my partners on proper fish handleing, or givin out free surelife like mentioned in an above post! Plus, this even takes place during the hottest time of year, making it hard to keep fish alive. As for the Colleto Creek Invitational, I will be fishing that this weekend with my partner. I will see for myself how good of a job they do with trying to ensure that every fish lives. Now, every fish might not live but we can at least do everything we can to help their chances! Now, this is just my opinion guys, its not gosple! However, the state of many lakes really seems to correlate to what Im saying. COleto for instance! I cant understand how a warm water lake, in south tx, with plenty of food, cover, and everything else; has gone so down hill the past couple of years. There is no reason that Coleto shouldnt be spitting out 30 lb sacks at tourny. Right now, I would bet that the invitational is won with less than 20 lbs! Id like my chances with 15 lbs with what Ive seen and heard lately! Its just my opinion that the avg tourny angler cares way more about his/her own good time rather than protecting our main resources, the lake/bass! Then, I feel that our organizations (we wont name any) are reluctant to make changes or take any steps to better things because they are scared that the anglers will go into an uproar. Yes, there probably will be some resistance and gripping at first. But after a while everyone would get used to the new ways and I feel that the fishing would improve so much that theyd be having twice the fun! However, this is just my opinion and nothing for anyone to get worked up over cause I am just one guy in the minority and cant change anything!. So, dont worry too much about it. I realize that many of the organizations make conservation efforts and that is good. I just think that there are a few things that can be done to get better. Take it or leave it!

You probably dont get tips on Conroe cause your talking to big city folk! That just dont have that sense of country hospitality! Plus, Conroe bass fisherman probably dont want one more guy on there lake than there already is! (l0l)

One more thing! I dont pretend to have a bunch of data or reports. I said from the beginning that "my opinion" is based primarily off of personal experience! I trust my own eyes, experiences, and common sense more than some report or numbers made up by someone I dont know. Stats and such are very easy to manipulate and dont tell the whole story! However, this is just the opinion of a South Texan! Doesnt mean that Im right. Like I said, if you are satisfied with the conservation efforts that our tournys and agencies have in place, and dont think they need to get better in any areas, than fine! Its nothing for us to be ugly to eachother about! Have a good day!

Well, I think it is safe to say that Choke Canyon is in a HUGE slump! Whatever the reasons, fishing is way below what it normaly is this time of year! I have been fishing the lake about 3 times a week for the last month and a half and things have flat out stunk! The vast majority of fish seem to still be very deep and hunkered down in the frio river channel, is my guess! These fish are just about impossible to catch right now unless you are a "real" pro! There are small numbers of fish wanting to move up into the spawning grounds, and you can find these guys in stagging areas where the river channel comes close to points. Or, you can find a few hanging around shallow hydrilla with deep water access close by, such as river or creek channels! If you want to get a limmit, your best bet is to target these kind of areas, but the fishing will be tough and slow! Use a lipless crankbait over the grass, and a 10 in power worm off the points in about 10-20 feet! Like I said, I have been fishing hard the past month and am not seeing much activity in any form. I am spending 10 hr days just to grind out a limmit. All the people I talk to at the ramps arent doing much better, and any many cases worse, cause they are from out of town and are expecting shallow pre-spawn fish! I even went out with a guide friend of mine last friday and we only boated 12 fish in 10 hrs between the 2 of us, fishing hard! Also, I am seeing very few female fish. Most fish being caught are small males less than 2 lbs. About 4 weeks ago there was that 15 lber, but I think it was kinda a fluke catch, cause I havent seen or heard of anything over 3 lbs as of late! I know its been a cold winter, but I have seen surface temps as high as 64 degrees the past 2 weeks. This weekend the surface temps dropped to about 58, but that should be plenty warm to start moving fish up! However, it just aint happening. I have heard no reports of bed activity, have seen no beat tails, and have not run into any consistent pre-spawn activity. We are in a big, big, big rutt right now! I hope it jumps off soon cause Im getted antsy!

