Just how big are those gals? Nice fish. Texas is a big state with a lot of money. Apparently they are putting some of their dollars to good use.

All three were 9 pounders. I had some more pics of others but was having problems uploading them.

I was always taught to release the big fish and keep the smaller fish to eat (or sacs/catfish). I see more people keeping these big fish, maybe that's why they are getting so scarce in LA. Not sure if this theory is true or not, but I have lived by it. Those are beautiful fish though!!!

Looks like those two big ones did not make it back into the lake. That is what happened to Lake Cataouatche....too many big bass removed and not put back. Been fishing for big bass for almost 50 years, there are still a few around here, but certainly very hard to locate and catch. I usually catch around 20 in a year that go over 7 lbs. in this area. I caught 5 bass in August here that went close to 7 or over 7 lbs.....the biggest pushed 8. The hurricane killed some, have not caught one big bass since the storm. If people want to catch them, they gotta learn to put them back, eat the smaller bass.

...Texas is not so bad...they don't have as much graft percentage as we do...therefore their politics are graded higher than ours...and it's a known fact they have more common sense civil laws on the books than we have...I grew up w/a guy that left Louisiana and became a mayor of a small town West of Houston...when their income goes down their local taxes got adjusted(not extended to a later date) and they never had any 'funny' fees on any utilities bills or city services and in a couple of other cases when things got tight he did admit they trimmed from their 'top heavy' first not the bottom which kept the core on their feet...try that in Louisiana...anyway you do have two beauties...wished they were released !!! cheers

Yea I let em go but at first I wanted to mount them. Now I'm to the point where I'll just get a replica if I want them on the wall

that is a very weird looking first pic

Ok so those that have seen me on here know that I used to go on tangents about releasing bass and in fact have made many a coment 'Being a Texan transplanted here about 4 years ago' about the lack of big bass in this area. First I Will say Nice Fish Dude....Then I Say...Mount your first one that is close to Ten, Then Over Ten, Then Over Twelve.....Mounting Two Under At Once....Not So Sure....We dont kill big fish in Texas, We Dont Call Um Green Trout and We are selective about the school fish we kill to eat....We Have Bigger Fish There Then We Do Here For A Few Reasons....We Eat Trout, Reds, Gar, Flounder, Cat Fish and Crappie.....Normally Save Bass For The Walls......Living there for so many years I can say, Even Though I Now Have LA Plates...We Hated seeing LA boats with coolers full of bass going to the cleaning table and in fact seen my share of confrataion for it.....We Like Things The Way They Are There....Sorry Chris and Drew, Please Dont Get On Me For This One.....LOL

If that is Falcon ??
That would be the one place that really dont take kindly to killing big bass, My Money Says You Didnt Pull those Out Of the Box At the Ramp and Then Head To The Hotel....That could of gotten either ugly or they wouldnt sell you as much as a bag of trick worms at the tackle shop....LOL

I eat bass because they taste better than any other fish. But once they get over say 3.5 lbs or so i throw them back, they dont taste as good. I also fish a few tournaments and still find plenty enough good fish from the same spots I catch for my freezer.

I prefer the taste of a young Rio over the taste of store bought chicken....BUT I dont go fill my truck bed up with Jakes because I like the way they taste....

How many of you think one of the reasons the fishing is so good there (s Texas) is because of the lack of pressure. This lake not being near a heavily populated area is a prime reason. I believe if Rayburn or Toledo where to swap locations, the fishing would be the same in that location of south Texas. I believe fishing pressure is the #1 reason for the lack of numbers or size of fish in any body of water. This is the reason size and creel limits are imposed. Without them, it is just a lake/river every few people will or want to fish.

In my opinion is one thing, habitat would be another and Fisherman Attitude and Culture would be yet another. I believe that if the state of Texas called bass Green Trout, took pics of 40 fish in the 2 to 4 pound range (when 4's are a good size for the area) laying in a driveway that is most likely 110 degrees getting ready to be cleaned.....The Fishing Would Not Be What It Is There......The key word to me is Culture, Culture Leads To Conservation and Conservation Leads Self Maintained Management and that leads to better Bass Fishing.
I am not in any way knocking the Culture here in SE LA, I am merely saying that in MOST NOT ALL CASES the culture and attitude is very different from anywhere else I have been in the country.
Pressure…Texas has a population of 25,674,681…….Louisiana has a population of 4,575,000 plus or minus….Houston alone at 2,145,146 is almost half of entire state of Louisiana…People per square mile? Well, Texas at 96 and Louisiana at 105 is not much different.
Lakes like Conroe, and quite a few smaller lakes are nestled into an area with a population that is over 2 million and the Bass are amazing compared to SE LA…. Fork….Just Outside Dallas, Wow would be the word for that place…Toledo and Rayburn, Well, what are they close to???
With that being said, Not so sure it is pressure as much as the Culture of the pressure that is fishing…
Again I will say that I am NOT knocking the Culture at all but am saying that out all of the states my career has allowed me to fish, From The NW Salmon and Steelhead to the Stripers and Bass of Upstate New York to Texas and Florida, SE Louisiana has the most UNIQUE Ideas of how things are and how they should be……So Let’s All Just Keep Eating All Of The Bass We Catch and Drive To Texas For The Trophies, Heck Gas Prices Are Coming Down No Worries….LOL “ That last statement Is A Joke and not intended to offend anyone in any way, shape or form”

You are right Gonefishin, the culture/thought process in south Louisiana is different than most other places. But that culture, (I can keep anything I catch if I want too) IS slowly dieing off.

I too, have fished in multiple states and can also tell you that this is the only state where the general opinion is 'The law says I can keep it, so I am.'
People in SE LA think that the only way to measure the success of a trip is by how many pounds of filets they put in their freezer. People in other states measure the success of a trip by the fun of catching fish. Go to fishing websites in other states. You will not see the vast majority of posters complaining about catching fish too small to keep. Here? People GRIPE about catching 100 fish because only 1 or 2 of those 100 fish are able to be kept. It's just a different mentality of the people. I'm not saying they are right. I'm not saying the people here are wrong. I keep bass a couple of times a year. I think bass taste better than any other freshwater fish, sans sac a lait.
People wonder why we don't have the trophy fisheries of other states. I think one of the reasons is when we DO have an area that could be great (i.e. Catouatchie) it gets raped by everybody and their momma and 95% of those people keep their limit, whether it's 1 pound fish or 8 pound fish.