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ATHENS, Texas — Anglers caught four Budweiser ShareLunkers from four widely separated lakes the weekend of March 11-13, bringing the season’s total to 16.

The big bass came from lakes Alan Henry, Austin, Choke Canyon and Fork.

Mike Modisett of Lubbock caught lunker No. 13 of the current season from Lake Alan Henry on March 11. The 13.82-pound fish bit a bass minnow in 15 feet of water under a crappie house. It measured 25.75 inches long and 20 inches in girth. The fish was the tenth to be entered in the Budweiser ShareLunker program from Lake Alan Henry and the fifth to be caught from the lake this season.

Lake Fork contributed its fifth fish of the season as well on March 11 when Art Price of Crowley hooked a 13.25-pounder while fishing a black and blue jig with Zoom trailer in nine feet of water on the side of a point. The fish was 26 inches long and 21.5 inches in girth.

Far to the south of those lakes, Dwayne (“Duke”) Kinley of Austin pulled a 13.07-pound largemouth from four feet of water in Lake Austin on March 12. Kinley was fishing a secondary point using a Brush Hog. The fish was 26.25 inches long and 20 inches around.

At about the same time Kinley caught his fish, George Shaw of San Antonio was battling a 13.26-pounder on Choke Canyon Reservoir. Shaw was fishing in 8-9 feet of water when the big bass bit a watermelon red Brush Hog. The fish was 24.75 inches long and 20.25 inches in girth. Shaw’s fish is only the fourth to be entered into the Budweiser ShareLunker program from Choke Canyon.

Although the Kinley and Shaw fish appear to have spawned, ShareLunker program manager David Campbell said the fish are capable of spawning again at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. Hatchery personnel began pairing males and females on March 14, according to Intensive Hatchery manager Juan Martinez.

Entries will be accepted into the ShareLunker program until April 30. Anglers legally catching a 13-pound or heavier largemouth bass in Texas waters, public or private, may donate or lend the fish to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for spawning. To enter a fish call David Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or page him at (888) 784-0600 and leave a phone number, including area code, where you can be reached. TPWD personnel will attempt to pick the fish up within 12 hours, day or night. – Lake Mohave

ATHENS, Texas—If you think all it takes to raise a baby bass is a momma bass, a poppa bass and a cozy pond, you’d be wrong.

March is the month when catches of big bass peak in Texas, and it’s also the month when Texas Parks and Wildlife Department fish hatcheries begin raising the next generation of lunkers.

Texas bass fishing is among the best in the nation, and no small part of the reason is the stocking of hatchery-raised fish into public waters all over the state. TPWD operates five freshwater hatcheries, but few people are aware of the complexity and artistry of the process of rearing fish.

And at any rate, most people care only about the hoped-for result: a lunker bass rising to smash their lure.

Making it possible for that to happen often enough to become almost commonplace is the job of TPWD hatchery managers and fisheries technicians.

This is how they do it.

The recipe for baby bass reads like a magic potion: acres of water, miles of plumbing, ozone, Astroturf, sodium bicarbonate, calcium chloride, sodium sulfite, cottonseed meal, phosphoric acid, the right mood lighting and a laser—not to mention two willing fish and anxious humans superintending the whole process.

Hatchery bass spawn in response to the same stimuli as their wild counterparts: warming water and lengthening days in the spring. Temperatures from 59-71 degrees Fahrenheit are ideal. Juan Martinez, the biologist who supervises the spawning of Budweiser ShareLunker bass at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, thinks that a rising barometer also helps trigger spawning. Thus spring storms may play a part. To maximize the effects of longer days, hatchery building doors are kept open from sunup to sundown during the spawning period.

Martinez points out one other factor key to the success of the ShareLunker program, which spawns angler-donated 13-pound-plus females and stocks the offspring into public waters in an effort to improve the quality of bass fishing. “The program depends on the anglers,” he says. “If they catch a fish and keep it in good condition, it will probably spawn, so it’s very important for them to care for the fish properly when
it is caught.” Guidelines can be found on the TFFC Web site (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/hatchery/tffc/sharelunker.htm#Tips).

When a ShareLunker arrives at TFFC, ShareLunker program manager David Campbell gives it what amounts to a fishy physical and treats it for any apparent problems such as fungus or bacterial infections. It’s then kept in isolation for two days to be sure it is healthy.

ShareLunker females are paired with three or 4-year-old males that are themselves descendants of prior ShareLunkers. The male fish spend the bulk of the year in outside hatchery ponds and are brought into the indoor hatchery for spawning. Size matters. The big females snack on rainbow trout while getting ready to spawn. A male largemouth that is too small may end up as lunch for the female instead of becoming her mate.

As befitting fish worth their weight in gold, ShareLunkers are pampered. Water in their 475-gallon private tanks, drawn from Lake Athens, is kept at a constant 63 degrees and is treated with ozone to kill any potentially harmful organisms. Technicians add sodium bicarbonate and calcium chloride to the soft lake water to bring its hardness to 75 parts per million, and the pH is adjusted to range between 8-9. “The eggs depend on calcium to activate motility,” says Martinez, “and the fish tend to do better in hard water than in soft.”

As the spawning season approaches in mid-March, technicians place “spawndominiums” and Astroturf mats in the lunker tanks. The spawndominiums are two-sided frameworks of plastic pipe holding black mesh. The Astroturf mat is placed inside the spawndominium. It’s not for the sake of privacy; bass simply like to have some structure to relate to, much as they would a submerged log or boulder in the wild.

Bass are very territorial, and the male soon stakes a claim to the mat and begins trying to attract the female to join him by rubbing his body against her underside in a kind of courtship dance. If she likes the cut of his jib, she rolls onto her side and releases eggs, and he fertilizes them. The eggs fall onto the Astroturf mat, which are checked the first thing every morning.

