WHEN DARRELL GADBERRY set out from the ramp on a chilly January day in central Texas, he had reason to be optimistic. For several days, temperatures had been consistently in the low 40s and prevailing winds had shifted favorably from the frigid north slightly to the west. With a flicker, Gadberry let a cast fly and felt his bait plunge into the waters of Fairfield Lake. Then, he felt an enormous strike.
The ensuing fight drew up a 13-1 leviathan largemouth that has remained the lake record ever since Gadberry’s fateful catch way back in 1987. Try as anglers might, three decades of Texas bass hounds weighing dozens of fish each year have yet to top his feat.
But today, there’s another battle being fought on Fairfield Lake — a battle with higher stakes than a record book.
On June 4, 2023, Fairfield Lake closed to the public. The state park on its shores shuttered its gates as construction equipment arrived on-site, blocking access to the park, its boat ramp and a prolific bass fishery. A few days prior, anglers were busy catching largemouth on grasslines and points with bladed jigs and frogs. Suddenly, they were locked out. They became spectators to architects, surveyors and contractors swarming the
