Pros Talk of Their Biggest Catches Ever at Toyota Texas Bass Classic

The Toyota Texas Bass Classic is taking place on Lake Fork and the legendary East Texas fishery is spitting out fat green largemouth in a manner that has many top pros wondering if they might catch their personal best 5-bass limit this weekend.

Terry “Big Show” Scroggins caught his personal best 5-bass limit in 2008 at the Bassmaster Elite on Falcon Lake.

It weighed a monstrous 44 pounds 4 ounces. He caught it on a 10” worm. But the likeable Florida pro says there’s no doubt he could – could – eclipse that mark today or tomorrow.

Scroggins isn’t being cocky. Not one bit. He simply knows what lives here. He was one of 14 pros that caught at least a 30-pound limit yesterday, and his biggest fish on Friday was a 9 ½ pounder.

VanDam has been there, done that, and seen it all in his 24^th season as a pro, but even “KVD” seems a bit mystified by the catches he and other pros are encountering on Fork.

In wide-eyed fashion, just before weighing-in an 8 pound 8 ounce bass than any mortal angler would likely have called the fish of a lifetime, VanDam stated, “This lake has a lot of 10-pounders in it, and it’s been a long time since I caught a 10-pounder, and I’m gonna tell ya’, I saw one today that weighed way more than 10. It was an absolute freak of nature. I don’t know, hopefully I can catch her before this thing is over.”

Giant bass require oversized tackle. The deepest diving crankbaits ever invented are a common sight this week, and so are large spools fill with braided line, and large swimabits too. “Normally, in most places we go, we’ll throw a 4” swimbait, but here on Fork we’re throwing 8-inch baits on larger reels like an EXO 200 with a lot of line capacity,” explained VanDam.

He also noted that 10” worms, ¾ ounce football jigs, and magnum-sized topwater lures are all in play this weekend.

The ever-hilarious Gerald Swindle enters Day Two on Lake Fork dressed in bright red tennis shoes and socks, but knows the chance to eclipse the personal best 32-pound limit he caught with a Carolina Rigged Zoom Brush Hog from Falcon Lake is no laughing matter.

“If I can catch me a 41-pound limit today, I can get back in this thing,” said Swindle before blast-off.

Sounds funny. But it’s not. It’s the serious reality of what swims here, and the realistic chance of assembling your biggest 5-bass limit ever just about any day you launch your boat on Lake Fork – including this weekend for 50 of the best bass pros in the world at the Toyota Texas Bass Classic.