Ok, Im going to go ahead and end this because some of yall are getting way too worked up! Im not trying to prove anybody wrong nor dismantle any organizations. I was just giving my opinion on the state of tourny fishing in Texas and how it effects our fisheries. If you dont agree than thats fine, but it is nothing to get ugly about or try to directly make someone look foolish! I have not mentioned anyone by name or been rude to anyone. I just have some displeasure with the way a few agencies run things, there is nothing wrong with that. This is America, right! We have amended are constitution numerous times and we still arent perfect, its nothing personal! So, lets just end this conversation before things get out of hand, I dont want any problems! If you dont want to work on getting better than dont, thats your right! Its just "my opinion" that we can make things much better than they are now. which would make for better lakes! I'm not going to dig up numbers or point anybody out, thats not what I was trying to do. BTW, I dont really understand the point of putting up a quote that I posted almost 1 year ago. Was that to try and make me look bad? IF so, than I clearly mentioned in it that Choke was already on the way down, even though it still was producing some good ones. Unfortunately, Choke has come way down since then as well. I fished a mini tourny with about 6 friends this saturday and it was still tough. Nobody had a limmit but me, and that is just cause I fish choke way more than they do! Yall have a good day and just relax and let it go. IF you feel that there are no more improvements left to be made than fine! Have a good one!

I do try to get involved, thats why I write my own articles and try to spread the news on conservation. For someone who claims to be so involved, it sure does seem like you are against better conservation. You are trying to jump my butt just for writting a post that supports better conservation efforts! As for the agencies that you listed, in my opinion some of them need some changes as well. Sharelunker for instance! Sure, their heart is in the right place, but the success rate of the program is just not there, and thats a fact. It doesnt matter if the blame is on the anglers catching the fish, or the officials, the main thing is that its just not working like it should. Choke Canyon produced about 7 shareLunkers last year and every single one of those fish died! If you ask me, we would have been better off if those fish were just left in our lake, they would be 20 lbs by theirsleves in a few yrs and would reproduce just fine for yrs to come. Thanks, but no thanks! Plus, the lakes that I fish, hardely get any help from the sharelunker program. Even if our fish survive to make it to Athens, its more likely that some DFW or other northern lake will get the hatchlings. All the information is right there for you on the TPWD websites. Our lakes barely even get stocked with natives much less anything else! Why should I support programs that that dont help my neck of the woods, especially when i dont agree with their methods in the first place! Yes, some lakes have gotten better over the last several decades, despite heavy pressure. However, the lakes that you speak of all get an overwelmingly unequaled amount of help from "state" agencies! TB get stocked every single year without fail, and gets more than its fair share of sharelunker hatchlings! Do you know how many times Choke Canyon has been stocked in the last 10 yrs, maybee 3 times, and one of those was this past year, and only once with sharelunkers. If sharelunker wants to continue, I think that they would be better off taking a year off and spreading the word to anglers on how to handle and care for a fish that big before the officials get there, that way the fish actually make it to Athens! Then, build another facility, preferably closer to south TX, so that our fish dont die in the 5 hrs it takes officials to make it down here! Just seems logical! Look, it dont take a middle aged man, or senior citizen to be smart or know something about fishing and conservation! I run operations on a business that does millions of dollars of revenue, and like conservation; alot of it is just common sense, self-evaluation, and constantly striving to get better. I dont mean to burst your bubble, but there is a growning population of people that feal exactly the same way as I do! Just because those are the organizations and policies that are in place, doesnt mean that I have to agree with or like them. Especially when they do very little to help my home waters! If you dont wont to improve than dont, just dont wonder why the fishing stinks in a couple of years. Thats what is starting to happen on Choke Canyon!