Technicians collect mats with eggs and rinse them in a sodium sulfite solution for about 20 seconds to release the eggs from the mat. Fresh water is then used to flush the eggs out, and they are run through a piece of equipment called a Jensorter, which uses a laser beam to count them.

The 7,000-12,000 eggs from each spawn are placed in a separate cylinder called a McDonald jar, which has ozonated water constantly circulating through it. The eggs hatch in two to five days, depending on water temperature, and the fry are transferred to one-foot by eight-foot metal troughs, where they feed off their egg sac until they are big enough to swim, at about age 8-12 days.

At this point the fry have one thing on their mind: food. While spawning has been going on, Tony Owens, the manager of the outdoor hatchery ponds, and his crew have been busy growing that food. After filling ponds with lake water, they add cottonseed meal, phosphoric acid and liquid ammonium nitrate to the water to fertilize it. The pond is then “inoculated”—zooplankton-rich water from another pond is added. The tiny organisms multiply at a tremendous rate, and by the time bass fry are added, there is abundant food for them to eat. The fry from each ShareLunker get their own private pond—spawns are not mixed.

“We continue to fertilize the ponds two or three times a week and sample the fish to check their growth,” Owens says. “In 25 to 30 days the fry will have reached fingerling size, about 1.5 inches, and will have eaten all the zooplankton. At this point we stock them into rearing ponds.”

In yet another aspect of this complicated dance, Owens and crew have also been growing millions of koi carp to just the right size to be eaten by tiny bass. The koi are put into rearing ponds about 10 days before the bass fingerlings are stocked at the rate of 100,000-150,000 per acre. “The whole trick is to get the bass the food of the right size at the right time to keep them from eating each other,” Owens says.

The ShareLunker fingerlings are raised to 6-inch size before being stocked into public waters. Growing them to that size requires the rearing of tens of millions of koi carp for food, but the survival rate of the larger fish when released is much better than for small fry.

Some fingerlings from each spawn are held back to be used as broodfish in the future. This allows TFFC to carry on a selective breeding program in which big bass genes are concentrated from one generation to the next, and it also ensures genetic diversity.

At press time, the fish caught by Rickey Williams of Lubbock from Lake Alan Henry on Jan. 29 was showing signs of getting ready to spawn. Her mate was hovering just beneath her over the Astroturf mat. It has taken dedication, teamwork and more than a little luck to bring these two fish together to make more fish.

And somewhere out there is an angler who will, someday, pull one of those fish from the water and rejoice over the fish of a lifetime, never realizing that the bass on his line is also on the end of another, much longer line, one that has touched the lives of many other fish and people. – Lake Mohave

ATHENS, Texas—When the Texas Legislature named the Guadalupe bass the state fish of Texas in 1989, it did so because of the fish’s distinctive nature. Found nowhere else in the world outside the San Antonio, Guadalupe, Colorado and Brazos river systems, the Guadalupe bass exemplifies the qualities and resources of the Texas Hill Country.

Ironically, the same conditions that developed the Guadalupe bass also made it vulnerable to change.

Two main factors have led to a decline in the number of Guadalupe bass: habitat loss and hybridization with introduced smallmouth bass. The latter has been by far the more serious.

“These fish lived so totally separated from each other that they never developed mechanisms to avoid hybridization,” said Gary Garrett, Ph.D., a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department fisheries biologist who has studied the problem for the last decade at TPWD’s Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center near Ingram.

Following the stocking of smallmouth bass into Hill Country streams beginning in 1974, scientists began finding hybrids resulting from interbreeding between the two species.

“We didn’t know it was going to happen,” Garrett said. “We became concerned, and I took on research into the problem as part of my job in the mid-1980s. We did a wide-range survey and found the problem was more serious than we thought. About 30 to 40 percent of the fish were already hybridized.”

“As soon as we found out hybridization was occurring, we began moving to try and reverse the process,” said Phil Durocher, director of TPWD’s Inland Fisheries Division.

“The first thing we did was prohibit any further stocking of smallmouth bass into the native range of the Guadalupe bass to make sure things didn’t get worse. Secondly, we began looking at producing and stocking Guadalupe bass to reverse what had already occurred. Dr. Garrett has led those efforts.”

TPWD biologists decided the best approach was to fight fire with fire by stocking Guadalupe bass in such numbers that their offspring would overwhelm the hybrids. That approach presented its own difficulties.

“First we had to figure out how to raise a riverine fish adapted to living in fast-flowing streams in a hatchery environment,” Garrett recalled. “A muddy bottom and still water didn’t work. Our hatchery expert, Bobby Wienecke, came up with a modified nesting box we called Guadalupe bass condos. His idea was that the fish wanted to be shaded, since they tend to hang around cover such as large rocks, cypress roots and stumps in the wild. So he built boxes with screened bottoms, filled them with gravel and put a roof over them supported by two posts. The fish took to them immediately.”

TPWD began stocking hatchery-raised Guadalupe bass in 1992. Luckily, the ideal test site ran right by Heart Of The Hills: Johnson Creek. Hybrid bass had spread from the Guadalupe River up into the lower reaches of the creek, but none had yet penetrated far upstream. “We found that for the first five or six years, we didn’t seem to be having much of an impact,” Garrett said. “What was happening was that we were pouring large numbers of fish into the creek, and they were moving out into the river. That diluted the effect in the creek, but it spread it over a much larger area, and it took longer to have an effect than we anticipated.”

In retrospect, Garrett says, nature was pointing the way to success. “If we had been stocking Guadalupe bass into all arms of the river all along, we would be much farther down
the road than we are now.”

