A year ago, the big-bass battle in the Lone Star State looked something like an Old West shootout between two top gunslingers.

By the time the smoke cleared, upstart Alan Henry, the 2,880-acre water body southeast of Lubbock, had claimed the lunker bass title, taking it in shocking fashion over Lake Fork, the 27,764-acre perennial big-bass ruler of Texas, by a final ShareLunker program count of nine bass to seven.

That said, if the 2005 Texas big-bass race was a duel, then this year's version might be more akin to the legendary Wild West shoot-'em-up at the OK Corral!

"We're real excited about this," said Phil Durocher, the director of inland fisheries for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in Austin. "We've had a lot of large fish caught this past summer -- an unusual number of 10- and 12-pound fish caught -- so things should be good this year.

"I'm looking at absolutely an 'A' kind of year -- maybe an 'A-plus." That's because of the resurgence of lakes like Amistad, Falcon, and Choke Canyon, which have been down in recent years as far as lake levels are concerned. The steady lakes like Fork and Sam Rayburn are going to be there, too, so it's going to be just about as good as it can get."

With all that in mind, here's a region-by-region look at what Texas bass anglers can expect to find at some of their favorite waters around the state this year.

EAST TEXAS
Mention East Texas bassin' at the local coffee shop and the talk immediately turns to the state's crown jewel, Lake Fork, home to what's arguably the best bass angling action in the entire U.S.

Such a claim is easily bolstered by Fork's legendary numbers, which include a total (as of the end of last season) of 222 ShareLunker largemouths weighing 13 pounds or better! Those fish include, of course, Barry St. Clair's current state-record largemouth bass -- an 18.18-pound fish caught on Jan. 24, 1992.

What can anglers expect from Lake Fork this year? More of the same, says Kelly Jordan, the young-gun bass pro from Mineola with four wins on the CITGO Bassmaster Tour and one on the FLW Tour in recent years.

"Fork -- it's really coming into its own again," Jordan remarked. "It's recovered every year since the largemouth bass virus hit. After the virus hit, the numbers were good, and two years ago, I thought we were getting pretty close to having big fish back like we have had in the past. But the year 2005 was the best year since 1999 for big fish, so -- unless something crazy happens -- (2006) will be a banner year on Lake Fork."

Kevin Storey, the TPWD area biologist in charge of managing Fork's treasured bass resources, sees no reason to disagree. "We don't have any information that suggests that it will be dramatically different," he said.