First off, I am a Man of almost 30 yrs old! I grew up on Padre Island saltwater fishing since I was a kid and later moved to bass fishing during my College years. I began College in 2001, and have been hardcore bass fishing since then. That is 9 yrs! So, dont judge who I am, or my experience! I have not finger pointed any of you personally nor have I made foolish judgements of who you are! As for me wanting drastic shakeups, what are you talking about? All of the the things I ask for are simple and can be done without much money or stress on anyone. Im not asking for anyone to bend over backwards. Just do a few little things that will make are sport better. The only drastic changes that will occur are in the numbers of fish that we see caught. Next, if you have not seen the declines in these major tourny lakes, than you abviously do not fish them on a regular weekly basis. I have been fishing Choke Canyon weekly for many years now, and any of the long time regulars will tell you the same thing, overall numbers are way down and fishing is tougher! Are there other factors involved? Yes, but that doesnt mean that we can help what we can! Furthermore, if you do not think that there are signifigant fish kills because of tourny stress , than you are being very naive! You dont have to visually see fish floating! Remember, many fish suffer injuries that arent noticeable to us, such as broken jaws from improper handleing. It may take some time for these fish to slowly die due to their injuries. On a large lake like TB, Falcon, Amistad, or even Choke; you will not notice fish dieing at differnent times! But, it doesnt change the fact that they do! Im not a tree hugger or activist, I just like Bass fishing and dont want to see it ruined. Yall should be the same way, this is nothing to get worked up over and defensive about. Lets just work together and try to make things better. Whats wrong with that?

Quote: Tournament anglers get defensive when people like you come on public forums or in political settings trying to blame tournament anglers for their suspected problems. Every member here that has replied to your post is a tournament angler and all are highly involved in conservation. What you have failed to understand is that a vast majority of all improvements in lake conservation, boat livewells, fish care while in the livewell, fish care during the weight-in, & fish care after the weight-in is not only supported by tournament anglers but often times enacted by and paid for by tournament anglers. End Quote: Once again, I have clearly stated that I am not trying to get into a personal argument or directly fingering anyone for blame on anything. But, since it keeps getting brought back to that, I will comment. Comments like this just prove my point that "we" Tourny Anglers get too defensive when conservation is brought up, when we should be excitedly trying to constantly improve! Any time improvements are suggested "we" resort to vigorously defensing the conservation steps we already practice. No body is saying that there are not conservation minded measures already in place. However, what I am saying is that we are not doing as good as we can ultimately do. Im not the kind of guy that settles for mediocracy and I bet many of yall dont either. Lets put it this way, in a tourny would you just stop as soon as you catch your first 5 keepers? No, you are going to keep fishing and try to improve upon what you already have. This is the same concept I am trying to advocate, we need to make improvements. What was sufficient 10 yrs ago, does not necessarily apply to today. Tournaments have become HUGE and we need to adjust accordingly to maintain the proper balance. As stated earlier, these efforts will only improve our sport, so there is no reason that you shouldnt be all for it! However, the fact is that "we" tourny anglers are very over-devensive when it comes to looking in the mirror and seeing what we can do better. We are so worried about ourselves and having a good time, that we sometimes neglect to properly protect our main resource, "Bass!" Trust me though, if we spend a little extra effort protecting rather than just taking, the results will be heavier sacks and a more entertaining sport! BTW, please notice that I keep saying, "we" "us" and "our" when talking about Tourny related issues. As earlier stated, I am a tourny angler too! I currently fish a little amatuer trail and many other single events, such as the API, BassChamps Big Bass, Coleto Creek Invitational, and several more. In no way do I advocate getting rid of something that i enjoy. However, I can be honest and look into the mirror. We all have room to improve! Just because we are better than others doesnt mean that we should be satisfied and stop there. With the way our sport is growing we must evolve!

I love fishing Conroe this time of year. Conroe is one of the most underated lakes in the state of TX. In fact, it is only behind 2 other lakes in total number of "recorded" sharelunkers, and one of those lakes is Fork! It is not uncommon for it to take over 30 lb limmit to win tournys at Conroe this time of year, the last spring tourny I fished there took 36 lbs! I will give you 2 tips on fishing Conroe during this time of year that have made me very successfull every time I go! These tips will all but garuntee you a decent limmit, then you can go "hawg" hunting! First, try finding some isolated patches of hydrilla. They are hard to find out there because the homeowners kill it all off pretty good, but a few areas always exist. If you can find such an area then hold on to your rod!! In fact, if you are fishing a tourny and take a pre-fishing day, I would spend all the time that it takes to find at least one good sized area. Ill give you a hint, there is one such area in the middle of a certain creek arm of the lake, across from a gas station boat ramp. If the water is up enough, and the grass is alive then get ready for some great action. The birds always flock to this area cause it holds so much bait. You can crush both males and big females in this area during Jan. to April on traps and spinnerbaits! 2nd, I like fishing the little windy creeks on the mid-east shoreline of the lake. I start by fishing the entrances to these areas and try to fish the creek channels and ditchs as they run out into deeper water. Target these areas with a lipless crankbait! As the lake warms into the 60's, begin to move into these areas and fish for bed fish with weightless senkos, I like to rig them wacky style! Some of these little creeks of stairways, latters, decks, and boat slips that make great structure for bass. Some of the creeks dont have any man made structure/cover, look for laydowns, over hangs, and submerged plants on these. Both types will carry a few beds but make sure and explore them early. These areas can get some pressure, so dont be afraid to take a chance even though you think the water might still be a little too cold. The big ones spawn first anyways! Good Luck!