Stocking the main stem of the river and its north and south arms, however, would require more fish than Heart Of The Hills could produce.

“Tripling the number of Guadalupe bass produced would put a strain on the hatchery system,” Garrett said. “Fortunately, in the last two or three years a number of things have happened that now make it possible. A cooperative effort by TPWD, the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, Hill Country Fly Fishers, Southern Council of Fly Fishers, Texas Association of Bass Clubs, the Federation of Fly Fishers and the Kerrville Convention and Visitors Bureau will enable us to stock up to 225,000 Guadalupe bass fingerlings each year for the next five years.”

One other piece of the puzzle that fell into place was the availability of pond space at the federal fish hatchery in Uvalde.

“The Upper Guadalupe River Authority is seeking grant funds to pay for the fish from the federal hatchery,” Garrett explained. “Our department will continue to produce 75,000 fish each year, and the grant will purchase 150,000 annually from the federal hatchery. Thus there is no increase in cost to TPWD.”

“This program is important to us, and we want to thank everybody who is helping,” Durocher said.

Garrett looks forward to the day when Guadalupe bass once again reign supreme in the Hill Country streams that gave them life.

“I expect we will be able to reduce hybridization to near zero if not zero,” he said. “It’s going to be very hard to do, but we’re not going to walk away from this. If we can get the rate of hybridization to near zero, I think nature can finish the job from there.”

In yet one more twist, the same traits that let the Guadalupe bass develop, and made it vulnerable to hybridization, will ultimately prove to be its salvation.

“These fish are adapted to whatever it is that makes Hill Country streams unique,” Garrett said. “They are able to out-compete other species, including the hybrids. Once we get the situation stabilized, these fishes’ special characteristics will let them hold their ground.”

Although they never get very large—the state and world record is 3.69 pounds—Guadalupe bass are a popular sport fish. Fishing for these agile, scrappy fish in fast-flowing waters is said to be similar to fishing for trout in mountain streams.

Anyone who has ever fished for Guadalupe bass in scenic Hill Country streams that remain the most pristine rivers in Texas can appreciate one other quality of the fish. “One of the nicest things about Guadalupe bass is you can’t catch one in an ugly place,” Garrett said. “That alone makes them worth saving.” – Lake Mohave

AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission has adopted a series of changes to state hunting and fishing regulations that offer greater harvest flexibility on lands managed for mule deer and prairie chickens, while simplifying and expanding hunting opportunity in other areas.

Based on the department’s popular Managed Lands Deer Permit program that provides incentives to individuals that conduct habitat improvement projects on their property for the benefit white-tailed deer, the commission approved similar opportunities for mule deer and prairie chickens.

The new voluntary habitat-based permit programs offer landowners with an approved wildlife management plan greater flexibility in managing mule deer harvest. Permit holders could hunt from the first Saturday in November through the first Sunday in January.

A similar measure addressing long-term habitat loss impacting lesser prairie chicken populations allows a limited harvest option for properties with a wildlife management plan geared toward this species. Under the new regulation, hunting during the two-day season will occur only on managed properties in the program. There will be a two bird daily bag limit and properties in the program will have a harvest recommendation.

Another proposal offering incentives for quail management was withdrawn from consideration pending further discussion with constituent groups, landowners, hunters and other interested parties.

Among the prominent changes in hunting regulations adopted by the commission is a continuation and expansion of special buck-deer harvest regulations in 21 counties. For the 2005-06 hunting season, the department is adding a second buck to the bag limit in counties with the special antler restrictions. Those hunters will be allowed to take two bucks, but at least one must possess an unbranched antler.

In another move, the commission has simplified antlerless white-tailed deer hunting by consolidating the seven different options currently in place across the state into just three standard doe day categories. Hunters are urged to check the county specific hunting rules for these changes in the upcoming 2005-2006 Outdoor Annual, available in August.

The commission also eliminated the aggregate buck-bag restriction in one-buck and two-buck counties. The new regulation allows hunters to take a buck in any three different one-buck-only counties or they could hunt in multiple two-buck counties, provided they do not exceed the county bag limit or take more than three bucks in all the two-buck counties combined.

In addition to deer, the commission adopted regulation changes simplifying turkey hunting. The fall Rio Grande season has been consolidated and standardized to run concurrent with the general deer season. The spring season for Rio Grande turkeys will open the Saturday closest to April 1, 2006 for 44 consecutive days and the eastern turkey season will run April 1-30, 2006. The commission also opened fall and spring seasons for Rio Grande turkey in Cameron and Zapata counties, and a fall season in Tarrant County.

The commission also adopted rules prohibiting hunting by remote control. This issue centers on the use of Internet technology as it relates to the taking of game animals and game birds. The new provision requires any person hunting a game animal or game bird to be physically present and personally operate the means of take.

Several fishing regulation changes were also adopted by the commission, including a change in harvest regulations for red drum on Lake Nasworthy from the current 20-inch minimum length limit and daily bag limit of three fish, to no length and no bag limit to allow for maximized harvest of red drum.

In addition, the commission passed rules defining the North and South Arms of the Concho River to eliminate confusion about fishing regulations. The waters affected include the North Concho from O.C. Fisher Dam to Bell Street Dam and South Concho from Lone Wolf Dam to Bell Street Dam that are covered by special regulations for blue and channel catfish (no minimum length limit and pole and line only angling) and where statewide regulations (12-inch minimum length limit and no gear restrictions) are in effect along the South Concho above Lone Wolf dam.

Also, on Toledo Bend Reservoir the commission voted to remove the 12-inch minimum length limit for spotted bass to make it concurrent with the statewide limit and one being considered
by the State of Louisiana.

