Yep, when the homeowners can't back their boats out of their already HIGH taxed property because of grass, fishing is irrelevant when it comes to chemical treatment! Sad but true!

30 pounds?

+1. It doesn't take near 30lbs for any lake. And those 30lb sacks are mostly spring time weights. And to answer the question you can go to Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, California, Alabama, and Tennessee to get those same results.
The only thing I will say towards Jalisco is IF we turn it into a hatchery that will be ok. Problem is I've come to realize from all of this that the whole program is a HUGE waste of tax payers money. If you want to breed big fish then breed big fish. Why not take a year class of pure floridas, pick the fastest growers of the bunch and shove food down their throats. Spawn those couple of fish and stock some lakes. The political show and waste of money brought to light from all of this is the real problem.

What tax dollars? SAL is funded by private donations.

So if you take the offspring from a 300" buck from a high fenced pen and release them onto public land, will they grow up to be another 300" buck?

No...

Genetics are only part of the equation... they need nutrition and habitat. I believe it's the same with these fish. If they don't have the same nutrition as they have in the private lake, then they won't grow to be as big as their parents... increase our lakes nutrition is the only way to improve our public fisheries. However I am curious to see what theyes can produce from a test tube...just like it's interesting to see how big a buck you can grow in a pen.

I think texas is a great state to bass fish with huge bass, but with that being said I don't think a world record bass or state record that has been farm raised or given a more advantage in food, genetics, and overall better life is going to mean much to most anglers. In my opinion you kinda diluting the sport with the sal program. I'll probably get a big kick back for that comment.... Lol but if a man has enough money to stock the hell out of a big pond or small lake go for it, I'm jealous. Again I think texas is a good enough fishery without a sal program.... To me it's about the sport of catching bass and for that once in a lifetime double digit bass.(for the weekend angler) if that bench mark can be met or broken every other year, it kinda defeats the purpose. I hope that they can produce big bass at Jalisco and their customers have fun and their expierience and experiment is a good time. I'm old school though, but I know the sport will always change..... Fish finders, down,side imaging, a rigs..... Doesn't mean it's wrong, just changing

Who pays the salaries of the TPWD agents who work with sals? Who will be paying for the shock boats and other equipment used to do these experiments? Donations may fund PART of the stuff used in the program but not all of it.

["Genetics are only part of the equation... they need nutrition and habitat. I believe it's the same with these fish. If they don't have the same nutrition as they have in the private lake, then they won't grow to be as big as their parents... increase our lakes nutrition is the only way to improve our public fisheries."]

For the record I agree with this for the most part.. With the added component of Florida vs Northern strain bass. Research has shown that Northern strains are going to dilute the Floridas in time. My feeling has always been that because of the limited number of SAL fingerlings that end up available to be released, TPWD might be better served to focus on stocking as many pure strain Florida's into our lakes as possible... regardless of whether or not they are SAL's. I think that... along with finding ways to increase the nutrition and forage base should always be the first priorities for TPWD. Then if they want to focus on SAL on top of that, ok by me.

No need for debate here... The next state record Bass is more than likely going to be caught by a Non-Bass fisherman on live bait.

First off. Well spoken Jordan. I may not be much of a UT fan but I do appreciate people posting here with a high level of thought and intelligence. You might even have convinced me to watch a movie about UT football.

Second, it is funny to me how the majority of the best big bass fisherman on this forum are not against this type of work. The biggest opponents have shown little proof over time that they have any success or factual knowledge when it comes to big bass.

I understand this is a forum for discussion and everyone is entitled to their opinion. I guess we can continue to have the same arguments over and over with the hopes that maybe someday everyone else will change and the world will work the way we want it to. Either that or maybe just be happy for what we have and be positive about the potential of projects attempting to grow bigger bass.

Man, what a debate! None of the money used on the SAL fish program came out of anyone on this forums pocket (Unless you donated it), the fish were donated to the program, So who gives a dam if they are trying a fish management program in order to find out if certain variables produce bigger bass? I personally commend Schwarz for what he is doing, he is the one giving up land, money for feed, time, etc, etc.

Who cares if they got 7000 fingerlings, they are going to feed the fish more than they can eat and will produce sal fish faster than any other lake can. Year around warm weather+ Being the most well feed bass in the state will allow the fish to reach sal weights quickly, if they are turning their fish in to the sal program the program will recieve more fish from them than any other one lake in the state. Allowing tpwd to spawn more sal fingerlings to stock public waters with. I don't understand all the crying about it, the money could sure be spent in worse ways IMO.

I hope along with everyone that fishing continues to improve and we can grow bigger fish. However, I also know you have to do that with superior genetics in a natural environment. Is anyone associated with this project really going to try to spawn a 13lb + fish with a chance of that fish dying? What if it was the only fish with the potential to grow to 20lbs? I would never take that chance!
Maybe Fouzman knows if Camelot Bell would ever donate a fish? I know they have caught several over 13 lbs and I have not heard of one being donated.

Mike has his own sharelunker system in place where he is breeding his 14 pound females with 8 pound males. I've seen it.