I think that I was misunderstood when I said, "Dont try to say Fork is spitting fish out like in the 90"s!" I was not really talking to anyone in general, or trying to be defensive. However, I am trying to prove my opinion and was just making a generalized statement about what most people already know! Honestly, I was not trying to cause any harm. This stuff is just my point of view on the situation and I am not trying to get personal with anyone. Im sure all of you are great people. However, that doesnt mean that we have to agree on all issue. And, if we dont that doesnt mean that I mean any personal insult or harm. You do have the right to your opinion, as I also have the right to object to it. As long as we are doing so in a civilized manner, there is nothing wrong with it. In fact, a good intelligent discussion; about an issue that draws strong opinions ', is fun! I dont ever take this stuff personally, its just about fish! So, please dont get upset or have ill will cause I have none towards you. That being said, I think this is a prime example of my assertion that Tourny Anglers get very defensive when our conservation methods are scrutinized, or brought into question! Look, everybody has room for improvment, and I just think that TX Tournys have room for a lot of em. My goal is to just better our lakes and sport, not to belittle, name call, or point fingers. That will get nothing done. I just want to open some eyes to the fact that we do take a toll on our lakes and that we can do more to help sustaine them than what we are doing now. Thats it! FYI, in no way am I perfect or the top authority on conservation. In no way am I trying to act like I am any better than any one of you. Yes, I have made mistakes before. However, I am Man enough to admitt when I am wrong and change my ways if corrected. Someone made a statement above about the Bass Pictured in my signiture. Yes, you are correct; lying a fish down on the boat carpet is not too good for bass. Just so you know, that pic was taken over 2 yrs ago while by myslelf. Though I have always been convervation minded, I did not think about things like that during that period of my fishing. I was by myslef and just wanted a pic of the great fish! However, you can rest assure that I know do all that I can to not place fish on the boat carpet. That is neither here nor there though, I am not trying to nit pick on every little thing and call individuals out for every improper action. I just am asking for us Tourny fisherman to collectively strive to improve our lakes. Nobody should have a problem with this! BTW, as for different TX trails: Bass Champs has like 5 divisions, BFL has 5 div, Federation has 5 div, Bass-N-Bucks has several events, S. TX 5! These are just the Trails that I can name off the top of my head. I fish the S. TX 5. Also, there are many large annual tournys every year, for instance: API events, BassChamps Big Fish Bonanzas (Choke/Fork/TB), and much more! Then, you got all the little events (50 boats or less) and Club tournys! Also, there was a comment about Toleto Bend getting hammered way more than everyone else. I agree, and you are just restating my point. Tourny pressure on certain lakes is way out of hand and it needs to be spreed out.