Because of concerns about the vulnerability of certain live mollusks and other inter-tidal species to over-harvest, the commission also established a closed season along a small area of South Padre Island including the Brazos Santiago Pass and running on the bayward side of the island to Marisol Drive from Nov. 1 through April 30. The closure is designed to protect species such as hermit crabs, starfish, sea urchins and periwinkles. The new rule also establishes a daily bag limit of 15 univalve snails in aggregate and no more than two each in the daily bag of lightening whelk, horse conch, Florida fighting conch, pear whelk, banded tulip and Florida rocksnail. – Lake Mohave

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, Anheuser-Busch, Coastal Conservation Association Texas and the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce are sponsoring the first of two very special fishing events on April 23 in Port Aransas to help anglers enjoy and succeed in fishing shallow water.

Some of Texas’ most recognized shallow water fishing experts and scientists will be providing information to all anglers to safely and successfully boat and fish the bay waters of Texas.

For the Port Aransas event, seminars begin at 8 a.m. April 23 at the Port Aransas Civic Center.

Speakers and topics for the Port Aransas event include the following:

* Boats, Trailers & Outboard Maintenance: Nolan Bell, Island Boat Works
* Boating & Fishing Over Seagrass Flats: Larry McKinney, Ph.D. and Director of TPWD’s Coastal Fisheries Division
* Flats Fishing with Global Positioning Systems: Paul Choucair, TPWD Corpus Christi Bay Ecosystem Leader
* Water safety-rules and regulations-boating ethics: Chuck Ford, TPWD Game Warden
* Sport Fish Life Histories: Bill Karel, Perry R. Bass Marine Fisheries Research Center
* Catching Black Drum: Capt. Pat Hunt, Pat Hunt Fishing Charters
* Secrets of Sight Casting in the Back Country: Lefty Ray Chapa, Licensed Kayak Fishing Guide
* Preserve the moment — capturing photos that last: Earl Nottingham, Chief Photographer, Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine

Other presenters include John Glenn’s Taxidermy, Texas Department of Agriculture — GO TEXAN program, Capt. Billy Trimble, Texas Sea Grant Program, and the Coastal Conservation Association Texas.

To participate in the “Flat Out Fishing — Port Aransas” event, you can pre-register by sending cash, check or money order to Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce, 421 W. Cotter, Port Aransas, 78373 or register at the Civic Center on the day of the event. Registration is $20 per individual and $10 per additional family member. Children younger than age 17 get in free. For more information, contact the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce at (800) 45Coast or TPWD at (361) 825-3356. All proceeds from both events will go to the Parks and Wildlife Foundation of Texas to support the Crab Trap Cleanup program.

The second event will be in Galveston at the Texas A&M University, Galveston campus on May 7. For more information about that event contact, TPWD at (281) 534-0110. These events are restricted to the first 150 people who sign up. – Lake Mohave

HOUSTON — On May 6, more than 100 Golbow Elementary School students will leave the classroom behind, pick up fishing poles, and learn about nature and the outdoors through hands-on experience. It’s an example of how conservation proponents statewide are trying to introduce urban youth to the outdoor environment through fishing.

Mark Fobian, the elementary school P.E. coach, uses fishing as a fun gateway for his students to learn about the environment. Fobian, a certified Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Angler Education Instructor, began teaching fishing basics to his students after receiving permission from his school district and a grant from the Future Fisherman Foundation in the summer of 2004.

“It’s a grant to provide P.E. teachers with equipment that they need to provide a fishing experience for their kids and to teach fishing in the classroom,” said Brenda Justice, TPWD Aquatic Education Specialist. “This is a national grant, and he’s one of two teachers in the Houston area to receive it.”

The May field trip for Fobian’s fourth-grade class will be to the ranch of Herman Meyer, who allows Fobian to stock the ranch pond with fish using grant funds.

In this controlled environment, the students will have the opportunity to fish, and to participate in environmental science activities such as examining aquatic insects and learning to identify which ones are present in clean or contaminated water. Kids will also make fish print T-shirts, practice casting, and talk to local game wardens. Around 60 kids at a time will fish, while the other 60 rotate through the other activities.

Justice, the Houston-area Junior Angler program coordinator, said that the program’s goals match those of the Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills — the education standards set by the Texas Education Agency.

“Where it fits the best is in P.E. classes, because it fits with outdoor education, which worked out perfectly for Mark,” Justice said. “He teaches kids in his fourth-grade class knot tying, fish identification, basic equipment, and environmental awareness. Once he goes through all of that, he uses his field trip and takes them on a fishing day.”

Fobian, whose interest in fishing was instilled at a young age by his father, saw the opportunity in his school two years ago for a fishing club, before the sport was added as part of his classroom curriculum.

“I just noticed here at school there weren’t a lot of kids playing sports. I thought it would be something that we could incorporate here at school and get more kids out fishing and spending time with their families,” Fobian said. “When I wrote for this fishing grant last year, this was a situation where we had to get it into the classroom.”

The $5,000 grant helped buy bait-cast rods, spin rods, fly rods and tackle, which kids can check out on the weekends for fishing with their families.

“I’ve had two families come up in the last week and check out equipment to take the family fishing,” he said.

The Future Fisherman Foundation, in conjunction with partner organizations such as American Sportfishing Association, Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation and The American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, provides many grants to schoolteachers nationwide.

Three Texas schoolteachers were the recipients of grants last year, including Fobian and Sandra Sanchez, a teacher at MacArthur Elementary in La Porte. Sanchez will use grant funds for a fishing field trip to Sheldon Lake State Park & Environmental Learning Center for her fourth and fifth grade classes on May 4-5. – Lake Mohave

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is holding six public meetings during May near areas hit hardest by golden alga. Agency officials will provide updates on golden alga research projects and discuss fisheries management strategies, as well as solicit public input.

