I have to say that with the exponential fishing pressure that is occurring today than say, 30 years ago this program definitely has merits. I can remember photos of my dad and friends with nothing but 5's and 6's back in the early 70's, and even further back of some guys using the first ever bait casters with no anti reverse having full stringers of hogs and smiles a mile wide (I used to use one in my grandparent's pond as a kid). However, the merit this program offers is only a drop in the bucket to what really needs to be discussed.

Topic #1: the use of my money I spend to purchase a fishing license -

To use the public waters to fish, I must purchase "fishing rights" to go and do so. The TPWD then takes that money and invests it in ways to supposedly better enhance my experience by offering strict boating regulations, amount and size of catch regulations, and also the maintenance of the public water itself, notably it's habitat.

My first question is this: What amount of money does the recreational user of the same public water have to pay to obtain the rights to enjoy water skiing and general boating (other than boat ramp fees and boat registration fees we also have to pay)?

Then, when TPWD goes and introduces carp and chemicals to kill off the habitat the fish need to thrive, are they serving the interests of rich guys with expensive houses and toys who do not offer a dime to maintain the lake? Where are they supporting their constituents in all of this? Are they bowing to the power of the rich guy just like all political organizations do?
The invasive hydrilla plant can be problematic, as can the other forms of native grass we have, but the invasive carp and chemicals is worse to be sure. Are Fisherman the only ones paying TPWD for the eradication of habitat? If so, we are fools as that is exactly contrary to what we, the people paying the TPWD want. Simply maintain the habitat, do not eradicate it.

Topic #2 The Game Wardens enforcing the boating regulations -

I fish the hill country lakes primarily, and with rare exception do I see the TPWD enforcing the navigation laws against recreational boaters. Because of this, the degree of lunacy that is obtained during the summer months is sublime. To me, my interest in catching a fish is in no way different to their interest in skimming on the the surface of the water. They both are sports designed to bring us joy. Therefore I feel they should be held to the same standards as the fisherman, they should be regulated, AND be required to contribute to the overall maintenance of the waters. I fully respect the Game Warden and his/her duties. I feel there is an imbalance when a bass fisherman is pulled over and ticketed for having LED lights (which I know are not approved by TPWD regs yet but are far superior to standard lights) yet the recreational boats are running many times with no lights and a boatful of drunks at the helm, not to mention countless people on these surfboards milling about with no safety lighting or anything.

There have been many responses here saying that the allocation of money to create a "super bass" will achieve nothing if it cannot maintain it's diet. It has been proven over and over that the focus should be on the quality of the fishery's habitat. There is no perfect world in a natural environment. If we want to supplement that with stocking programs of genetically enhanced fish so be it, but until we address the real problems affecting our sport we are using a band aid to heal an infection.

Jerkbait---well said

THANK YOU!!! It seems a lot of guys are missing this! But "probably" (I add that word because inevitably there will be the 1 guy who says he wouldn't) every dang one of them would be lined up to invest $7000 if they knew they would be receiving hundreds of thousands (maybe even millions) back in 8-10 years. I know for dang sure that I would gladly invest $7k if the return was that great

And before anyone says "there's no guarantee"...no cr*p! There's zero guarantee with ANY fry stocking! Quit bit*hing about the donation of 7,500 fry, and start hoping that the survival rate is high, that the growth weight is great, and that in 8-10 years TPWD has A LOT of 13+ lb sows to gather eggs from TO STOCK YOUR LOCAL LAKES!!! Good lord, some of you guys would gripe about winning the fricking lottery without even having to buy a ticket!

Okay...carry on it's been interesting to read, that's for sure

Dr. Schwartz, Mr. Shipley, and TPWD...best of luck on the endeavor!

Me, Gary M Schwarz, and NOBODY else, provided the Good Lord continues to bless me.

Otherwise, all bets are off and those precious fry some of you are so worried about will have to be cared for by some other knucklehead.

Question for gary at la perla. How many sol's do u plan on donating. 1 per year. 25%. 50% . how many?? since most agree that what your doing cant be re-created in the wild (texas public lakes) then it seems to me that the only way ur fish farm could help texas lakes is by increasing the number of sol fry stocked in public waters every year. if you say you are doing this to improve texas public fisheries (which i dont buy at all) then i think you should donate all or the majority of sol fish caught from your aquariums. just my 2 cents. but if a persons #1 interest is public texas lakes then they woupd donate all their sol's

great stuff jt

My plan for several years has been to donate a fish from my La Perla Lake to the SAL program once they reached the size, which happened this past year based on shocking surveys.

But, none were caught (despite some views to the contrary that fishing on my place is like "fishing in an aquarium" as you suggest, or "shooting fish in a barrel" or "hunting a big tame buck on a 100 -Acre enclosure", as others have so mistakenly suggested.

So,because it is fishing and there are no guarantees, it is not a given that it will happen, but if it does and We are able to send just one fish alone from our La Perla lake at the ranch that the State has nothing to do with, the genetic compensation will far away settle any imagined inequity for the fish I received recently, irrespective of other benefits the State and public May or may not gain over the next 15 yrs from Jalisco.