My supporting data comes from unbiased personal observation and conversations with other fisherman who fish as much as I do. I am not an organization and do not have the time to conduct an type of official studies, Im just using un-biased common sense! Like I stated earlier, none of these recommendations will hurt anybody, they will only help, so please try not to get defensive. Im a tounry angler too, but as a whole tourny anglers are very over-defensive whenever better conservation efforts are suggested towards them. Why? It will just help us out more in the long run! Have you ever seen a tourny on Falcon during anytime other than winter? It can be sickening to see how many fish die. I was at the Elite series 2 yrs back and it was the saddest thing I had ever seen. So many big fish died that it wasnt even funny. You cant tell me that it didnt hurt the lake! I have been to numerous tournys on Choke Canyon and Falcon where large portions of the fish have died. The sad thing is that it all could have been avoided if we and Tourny anglers and organizers would have tried a little harder. I could throw fish kill figures out but it really doesnt matter. There are so many conflicting studies on how many fish die and live that it is irrelivant. Ive seen studies supporting a 1/3 kill ratio and I have seen studies showing that everything lives. I dont put much stock into them because they can be manipulated based on the sampler's intentions. All I know is what I see with my own eyes and other testimonials from trusted anglers. I live near Choke Canyon and have been fishing it for many years on a weekly basis. Any local that fishes the lake on a year long regular basis will tell you that the bass fishing has seen an overall decline over the last several yrs. Sure, some big fish are still being caught; but there are a lot more lines in the water to catch them with! The overall fishing has gone down by more than half in my opinion, as well as many of my fishing partners. The same can be said for many of the other top lakes. Dont try and say that Fork is spitting out fish like it did in the 90's! Amistad is the same way! Falcon is the only one that I believe can handle the heavy tourny pressure because it is so big, and doesnt get as many club tournys and recreation anglers because it is so far out of the way! What do all these lakes have in common? Huge tourny crowds. You can say that it doesnt effect things. Im not advocating an end to tournys, I love fishing them, but I just think that we need to make some changes to make things better!

First off I would like to say that I am a Tourny guy myself. I enjoy them and concede that there are many positives to come out of them. In no way am I advocating the end to all tournaments. This being said, tourney fishing in TX needs some MAJOR SHAKE-UPS! As of right now, I believe that TX tourney trails are one of the most detrimintal influences on our lakes, even more than meat-hunters! Why do you ask? There is a huge tourny craze in the state of TX right now. The amount of amatuer type tournys in this state is staggering. Every region of this state has numerous yearly trails, as well as large numbers of smaller events and club tournaments. In TX, these larger events draw upwards of 200 boats for each event in each region of the state (North, South, East, West, Central)! Now, you have to consider the characteristics of the state of TX; and the current demands of it's anglers to see why there is a problem. Please try to stay with me on this. First, a large portion of fish caught during the avg. tourny do not survive the stress of their ordeal. Now, not all of these fish die immediately, as many die later on due to injuries suffered to them, such as broken jaws from improper handleing! However, the major reason that many of these fish die is due to our climate! Throughout most of the year, most TX lakes carry a temp. of higher than 80 degrees. In fact, many S.TX lakes creep well into the mid 90's from June to Sept. Keeping bass alive in a livewell during an all day fishing event is very hard at these temps! Especially when considering the size of our fish. On the primary tourny lakes it usually takes 30 lbs or more to win the avg tourny, big fish just dont do well in a crammed, hot box all day! Summer fish kills from south TX tournys can be staggering, and you are being stubborn if you cant admitt this! Next, the demands of the avg. tourny angler in TX are killing certain lakes! In TX, there is a large number of anglers that only fish under tourny situations, they just dont fish for recreation! Now, these anglers are very adament about fishing their tournys on the states hottest and best lakes: Falcon, Choke Canyon, Amistad, Fork, and a couple others! Because this is the only time they fish, they want to go to one of the Big Boys and catch BIG fish! Many organizers feel that they have to have their events on these lakes to draw crowds! I dont blame either of them for these attitudes, and I too like to fish these lakes. However, there is a major problem; too much stress is being placed on these lakes because of this! There is an exreme amount of tourny stress unporportionatly placed on just a few TX bass lakes. These are our best fisheries and our best chances at seeing a world record, but they are being thrashed from tourny pressure and have drastically declined! Just imagine if your home lake had 200 boats worth of Tourny pressure every weekend! That kind of hammering will take a toll on any lake, especially when added to environmental factors such as the bad drought we had been in for the last 2 yrs! All this being said, the negitives can easily be corrected if we would just make a few relitively easy changes to the way we fish our tournaments. First, organizers should take great care when planning out their seasons. Southern lakes should always be fished first as this is when their temps are coolest! This will greatly improve survival rates during events in the warmer regions of the state. 2nd, more 3 fish formats should be adopted during the warmer times of year, or events can have all day weigh-ins so that fish are put back quickly and live-wells stay less cramped! I fished an event last summer at choke canyon that was run with an all day way in, you could weigh fish in as you caught them and then go back out and upgrade. The tourny only lost 1 fish, and it was a major success! The last thing that would drastically help, is for event organizers to start alternating more lakes into their seasons. To give you an example of how it is now, the trail I fish has 7 events all fished on the same 3 lakes. Believe me event organizers, if you scheduled different lakes anglers will still come and fish. There are more than just 3 good lakes in TX, in fact; we may even discover some hidden gems that are better than the current big dogs! By mixing in new lakes, these other lakes would get a chance to heal themselves after the beatings they take. I have seen drastic declines in several lakes that I know has something to do with heavy tourny pressure. Its simple math; the more tournys a lake has, the more pressure is on the fish, the more that are caught, and the more that die due to the stress! Plus, this would also make the trails more interesting; as anglers will get to fish new places and fish under different circumstances. Down here in TX everyone allready knows who can catch fish on Choke, Falcon, Fork, and Amistad; lets see if they can do it on different lakes that they may not fish often. I think this would make trails more competitive, fair, and we would see who is truely a more versitile fisherman! Now, before anyone gets all defensive, consider this; the changes that I advocate are only meant to preserve our lakes and better our fisheries so that we can enjoy great tourny fishing for years to come. At the rate we are going we will have to use TNT to get a limmit on lakes that used to be plum full of bass. By taking a conservation/fish first attitude, we will in return increase the overall fishing experience. These changes are just minor consessions and wont do anything but help out!