Golden alga blooms during the last six months have caused fish kills in more than a dozen water bodies in north-central Texas. None of the occurrences have resulted in serious impacts to the fisheries, but they have provided researchers with opportunities to study actual events in hopes of finding solutions to this naturally-occurring threat.

Since 2001, golden alga fish kills have occurred on two dozen reservoirs in Texas. About 18 million fish have been killed by golden alga during the last 20 years, most of which were either forage or rough fish species.

This alga releases a toxin that kills gill-breathing organisms such as fish and clams. There is no known evidence of human health risks.

First discovered in Texas in 1985, golden alga (Prymnesium parvum) was identified in a fish kill in the Pecos River and has since been responsible for fish kills in the Colorado, Canadian, Wichita, Red and Brazos River systems as well.

Public meetings are slated for the following dates and locations. All meetings start at 7 p.m.

* May 10 — Texas Workforce Commission, 218 14th St., Lubbock.
* May 11 — Civic Center, 157 W. 2nd St., Colorado City.
* May 17 — Possum Kingdom Lion’s Club, 142 LaVilla Road, Lake Possum Kingdom.
* May 18 — Baylor County Extension Office, 500 N. Main, Seymour.
* May 24 — Annex 3 Building, 200 N. Gordon, Granbury.
* May 25 — Lake Whitney State Park Reunion Center, 433 FM 1244, Whitney. – Lake Mohave

ATHENS, Texas–Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris presented a check for $650,000 to the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center at a banquet in Grapevine April 16.

The gift was Morris’ way of expediting the construction of a new education building at TFFC. He pledged at an April 3, 2004, banquet to match dollar-for-dollar, up to $650,000, funds raised by April 16, 2005, by Schooling for Bass, a Dallas support group headed by Richard (“Dick”) Hart. The volunteer group responded by raising $711,000.

Morris made the presentation accompanied by Bass Pro Shops staff and friends. “This check isn’t from one person; it comes from a lot of people,” Morris said. “It comes from the people at Bass Pro Shops. It comes from our customers. And it comes with a tremendous amount of gratitude to Schooling for Bass members, TFFC staff, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department executive director Robert Cook and to all of the incredible people who are a part of Texas Parks and Wildlife. The fishermen and women and future generations of fishermen not only of this state but of our nation are deeply grateful to you for your visionary leadership and incredible support of the sport of fishing.”

Bass Pro Shops has a long association with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In November 1986, Mark Stevenson caught a new state record largemouth bass, which also became the first entry into what is now the Budweiser ShareLunker program. Stevenson named the bass Ethel, and that fish later was given to Bass Pro Shops and was displayed at the company’s headquarters in Springfield, Mo. The check Morris presented to TFFC was inscribed “In memory of Ethel.”

In accepting the donation, TPWD Executive Director Robert L. Cook said, “Texas Parks and Wildlife Department depends on partnerships to accomplish its goals. This is truly a win/win situation. We thank all the Schooling for Bass members and Bass Pro Shops so much.”

Other organizations and individuals contributing to the building fund were Kathie and Ed Cox Jr., Eric Kincaid, ExxonMobil Foundation, Cain Foundation, Ginger Murchison Foundation, Hillcrest Foundation, Sheila and Walter Umphrey, Friona Industries, Hoblitzelle Foundation, Cathey and Don Humphreys, Texas Game Warden Association and J.B. Katz Foundation.

Also attending the banquet were Joseph Fitzsimons, chairman of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, Commissioner Philip Montgomery, Inland Fisheries Division Director Phil Durocher and former TPWD Executive Director Andrew Sansom.

TFFC director Allen Forshage noted, “With completion of this new $1.5 million educational facility, TFFC will have an outdoor education center unmatched in North America.”

The Edwin L. Cox Jr., Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens combines visitation and outdoor education with a production fish hatchery. TFFC is a facility of the Inland Fisheries Division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the state agency charged with the management and conservation of the natural and cultural resources of Texas. TPWD also works to provide hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

Built as a joint venture between TPWD, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, Inc., and the community of Athens, TFFC includes a wetlands trail and over 300,000 gallons of indoor and outdoor aquariums displaying dozens of species of native fish, waterfowl, alligators and amphibians in recreated habitats.

TFFC invites both individual and group visitation. Reservations are recommended for groups of 10 or more. Admission is charged. Public hours are 9a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday.

Bass Pro Shops, also a major catalog and internet retailer, has 27 destination retail locations across America and Canada. – Lake Mohave

ATHENS, Texas–The Budweiser ShareLunker 2004-2005 season closed April 30 with 24 fish entered, the highest total since 1996.

A large measure of credit for this year’s performance goes to Lake Alan Henry. The 2,880-acre lake southeast of Lubbock produced nine ShareLunkers, largemouth bass weighing 13 pounds or more. Lake Fork contributed seven, Sam Rayburn Reservoir two, and Lakes Falcon, Ray Roberts, Austin and Choke Canyon one each. Two lunkers came from private waters.

Nine of the fish spawned. Genetic testing showed that six of the big females were pure Florida largemouth bass. They produced 101,000 fry. Most of the fingerlings produced from these fry will be stocked into lakes which produced this year’s ShareLunkers. In addition, 20,000 will be reared to 6 inches and used for growth research studies.

Three females classified as intergrades (crosses between Florida largemouth bass and northern largemouth bass) spawned and produced 70,000 fry that will also be stocked into public waters.

The 171,000 fry are the most produced in one year since the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center opened.

Budweiser ShareLunker program manager David Campbell expects to have most of the donated fish returned to their lakes of origin by mid-May.

Details on the fish entered into the program this year follow, in chronological order.

