Fork produced a freak.

[Kevin R.]

Thats a dang nice fish!!!

[TX Strampion]

Looks like the Sharelunker haters are showing up on the TFF thread. For the record, if I ever manage to close the deal on a 13+ from January - March, it's going to Athens. The only exception might be a fish from Falcon. I think that's where all the criticism started, but I get it. Survival rate is pretty low on those fish.

[Tx Champ]

Watched Barry Stokes Thurs night and he mentioned that they've changed the Sharelunker up some. Looks like you can submit pix of bass over 8# via their app and release it. You'll get some goodies and a shot at a drawing for a $5000 shopping spree and season fishing license at the end of the season. The > 13#can still be submitted to Athens and get the replica.

Details ---> https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/rel...?req=20180101b

[CaymasMan250]

If I caught one during the time frame I wouldn't not turn it in, especially out here. I can have a replica made and the jacket they give is cool but no big deal for me. I'd turn her loose where she belongs.

[TX Strampion]

I know about the changes, which are cool to generate participation, but the 13+ is really what it's really all about.

This is what really confuses me about the logic of the program. Where do they think those big fish came from to begin with? If not for the introduction of Florida strain fish in Texas waters, we wouldn't be catching these fish to begin with. No Ethel, no 18.18, the top 50 would not exist.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish...rgemouth.phtml

Look at that list. All of those fish had at least some, if not 100% Florida genes. No offense Chance, but if you want to release a 13#er where it belongs, you'd have to take it to the east coast.

The numbers of big bass being caught in Texas skyrocketed as the Sharelunker program grew. As program participation has declined, so have the numbers of big fish being caught in the state. At the height of the program, 15s were expected to be caught from Fork every year. Now it's the talk of the community when anything over 12 comes out of there. Unless people continue to donate 100% Florida strain to be bred with other 100% Florida strain and the offspring stocked in Texas lakes, I don't expect what happened yesterday to ever be a common occurrence.

After all the bs I just wrote, the bottom line is that whomever catches a fish has every right to do anything they wish with their catch, within the confines of the law. Release it, get it mounted, run a knife through it, whatever. It's not the point. The point of my post is just to get your thoughts as to why, in recent years, there has become a stigma attached to the program (outside of the mortality risk in transit). I truly don't know.

[Corkpuller]

So Cliff, obviously the SL Program has bogged down over time, that being said, maybe the SL Program and our lakes would benefit by lowering the minimum weight from 13lbs to say, 12lbs,,, "if" fishermen would be "all in" on the SL Program.

[TX Strampion]

I'm not smart enough to get into semantics. I'll leave it to the scientists to determine what constitutes a super bass, worthy of selective breeding. I do agree that 13# is a damn big bass, and the program was wildly successful for many years with that being the minimal excepted weight.

All the new stuff they have going sounds more like a bragging board designed to gain support for the program. Maybe it's a great idea. Perhaps they researched and concluded that they decline was related to the pessimism of social media or jealousy of people who have never caught a big fish and the decided to be more inclusive. Everyone gets a trophy and no more booboo lip.

They're probably just doing everything they can to not lose funding. Have you ever been there? That hatchery is massive. It looks expensive. It's been about 12 yrs since I've been, but at that time they had Barry St. Clair handing out fishing rods to the folks fishing the catfish tank, so there's another mouth to feed.

[txbass1]

Personally I don't think the program had anything to do with all the huge fish being caught. Now, the decision to stock Florida bass definitely did. But that decision was before the program ever started. I believe there is only one documented sharelunker that was a direct decendent of the program. One fish in 30+ years?

[TX Strampion]

I believe there is only one documented sharelunker that was a direct decendent of the program. One fish in 30+ years?

Someone gave you inaccurate information. However, that's not main goal of the program.