Tom Peel 7 Lb. Triple J.  Feb 2013
Tom Weilert 6+.  Several locations
We consider a Trophy bass to over 6

7 lbs, 11oz at sash fannin farms last August. Almost had a heart attack.

Since I don’t take pictures. My two largest Bass both measured on the tape measure I have screwed into the side of my boat.  It goes up to 22 inches. Both Bass exceeded the 22 inch mark by 2 to 3 inches. One was caught at Clifton under the dock on a zoom watermelon finesse worm and the other one was caught at six O under the dock on a zoom finesse bubblegum worm. Both were caught in June but different years.  Caught too many 21 and 22 inch ones to count.  But I like to catch the 16 to 18 inchers as they fight harder than the big ones.  I would rather catch 25 sixteen inch Bass vs. a 10 pounder. Show me the numbers.

Steve, I caught an 8.5 lb fish at Yates Place a couple of years ago.  That’s my best.  A trophy to me would be 10 lbs plus.

My personal best is a 8.9 lb bass caught at Thompson Ranch.
Anything over 10 lbs I would consider a trophy bass.

Bill Fetech

Biggest on a club property: 10 lbs.
Personel best ever: 12 lbs 3 oz.

I think the standard nowadays has been elevated to double digits for trophies.
To me, a fish over 10 is a trophy.

My best in club is a 6lb 9oz from Yates place last fall October I think. Caught 2 just shade under six lbs. Looking for elusive 10 pounder. Gonna hit Yates again in the fall. Wanna do one of those mounts inside of glass enclosure but made agreement with myself has to be over 10 lbs. Personal best is only little over 7 think 7-2 it was but was over 20 yrs ago

7.2 at Rock Chimney
Picture is on the Rock Chimney property site.  That was my largest fish to date.  20 minutes later my son caught his career fish, a 5 pounder.  His pic is on the site as well.

My biggest bass caught was a 9 plus pounder at my Lake JerMar in 2012 on a Walmart H2O crank bait at upper neck post spawn late April.  Have not come close since but fished Bennett Lake Friday PM and caught lots of fish but none over 4 lbs on Texas rigged worms.  I estimate exact weight as was a cheap Walmart scales but anything over 10 lbs. would certainly be a trophy fish to me.  Or close.  Jerry King

i have caught 9 lbers at yates place and at rough creek lodge and an 8.75 at san saba in the club.
personal best is two over 10lbs on same day on private lake not in club. have also caught 9.5 lbs on a private lease.

private lake fishing is the only way to go.

Longest (didn’t have any way to measure weight) was 26.5 inches at Melody about 6 years ago.  Not especially fat, but had to be well over 10 lb.  Took 25 minutes on 4 lb test, I was extremely fortunate the fish decided to fight in the middle of the lake as I couldn’t stop her from doing whatever she wanted.

At the time Patti’s boat was very narrow & tippy, so I played the fish with my legs sticking out about 18 inches over the gunwale during the battle.  Patti watched from the upper deck and had a blast while I was sweating bullets ever second.

Caught several others in 9 to 10 lb range, one at Yates and two at Melody, but none were as as long as 26.5.

To me, 10 lb is a true trophy lunker.  I’ve caught maybe 3 on club lakes and 1 on a private pond outside the club.  Never caught one that big on public water, though I did have a monster I lost on the St Johns River in Florida when I was a teenager.

I caught 2 bass over 8 pounds last year on club lakes. Hartland 8-7 oz and Gilmer 8-6 oz. I am still looking to bust 10 pounds on a Black Bass. Once we leave the species, we have put Halibut in the boat over 200 pounds, Tuna up to about 100 pounds, Peacock Bass on top water 13.5,.... whatver blows your skirt up I guess.

Best of all is enjoying the beautiful creation God gave us and the company of our close friends and family… The memories are what’s valuable and it does not take a Monster to make it all worthwhile my friend. Obviously, all fishermen have learned to make up stories.

Tight lines to you.

Note to self:  Fish under docks.
Note to Phillip:  you are a lucky man (living on Fork AND a member of the club.
Note to Herb:  I fished Sash once and caught nothing over 12”, so I’ll bet that 7 DID give about give you a heart attack.
Note to Robert:  mount a longer tape measure!
Note to Jay:  caught my 8.5 pb at Yates in the month of October.

My personal best on a club lake was two weeks ago at Grapeland Bennett - 7lb 6oz, but it measured a full 24”.  As far a trophy goes, I think 10lbs is widely considered the mark to attain….having had the good fortune of catching my one and only eight pounder (8lbs 9ozs), it was hard not to be proud of that fish!  What is amazing to me is the obvious mass difference when you jump from a 4 to a 6 to a 8lb fish…..blows you away when you first see them!

4.3 this year at Hat and Star

I’d consider a trophy bass to ne 12+

All of my personal best are from club lakes.  My best is a 12 pound bass from Hat and Star last year.  I caught a 9 pounder at Timber lake a couple years back.  I caught a couple of 7 pounders and one 8 at Wapanuka (miss that place).  My 15 year old son also caught his best on a club lake when he was I think 11 years old.  He caught a 10 pounder at Wapanuka. 

Gotta try Hat and Star, it isn’t too far from where I live (Shreveport).

And you know, we are so very lucky to be in this club.  Most bass fisherman never catch a 7 lb plus fish their entire lives!

My best was probably a 6.2 at Sash Fannin Farm.  To me a trophy is anything over 8 lbs.

9.0 at Rough Creek is my best, but trophy to me means double digit!  Still looking for that one and expect to find her some day.  Maybe Timber or Marshall will bring that one this year!

8-6 at Melody Acres and 8+ at Thompson. Have had good big bites at other club lakes but didn’t see or land them so they must have been trophies, at least in my mind.