Oct. 29. Danny P. McBride of Hatchett, Ark., landed a 13.16-pound largemouth bass that became the season’s first entry into the Budweiser ShareLunker program. McBride’s fish was the first ShareLunker from Lake Fork caught in the month of October and only the fifth October fish entered into the program since its inception in 1986.

McBride hooked the big fish in 12 feet of water while using a Carolina rig. The fish was 25 inches long and measured 21 inches around.

Dec. 2. Scott Farmer of Yantis pulled the season’s second Budweiser ShareLunker from Lake Fork. The 13.6-pound largemouth had a girth of 21.5 inches and was 24.5 inches long.

Farmer caught the big fish at a depth of 32 feet in the middle of the lake. It bit on a black jig.

Dec. 4. Falcon Reservoir produced its first Budweiser ShareLunker in nine years, when San Antonio resident Jerry Campos pulled a 14.28-pound largemouth from the lake.

The Campos fish was caught in 5 feet of water on a soft plastic bait. The fish was 26 inches long and 21.5 inches around.

As the Texas resident catching the largest fish of the season, Campos will be honored as Budweiser ShareLunker Angler of the Year at the annual banquet scheduled for May 28 in Athens. In addition to receiving a fiberglass replica of his fish made by Lake Fork Taxidermy and a ShareLunker jacket and cap, Campos will be awarded a lifetime fishing license.

Jan. 29. Rickey D. Williams of Lubbock kicked off a record-setting weekend for Lake Alan Henry when he hooked ShareLunker No. 4, a 13.14-pound fish, on a spinner bait in 8 feet of water shortly before noon. The 26-inch-long fish had a girth of 20 inches.

Jan. 29. Later that day Ben J. Kirkpatrick of Wolfforth went 40 feet deep with a black and blue jig to hook a 13.48-pounder that stretched 25 inches long and 22 inches around. It was the second fish of the day from Lake Alan Henry.

Jan. 30. Lake Alan Henry stayed hot. Kevin Ray Phillips of Sundown caught a 13.45-pounder in 6 feet of water up the river on a Norman DD-14 in Tennessee shad pattern. The fish was 25.5 inches long and 20.625 inches around.

Jan. 30. The fourth fish from Lake Alan Henry in two days just barely made the cut at 13 pounds even, but it marked the first time in the 19-year history of the Budweiser ShareLunker program that four entries were caught from the same lake in a two-day period.

Fishing the main lake in 6 feet of water, Lubbock resident Coy Callison used a chartreuse Norman DD-22 to pull in the 25.25-inch-long, 20.25-inch girth fish.

Feb. 12. Jim Lee of Winnsboro caught ShareLunker No. 8, a 13.91-pound largemouth, from a 55-acre private lake in Wood County. The fish measured 25.5 inches long and 22.125 inches around. Lee was using a 1/8-ounce Bass Assassin jighead with a white Team Luck E Strike three-inch curly-tail grub.

Feb. 19. Andrew Elder, a sixteen-year-old from Deville, Louisiana, caught Budweiser ShareLunker No. 9 from Lake Fork.

Deville was fishing in 3 to 4 feet of water in Pension Creek when a 13.67-pound largemouth hit his crawfish Rat-L-Trap. The fish was 25 inches long and 22.125 inches around.

March 3. Derrell Maltsberger of Denton caught a 13.19-pound largemouth from Lake Fork about 2:15 p.m.

Maltsberger pulled the fish from 9 feet of water near the dam. The fish was 24.75 inches long and 22 inches in girth.

Lakes Fork and Alan Henry were now tied for the season lead with four ShareLunkers each, but the battle was just beginning.

March 5. Mark A. LeBlanc of Orange caught a 13.59-pound lunker from Sam Rayburn Reservoir on March 5. It was 25.5 inches long and 21 inches around.

Le Blanc was fishing in 5 feet of water with a Senko plastic bait in a watermelon red/green flake pattern.

The Le Blanc fish was the first ShareLunker caught from Sam Rayburn since 2002 and only the third since 1998, when it produced six ShareLunkers. That lake has contributed a total of 22 fish to the Budweiser ShareLunker program.

March 6. Roger Frazier Jr., of The Colony was fishing Ray Roberts Lake when he caught a 13.9-pound fish measuring 25.5 inches long and 20.75 inches around.

Frazier’s fish hit a fluke in 2 feet of water in the north end of Ray Roberts. The fish was the first ShareLunker taken from Ray Roberts since 2000 and only the fourth in that lake’s history.

March 10. Mike Modisett of Lubbock caught ShareLunker No. 13 from Lake Alan Henry on March 10. The 13.82-pound fish bit a bass minnow in 15 feet of water under a crappie house. It measured 25.75 inches long and 20 inches in girth.

The fish was the tenth to be entered in the Budweiser ShareLunker program from Lake Alan Henry and the fifth to be caught from the lake this season.

March 11. Lake Fork contributed its fifth fish of the season when Art Price of Crowley hooked a 13.25-pounder while fishing a black and blue jig with Zoom trailer in 9 feet of water on the side of a point. The fish was 26 inches long and 21.5 inches in girth.

March 12. Far to the south of those lakes, Dwayne Kinley of Austin pulled a 13.07-pound largemouth from 4 feet of water in Lake Austin. Kinley was fishing a secondary point using a Brush Hog. The fish was 26.25 inches long and 20 inches around.

Kinley’s fish was the sixth to be entered into the program from Lake Austin.

March 12. At about the same time Kinley caught his fish, George Shaw of San Antonio was battling a 13.26-pounder on Choke Canyon Reservoir. Shaw was fishing in 8 to 9 feet of water when the big bass bit a watermelon red Brush Hog. The fish was 24.75 inches long and 20.25 inches in girth. Shaw’s fish is only the fourth to be entered into the Budweiser ShareLunker program from Choke Canyon.