Did you just lable Ike as a "bank-beater?" I would hardly call Mike I. a bankbeater!

Unless there is a major tourny, there should be plenty of rooms availiable in Zapata. Try the sunbridge motel, it is fairly new and right across from the H-Inn Express! They are very boater friendly, clean, nice, and best of all cheap! About $80 for a 2 bed room! However, if there is a big tourny and everything is booked, you may want to try staying in Hebronville, TX; which is just up the road off hwy 16, about 40 minutes North of Zapata. I forgot which one it was, but they have a nice , cheap little place that i have stayed at before when Zapata was booked! This is better than nothing if you are out of options! I suggest that you just dont come down. Falcon doesnt have any fish anyways! There was a big fish kill yesterday and there all gone. I ll tell you when the lake gets back on its fee. (LOL)!

I really like Canyon lake and fish it several times a yr. Im a south TX guy and live 40 min from Choke Canyon and get to fish for big bass most of the year, however; I really enjoy my trips to Canyon because it is a good TX smallmouth lake! Most people in that area think of the lake as a recreational boating lake (ski) but little do they know that it is loaded with toad smallies! Many fish in the 3 lb range, and a fish over 5 lbs is possible if your lucky! It is a beuatifull, clear, rocky lake with flooded brush and a little bit of grass here and there. I typicall catch Canyon smallies off of bluffs, points, steep slope banks, and ledges. Target areas close to deep water and stay towards the main lake, the water is more shallow and warm further up river! Good baits to use are Tubes, JDC Grubs, Jerkbaits, senkos, Finesse Football Jigs, Crankbaits, Dropshotting, and Shakey Head fishing. My most successfull smallie baits on this lake are a white X-Rap (X10) Jerkbait, dropshot (4 in worm), and shakey heading! However, dont sleap on the Jigs and Tubes! Smallies usually stack up so if you catch one, fish the area good! Remember, to check for suspending fish if you are having a hard time getting bit, Canyon smallies like to suspend alot. This is were the X-Rap and tubes come in handy! If you know how to use a hair jig with a float, that might be deadly too. There are lots of LMB on Canyon too, but many are dinkers and I think that the avg smallie is bigger than the avg LMB on this lake. Good Luck!

I hear that Belton and Temoma are the hottest smallie lakes in tX right now by a lot of anglers. However, tPWD resources go on and on about smallie fishing in Whitney and Merideth though I hear bad thing about fish kills at Whitney by anglers. As for Amistad, it has smallies but I think it is a little warm most of the year for them to do super good. There record is only a tad over 5 lbs! Now, the most underrated smallie lake in TX is Canyon Lake. Most think of this as a boating lake but it is absolutely loaded with smallies! Many fish in the 3-4 lb range and I have seen several over 5 lbs! Lake record is about 6.5 lbs. Everytime I go I do very well and get a limmit of them!