As for Jalisco, what the State does with them and for me is not spelled out in print, and we have had no "wink, wink" discussions between me and Allen. For fifteen years, it is totally, their call. I will be very disappointed however if both parties are not treated fairly, allowing both of us to benefit in the end commensurate with out investment.

Just for a point of clarification to the posters above, the State has had zero to do with the fish that are growing in my main La Perla Lake on the La Perla Ranch, nor anything to do with the building of the next project from the reclamation of the very old silted in mud hole of the former Lake Luis that is becoming Jalisco.

On those prospects alone, and without any certainty that the State was going to bring a single bass fry, Bassmasters wrote their article predicting great things. Its record breaking potential may or may not prove to be accurate over time, but neither you the public nor the State have any claim to a single pot bellied minnow of mine much less a 13 pound Share A Lunker ON THIS LAKE. That will not change on the La Perla Lake now that I have entered into an agreement with them on Jalisco. Anything I donate is just that, a gift.

I have however given them rights for a long time to Jalisco, to which my comments in the previous post above apply.

The real deal here is not the results from the SALs or the frys or the feeding techniques or even if a big bass were to be caught could it be considered for a Texas State record. I have my doubts.
The real issue is the transparency of the deal and the use of tax dollars for some "perceived" gain. To do this arrangement during our current flux on the national level,,, without announcing it ahead of time,,, is just not smart.
It just smells "fishy".
I'm sure it will all work out for the best, but some of us folks just don't like the smell. Yeah we'll get over it just like we get over everything else but we are going to vent first.

I'm so sick of the assumptions and accusations some of you are making. It's ridiculous and downright depressing.

How much more transparent could TPWD and Dr. Schwarz be? My gosh, they posted a copy of the 15 year contract. Not one of you have any idea if ANY tax dollars were used. May have been, may have not been since SAL is funded primarily from private donations. Your tax dollars are wasted in this country and this state on a regular basis. I don't view this scientific experiment as a waste and none of you can either, until the full results are known.

Yet you want to "vent" about things you have absolutely no first-hand knowledge of. Based on some half baked assumptions on your part.

Let me break it down for you in black and white.

Dr. Schwarz has built a great fishery called La Perla Lake on his land with his dollars. He's also built one of the most elaborate hatchery systems for forage that I've ever seen, and yes, I have seen it in person.

He then turned a mudhole into Jalisco Lake, with his own money.

TPWD was impressed by his operation and wanted to try something new, so they sent 7,404 SAL fry to La Perla Ranch to be stocked into this new lake. No predators and all the forage the fish could need. This will enable TPWD to grow giant bass in record time. Some of which will undoubtedly find their way to Athens for spawning. But where will those fry go? Back into waters that need them for all of us to enjoy.

I'm sure TPWD will also sell some of the fish culled from Jalisco over time. Those monies will go right back into the program to benefit all of us.

Folks complain about the SAL program, and the fact that fewer fish over 13 pounds are being caught from our lakes each year and even fewer "teenagers". Lakes peak at 10-15 years just like Lake Fork did. After that time, public reservoirs see a gradual decline in the numbers of giant bass produced. This is due to diminished water quality, fishing pressure and genetic degradation. (Pure Floridas crossing with F1's and Northern Natives).

Jalisco will have no genetic mixing. These fish will be pure Florida bass with a propensity to grow to enormous proportions, and fast! So will their offspring.

What if TPWD/Jalisco produce tons of teenagers (which they will) and those fish go back into the SAL/OWR program? How can that be bad for you and I?

Perhaps TPWD has figured out the only way for them to keep the giant first generation genetics in our fisheries pure is through cooperative efforts with private landowners, heck I dunno. On properties where many of the variables can be controlled.

What if TPWD allowed fishing of the brood ponds that helped populate Lake Fork? How good would it have been and how many of the Top 50 Bass in Texas would have never been caught? A bunch, imo.

Finally, we have a private landowner using millions of his own dollars for this project. The 7,404 fry that were "given" to him by TPWD is a micro-fraction of the expense he has, and will continue to incur in seeing this project through.

Dr. Schwarz's potential financial gain on the project won't begin to be realized for a minimum of 15 years and he will never recoup his entire investment.

As for largemouth bass records, Texas has categories for both Public and Private fisheries.

Jordan,
Glad things are going well. Come out to a Wednesday nighter again sometime soon, we had 52 boats last week.

I too believe that TPWD's and private entities investments in the SL program would be better spent on habitat, forage and pure Florida stocking programs.

That being said, the SL program is in existence and isn't going anywhere. With the addition of the La Perla/Jalisco initiative, the state will be provided with more SL fry to stock in public waters, that is a fact. I am glad that TPWD is adding another wrinkle to the SL program to attempt to maximize its gains. Ultimately, I applaud anyone taking initiative to grow our sport for the better and this program is definitely doing that.

Great post Chris.

I still believe that it's better for our public waters to continue to take fry from SAL fish that had the genetics to "make it" to 13+ lbs on their own in public waters eating the food that's available in our public waters. Using fry from fish that were "fed" to 13+lbs doesn't seem like the smartest scientific way to improve our fisheries... But hell what do I know.