March 20. Douglas Garland of College Station landed the second-largest fish of the 2004-2005 season, a 14.12-pound largemouth, from a private lake in Wood County. The big bass was 26.5 inches long and 21.75 inches around.

Garland was using a Stanley spinner bait in 5 to 6 feet of water.

March 20. Gary Boyles of Lubbock caught the sixth Budweiser ShareLunker of the year from Lake Alan Henry on March 20. The 13.61-pound bass was 25.25 inches long and 21 inches in girth.

Boyles was fishing in 12 feet of water in Grape Creek with a Berkley Power Worm.

March 28. Guide David Strahan of Alba put Lake Fork into a tie with Lake Alan Henry when he brought in Lake Fork’s sixth Budweiser ShareLunker of the season, a13.05-pound fish that was 24.75 inches long and 21.25 inches around.

Strahan caught the fish in 5 feet of open water using a white lizard on a beautiful sunshine-drenched morning.

March 30. Mark Gibertini of Albuquerque, New Mexico, caught the season’s seventh ShareLunker from Lake Alan Henry, a 13.68-pound largemouth that stretched 26.25 inches long and 20.75 inches around.

Gibertini was fishing in 4 feet of water in the Big Grape area when the fish bit a waterdog.

March 31. Lake Fork pulled back into a tie with Lake Alan Henry for most fish entered into the Budweiser ShareLunker program during the current season.

David Meeks of Texarkana pulled a 13.03-pound bass from 2 feet of water in Wright Creek. The fish bit on a watermelon Senko. The big bass was 24.25 inches long and 21.75 inches around.

April 14. Lakes Alan Henry and Fork continued their see-saw battle to produce the most ShareLunkers during the current season. Jimmy McMahon of Big Spring entered the eighth Budweiser ShareLunker of the season from Lake Alan Henry.

McMahon was fishing in 3 feet of water using a Mad Man White Craw when he hooked the 13.03-pound fish. It measured 26 inches long and 20.5 inches in girth.

April 15. Lake Alan Henry tightened its grip on first place in the race to produce the most ShareLunkers this year.

Matthew Kent Jolly of Lubbock caught the ninth ShareLunker of the year from the lake, a 13-pound fish boated about 2:30 p.m. from 6 feet of water on the south side of Gobbler Creek. Matthew’s
father hooked the fish first, but she tangled the line in a tree and got off. Matthew hooked and landed the 25-inch-long, 20-inch-girth fish a few minutes later.

April 20. Nick Brinlee of Longview caught the final Budweiser ShareLunker of the 2004-2005 season from Sam Rayburn Reservoir on April 20.

Brinlee was fishing a grass bed in 8 feet of water when the 13.36-pound largemouth took a pumpkinseed worm on a Carolina rig. The fish was 26.5 inches long and 21 inches around.

A total of 391 fish have been entered into the program since its inception in the fall of 1986. Of those, 376 * were caught from 52 bodies of public water. The remaining 15 ** were caught from private lakes.

This season marked the first time in the 19-year history of the Budweiser ShareLunker program that Lake Fork did not produce as many or more lunkers than any other lake in Texas. Sam Rayburn Reservoir and Lake Fork each produced six ShareLunkers in 1998. – Lake Mohave

AUSTIN, Texas – With classes letting out for the summer, many young Texans will turn their attention to schools of a different sort: fish. Some will make the grade by adding their name to the state angling record books.

And, for young anglers hoping to score on two of the state’s most popular game fish species –largemouth bass and spotted seatrout – the bar just got raised. Both records were eclipsed in late April with impressive catches.

The new largemouth bass record for junior anglers is an 11.57-pound brute caught on Sam Rayburn Reservoir April 23 by 11-year-old Brandon Adams of Florence, Texas. The fish measured more than 28 inches in length. After a quick photo session, Brandon released his record catch back into the lake.

A week later, 10-year-old Matthew Claude Johnson of Caldwell, Texas, reeled in a prized 30-inch trout on Matagorda Bay that weighed 9 pounds.

Both fish have been certified in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Angler Recognition Awards program for state and water body fish records.

“Trophy fish like these new records would be a prize for any angler, and these recent catches demonstrate the level of skill possessed by our younger fishermen,” said Joedy Gray, Angler Recognition Awards program coordinator at TPWD. “There are still plenty of water bodies without records, so the opportunity to get your name in the books is out there. For example, each bay system represents a separate water body and when you consider how many coastal fish species there are, the record books are wide open.”

The Junior Angler Recognition Program is open to kids 16 and younger and the same rules for entry in the Angler Recognition Awards program apply for the juniors. Fish can be entered in the following categories.
State Records for Public Waters

* Rod & Reel – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas public waters by rod & reel fishing.
* Fly Fishing – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas public waters by fly fishing methods using artificial lures.
* Unrestricted – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas public waters by any legal method other than rod & reel.
* Bow Fishing – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas public waters by bow fishing.

State Records for Private Waters

* Rod & Reel – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas private waters by rod & reel.
* Fly Fishing – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas private waters by fly fishing methods using artificial lures.
* Bow Fishing – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas private waters by bow fishing.
* Water Body Records –Records for individual locations (reservoirs, rivers, bays, etc.) are also maintained.
* All Tackle – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from a particular Texas public water body using any legal method.
* Rod & Reel – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from a particular Texas public water body by rod & reel.
* Fly Fishing – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from a particular Texas public water body by fly fishing methods using artificial lures.
* Bow Fishing – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from a particular Texas public water body by bow fishing.
* Big Fish Award – for catching a trophy class fish of selected species.
* Catch and Release Award – for the catch and live release of a trophy class fish of selected species.

