Choke Canyon: Texas’ new best big bass lake

Darryl Overstreet of Norman heard about Choke Canyon Lake in south Texas producing big bass this spring, so he and a few friends decided to give it a try last week.

The 8-hour drive from Norman was worth it. Overstreet, a bass tournament angler who fishes Hawg Haven and other trails in Oklahoma, was rewarded with a 13.44-pound largemouth bass that measured 27 inches in length and 22 inches in girth.

Overstreet says he’s having a hard time believing his luck.

“I have fished for most of my life and only dreamed of a lunker like this,” he said.

Choke Canyon, a water supply lake for Corpus Christi, has vaulted to the top of best big bass lakes in Texas this year. Located three miles west of the south Texas town of Three Rivers, Choke Canyon has coughed up at least nine 13-pound plus bass this spring, counting Overstreet’s fish.
Choke Canyon has six fish this year on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Sharelunker list, a program where the agency takes 13-pound plus fish from Texas lakes and attempts to reproduce their trophy genes in a lab.

Three of the nine big bass caught at Choke Canyon- including Overstreet’s – died so they are not officially listed as part of the Sharelunker program. But even with six, Choke Canyon has more Sharelunkers than any other Texas lake this year.

Those six fish on the Sharelunker list weigh in at 15.45 pounds (the new lake record), 15.27 pounds, 15 pounds, 13.30 pounds, 13.17 pounds and 13.12 pounds.
Producing three fish more than 15 pounds in the same year is unprecedented, Texas officials said.
Choke Canyon is a 26,000 acre lake that is just 20 years old. It’s always been a productive lake when it had water, but drought has kept it up and down for much of its existence.

But after being down from 1997 to 2002, the lake has been taking on water and has been virtually full since. With a large percentage of Flordia bass in the lake, the rising water has created a “new lake effect,” according to Texas biologists, and the bass have had more cover, more to eat, and the population has exploded.
Overstreet said the water temperature was around 78 degrees most of last week on Choke Canyon. He and his fishing partners got up April 22 and began fishing one of the main lake points and had caught several fish using Terminator Spinnerbaits.

The night before, Overstreet had met Steve Parks of Rage Tail Baits, who was testing baits on the lake. He gave Overstreet one plastic worm to try – a 10-inch anaconda junebug-colored worm.
Once the spinnerbait action slowed that morning, Overstreet decided to give the worm a try. He pitched it into some grass off the point and got the bite of a lifetime.
Choke Canyon is on the upswing and biologists think the fishing will remain this way for several years.
In addition to black bass, there also is good fishing for catfish, white bass and crappie.
For more information on Choke Canyon State Park and the lake, visit http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/choke_canyon/

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