I was very fortunate to catch an 8 at Hat & Star in my first year (last year) as a club member.  I consider a double digit bass to be a trophy bass. 

Thanks for weighing in. Hopefully some of you were surprised by the reports. I know I was. I probably knew about 3/4 of those fish were caught, but there were a few I did not know or forgot.

In my 35 plus years of fishing I have caught hundreds of fishing over 7 lbs, but only a few dozen over 8 lbs, only 6 over 9 lbs and 1 over 10 lbs. I have lost 3 fish at the boat well over 10 lbs at El Salto and I still remember each of those almost fish like it was yesterday.  For me the trophy mark is 8 lbs. I have caught a lot of 7.12, or 7.10 or 7.14 fish but I only see the scale over 8 lbs once or so a year. I need to fish more!!!!

As a group the trophy size ranged from 6 to 12 lbs.

My top 3 fish since joining PWF are:
JerMar- 9.2 Hat&Star- 8.6 9G- 8.2
by far not my personal best, but best in PWF.
Personal best 14.33.

Since I am new to working for the club, I thought I would give my take on the topic, so that you all can get to know me a little better from a fishing perspective.

My personal best is 9 lbs 9oz. Ironically, I have caught two fish that were both this exact weight.

In my opinion, a trophy bass is 8 lbs or bigger. I trophy in my mind is a fish big enough that I want to take a picture and brag to all my family and friends, and an 8 pounder is certainly worthy of a story in my book!

My biggest bass was caught at the large pond at China Grove, of all places, back in 2006. It was about 8 pounds
and I caught it on a Horney Toad in front of Rosa’s cabin. I moved out of state last year and really miss being
a member of PWF.

Jim,

You were a great member and we miss not having you as a member.  I am glad you are still keeping up with us through our web-site. Speaks volumes to the influence our little club has on some folks. I know it had that influence on me.

Jim I caught a good one at China Grove last year.  Probably 20 to 22 inches. But it was in the next pond just north of the bunk house and near the feed store. I caught it on a red spinner bait. 1/2 oz.  considering the fishing pressure of visitors removing bass weekly from these ponds they still produce.  Lots of forage fish.  He has two newer ponds. One just north of his house when you enter the property.  Plus he bought the land to the east of him and built an cabin (called the Barn).  Loaded with gills, bass and channel cats.  I take my grandkids there to teach them how to fish as they iare guaranteed to catch fish.

Jim I caught a good one at China Grove last year.  Probably 20 to 22 inches. But it was in the next pond just north of the bunk house and near the feed store. I caught it on a red spinner bait. 1/2 oz.  considering the fishing pressure of visitors removing bass weekly from these ponds they still produce.  Lots of forage fish.  He has two newer ponds. One just north of his house when you enter the property.  Plus he bought the land to the east of him and built an cabin (called the Barn).  Loaded with gills, bass and channel cats.  I take my grandkids there to teach them how to fish as they iare guaranteed to catch fish.

10.25 from Yates Place

I consider an 8+ a trophy. It’s a tough barrier to break.

9 lbs. Giddings, bank fishing with watermelon red wacky worm.

My 9+ at Hat and Star is my biggest large mouth to date. I’ve always considered double digit to be a trophy but I may have to rethink, that fish would look good mounted in my office! If it stands I may take my winnings and put it towards a mount!

Robert, that is impressive. I remember when Devon built that pond several years ago so nice to hear
that there are large fish in that pond. A few years ago I was fishing the pond just south of the bunk
house and caught sometime that broke my line.

Steve, thanks for the nice comments. I always enjoy checking the fishing reports; keep up the good work.

8.0 at 9G Ranch in deep water near the dam. I’m still looking for that “Lunker.” 
Bob Cantin

I live in Kansas, and come down to Texas to fish while my daughter attended A&M. I have been very fortunate fishing down in Texas with the club.

Big Fish

13#7oz at Lake Leon-I caught 24 that day including a 5#4oz and a 7#2oz my wife caught 23!
8# and a 9# on back to back cast at Decateur with my son on a rainy day with VERY low water
6# 12oz at smith’s ranch (Fairfield) the day before my 13 7
12 bass over 5# on our first trip to San Saba my son also caught a 7#+ fish
The club is simply awesome. Especially if you live in Kansas!

9 lb 3oz at Jermar on Good Friday 2013.  That is also my personal best. 

My new personal best was caught on may 15, 2014 @ 9-G. A 7 pounder caught around 11:00 am in 3 feet of
water. Caught on purple lizard.

My personal best on a club lake is 8 pounds….so far.  Caught 4 over 9 at El Salto and an 8.75 at Fork.  But, the 10+ trophy has both eluded and haunted me.

My personal best is a 6.70lb at Yates Place.  I’m 46 years old and grew up in the Mid Atlantic region of the country.  For the first 43 years of my life I had never caught a 5 pound bass.  I had all but given up bass fishing until one day I decided to knock the dust off of my Ugly Stik and flip a small spinnerbait into a golf course pond near my house.  BOOM!! a 5lb 2oz hit my lure and I was hooked again.  I have not stopped bass fishing since.  I joined this club with my buddy Shaun Cobb 3 years ago and we have both been really addicted ever since.  In that time we have both caught too many 4-5 pound fish to count.  To me, that will always be a nice catch.  I considered a trophy bass to be over 7 pounds…that is until I catch one…and I WILL.  I think a 10+ pound bass is a “fish of a lifetime” and I will keep at it until that happens for me.  I love the hunt and I love the strategy that goes into “figuring it out” every time we go.  And I always take a picture of the sunrise…because no matter what…I’m leaving with a great memory.  Tight lines boys.