Texas Top 50 Smallmouth Bass

Updated October 14, 2026

Texas is better known for largemouth bass, but its smallmouth record book contains an extraordinary run of trophy fish from Lake Whitney, Lake Meredith, Lake Texoma and other waters. This page reproduces the current Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Top 50 smallmouth bass list.

The state record is Timothy Teague’s 7.93-pound smallmouth from Lake Meredith, caught March 13, 1998. Ron Gardner is one of the defining names on the list: he currently has 10 fish in the Texas Top 50, including seven positions in the Top 10. For official updates, visit TPWD’s Top 50 Smallmouth Bass.

Rank	Water Body	Weight (lb.)	Length (in.)	Date	Angler
1	Meredith	7.93	23	03/13/1998	Timothy Teague
2	Whitney	7.72	22	11/20/1988	Ronald Gardner
3	Whitney	7.68	23.25	10/14/1997	Ronald Gardner
4	Whitney	7.55	24.25	12/18/1997	Ronald Gardner
5	Whitney	7.46	25.13	03/09/1994	Ronald Gardner
6	Bridgeport	7.41	23	03/21/1997	Mike Roberts
7	Whitney	7.37	23.38	10/28/1996	Ronald Gardner
8	Whitney	7.25	21	01/04/1998	Darrell Ferguson
9	Whitney	7.21	25	02/11/1996	Ron Gardner
10	Whitney	7.06	23.13	04/06/1995	Ronald Gardner
10	Texoma	7.06	22.75	01/29/2006	Jay Fuller
12	Brazos River	7	22.5	05/07/1997	Chris Shafer
12	Greenbelt	7	21	08/03/1991	Jim Braswell
14	Whitney	6.96	23.5	10/04/1995	Gary Payne
15	Whitney	6.94	24.25	12/25/1998	Gary Mitchell
16	Whitney	6.91	22.5	04/05/1995	Wendell Walker
16	Texoma	6.91	24	01/22/1996	Yarri Schreibvogel
18	Whitney	6.9	23.5	03/07/1994	Chris Shafer
19	Whitney	6.89	24.25	04/10/1992	Ron Gardner
20	Whitney	6.88	23	12/08/1997	Thomas Peterson
21	Whitney	6.87	23	10/24/1994	Ronald Gardner
22	Possum Kingdom	6.8	24	01/28/1999	Bob Borg
23	Stillhouse Hollow Lake	6.75	22	01/31/1993	Arnold Bragewitz
24	Bridgeport	6.68	22	02/02/1997	Damian Kline
25	Stillhouse Hollow Lake	6.65	22.63	11/28/1992	Chris Hadash
25	Texoma	6.65	22.25	02/10/1996	John Dewey
27	Whitney	6.63	22.5	10/17/1991	Chris Shafer
27	Texoma	6.63	22	02/22/1992	George Chrisman
29	Brazos River	6.62	22	04/18/1992	Klifford Bohne
30	Texoma	6.59	21.75	12/13/1991	Greg Scott
30	Whitney	6.59	22.5	10/06/1995	Ron Leake
32	Texoma	6.53	22	01/07/1989	Mark Schmitt
33	Whitney	6.52	23.25	10/06/1994	Tom McIntosh
34	Whitney	6.5	21.5	11/21/1987	Floyd Teat
35	Meredith	6.47	23	03/28/1993	Craig Stewart
36	Lyndon B. Johnson	6.46	17	03/02/1985	Donald Edgar
37	Belton Lake	6.43	22.5	02/24/1999	Ron Gardner
38	Texoma	6.41	21	03/03/1991	Ted Baca
39	Meredith	6.4	23.5	05/02/1998	Doc Thompson
39	Bridgeport	6.4	22	04/10/1998	Kyle Pliskal
39	Possum Kingdom	6.4	23	03/08/1987	Steve Andrua
42	Blanco River	6.37	20.87	03/22/1992	Billy Cockrell
43	Whitney	6.35	23.25	11/05/1987	Don Wooten
44	Texoma	6.3	22.3	02/01/1998	Jonathan Thompson
45	Meredith	6.29	22.25	12/24/1989	David Conditt
46	Belton Lake	6.23	21.75	04/29/1994	Darlo Sneed
47	Meredith	6.2	22.25	03/28/1989	Henry McWilliams
48	Ray Roberts	6.16	21.25	11/19/2011	Mark Petri
49	Meredith	6.14	23	08/03/1993	Johnny Freeman
49	Bridgeport	6.14	21	12/25/1996	Michael Curley

Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Angler Recognition Program. Ties use TPWD’s published rank numbering. TPWD lists Ron Gardner as both “Ron Gardner” and “Ronald Gardner” in different entries; this table preserves TPWD’s naming.