There are also categories for the first fish caught by an angler of any age and for a catch that does not meet the requirements of other award programs but still deserves recognition.

Consideration for all state and water body records, except first fish awards, must include the fish’s weight on certified scales. Certified scales are scales (either electronic or spring-based) that have been certified as accurate by the Texas Department of Agriculture, the International Game Fish Association (which certifies handheld scales) or a commercial scales calibration company. Feed stores, fertilizer plants, and scales calibration companies are good sources.

Record fish must be weighed on certified scales within three days of the catch, although weights on non-certified scales will be considered providing the scales are certified within 30 days. Applications must be received within 60 days of the catch date and a notary witness is required for State Record applications.

For more information contact: Junior Angler Recognition Awards Program, Attn: Joedy Gray-IF, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin TX 78744; e-mail: joedy.gray@tpwd.state.tx.us or phone (512) 389-8037. – Lake
Mohave

ZAPATA, Texas —Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists are excited over the prospects for Falcon Reservoir. A decade ago Falcon Reservoir offered some of the best bass fishing in Texas and was a very popular destination for bass tournament anglers. Then came a 10-year drought that pulled water levels down and led to a decline in bass fishing.

Beginning in fall 2003, heavy rains in the Rio Grande watershed brought drought conditions to an end. Falcon’s water level dramatically increased, from 45 feet low in June 2003 to nearly full in summer 2004. The reservoir size swelled to about 60,000 acres. When the lake level rose, water inundated thousands of acres of brush, providing ideal habitat for young fish.

Recent TPWD surveys and fishing success at the reservoir indicate that largemouth bass are making a speedy recovery.

Results of a March 2005 bass tournament showed that Falcon is well on its way to reclaiming its reputation as a top bass fishing lake. Of the 147 teams participating, 107 brought 5-fish limits to the weigh-in with the average weight of the fish being 2.9 pounds. It took a 5-fish limit of 28.96 pounds to take first place and a fish weighing 10.6 pounds to collect the big bass award.

A TPWD Inland Fisheries electrofishing survey of Falcon in April 2005 showed a very abundant population of 7 to 12 inch largemouth bass. These fish, spawned in 2004 and 2005, experienced exceptional survival because of all the cover in the reservoir. These young bass are also growing very rapidly and should make for plenty of quality size fish to catch in years to come. Fish hatched in 2004 already average 10 inches long and should reach the 14-inch minimum length limit by spring 2006.

TPWD biologists recognized that the improved habitat conditions in Falcon would yield high stocking success, so a record number of largemouth bass were stocked in 2004 to boost natural production and improve the genetics of the population. Both Florida and northern largemouth fish were stocked. Most of the 840,000 fish were about an inch long.

In December 2004, Falcon produced its first entry into TPWD’s Budweiser ShareLunker program in nine years. This fish, caught by San Antonio resident Jerry Campos, weighed 14.28 pounds and was the largest of 24 fish entered into the program during the 2004-05 season. Some 12,000 ShareLunker offspring produced at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens were stocked into Falcon in May 2005.

Falcon Reservoir is located about three hours south of San Antonio. Although it is a long drive from most metropolitan areas in the state, Falcon is worth the trip considering the world-class largemouth bass fishing it will offer in the next few years.

Hotels, restaurants, tackle shops and boat launching can be found in the city of Zapata, which is located adjacent to the reservoir. Falcon Lake State Park (956) 848-5327, located near the dam, has campsites with electricity and water and a three-lane concrete boat ramp. More information about Falcon Reservoir can be obtained by contacting the Zapata County Chamber of Commerce (800) 292-5253 or www.zapatausa.com or by calling TPWD’s San Antonio Inland Fisheries office (210) 348-6355. – Lake Mohave

AUSTIN, Texas — Lazy summer days and fishing just seem to go hand in hand, so it’s the perfect time to take advantage of the Family Fishing Celebration that allows fishing without a fishing license in Texas state parks.

The Family Fishing Celebration was launched to encourage families and others to fish at more than 70 state parks without having to purchase a fishing license and required stamps.

Houston postal workers B. E. Lewis and K. R. Colwell were found taking advantage of the Family Fishing Celebration on a recent spring morning by doing some bank fishing at Fort Boggy State Park near Centerville. They said they appreciate not having to have a fishing license and stamps to try their luck at reeling in some bluegills from the park’s 15-acre lake.

“We like having the lake all to ourselves this morning,” Lewis said. “On our days off, we come up here several times a year just to fish and relax.”

Academy Sports & Outdoors is the exclusive retail sponsor of this year’s promotion that runs through Labor Day. In addition to providing funding, Academy has provided state parks with bobbers and kids’ fishing starter kits that will be given away as prizes at Family Fishing Celebration events held this summer at several Texas state parks.

A number of state parks across Texas will be holding special FFC events on June 4. They are: Cooper Lake’s South Sulphur Unit (Sulphur Springs), Eisenhower (Denison), LakeArrowhead (Wichita Falls), Lake Whitney (Whitney), Martin Dies, Jr., (Jasper), McKinney Falls (Austin), Purtis Creek (Eustace), Sabine Pass Battleground (Sabine Pass) and Tyler (Tyler).

A complete list of state parks offering fishing opportunities and dates of upcoming FFC events and seminars can be found on the TPWD Web site or by calling (800) 792-1112.

The FFC’s license-free angling in Texas state parks applies only to bank and pier fishing, and to boat fishing in bodies of water totally contained within the boundaries of a state park, such as Lake Raven in Huntsville State Park and Park Lake in Buescher State Park. The fishing license waiver does not apply to anglers who launch boats from state park property to access an adjacent lake or other water body because it does not apply outside state park boundaries. – Lake Mohave