"Catchin' biguns in a barrel..."

Yep, surely a little ole pond of a few dozens of acres with all them big ole tame bass in it ought to be easy pickin's for any well informed and properly equipped bass fisherman used to fishin' hundreds and thousands of acres of public water, right?

Well, I got me a 15 ana half pounder in a SEVEN acre fishin' pond right here in Danbury, an' got an' openin' to boot....so's all comers with fat wallets are welcome. I don't know if that fish had EVER been caught by hook and line, but we were draining a lake and trying to salvage some of the fish from it.

One of my Guatemalan workers was using a 30' cast net caught the 27" behemoth, which I kept and fed in my holding facility until ready to place in a lake.

We weighed the fish prior to releasing it into the prepared, 7 acre pond, along with a few hundred other, 2-10 pound, female bass. It was right at 15.5 pounds.

That was almost a year ago, nobody has reported a dead fish from that lake, but neither has the fish been caught after many hours of fishing by many, very good fishermen. Some of the others have been caught and released, and have been monitored, as growing very well in the forage dense lake.

But fishing that lake is no cakewalk, and catching fish in it is no easy thing, especially the biggest fish in it are difficult to fool onto a hook.

And yet, its ONLY seven acres......and I do have a opening...

Just a note, we have yet to see any evidence of a bass spawn in two years in that lake, nobody more surprised them me, who checked every fish to be sure it was female, but I have never been 100%, even with small numbers. One of my crazy projects, an "all female" population, or as close as I could get, to limit population numbers as well as prevent all those small bass from eating everything before it interests the big ones.

But it is truly a challenge for the fishermen. Here is a pic from googlemaps. That was when first rebuilt, the islands are covered in semiaquatic vegetation now. You can see the channels, and zoom in you see the tractor tire reefs we built.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lake+Rd,+Danbury,+TX+77534/@29.2071136,-95.2904543,226m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x864064147b7809d5:0xc96345a9a0e9783d

Hey Fouz,
I'm not so sure the pure Florida strain is the answer. I was shocked to see that since 2009 when TP&W published the results of Pure vs Florida/ Northern crosses that there were 5 fish over 16 lbs turned into the SAL program. Four of those 5 fish were F1 crosses. Also, I don't remember the exact numbers, but the majority of fish turned into the SAL program since 2009 were also F1 crosses not pure Florida strain. Maybe the Florida strain genetics have been the problem recently?

But I can tell you that the pure Floridas in Camelot Bell have done quite well. There are no telling how many giants in that 40 acre lake. Mike released one from his 1,500 gallon aquarium 3 years ago that weighed 17 pounds on the nose. No one has landed her, but there have been a bunch of 13-15.80 lb fish caught since then. There's a guy out there fishing right now who caught a 12 and 13 yesterday and Mike caught a 13 himself. Plus a bunch of other solid fish to 10 lbs. Just very hard to get one of the real giants that are in there in the boat. They break 65# braid in the brush and cable pile with regularity. Especially this time of year when their metabolism is rocking!

I wonder who is going to pay for all the baitfish in Jalisco? Are prawns, bluegill, shad, minnows & sunfish also donated to the SAL program or are the tax payers buying them?

Great post Chris.

Members of the forum... I see where some of you were wondering where I have been given all of the debate and input concerning the announced partnership between the TPWD and Dr Gary Schwarz of the La Perla Ranch, on the Jalisco Lake Project. I’ve been short on time as of late GregMKJr, I guess us "washed up" ball players have to find other things to do after 7 surgeries, but luckily, I’ve always liked hunting and fishing better if truth be known.

I’ve been wanting to post my personal thoughts about the debate concerning TPWD stocking bass into Jalisco Lake that has been taking place on the forum for the past few weeks, but have been filming a football movie and trying to get everything done for the upcoming year of the Tecomate TV shows at the same time. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into! Anyway, the director of this new movie wrote “Hoosiers” and “Rudy”, two of my favorite movies of all time. I don’t completely know what to expect, but I do know that the football was realistic enough that I came home bumped and bruised many nights. The movie is about Freddie Steinmark and the 1969 UT National Championship team. Freddie was a defensive back for the a Longhorns who played for the Horns in the year of the Big Shootout between Texas and Arkansas in 1969. He played most of the year with bone cancer in his leg and didn’t want to take a chance on missing the season to see a Doctor. He had his leg amputated after they were declared National Champions and didn’t live long afterwards. I’m playing Cotton Speyrer, who was an All-American WR on that team. It’s called “My All American” and if they decide to put it out this year it will probably be in theatres early Jan before the National Championship game.

Anyway, I absolutely understand the initial skepticism that some had on this project. I will admit, that like many of you, I have had my doubts about how much the Sharelunker Program was helping us, especially in light of the declining weights over the past 7 years or so. Not that I think Sharelunker is necessarily to blame for a lot of our Lakes going downhill – the main downside that I see in it is the added pressure lakes get when a ShareLunker (or several) are caught. In my opinion, the two biggest factors that have led to a decline in our lakes are the degradation/aging of them and pressure due to internet (I’m convinced that this effect is greater when a SAL is caught but this isn't going to change). The degradation of the lakes has a huge effect on forage. A lot of the underwater forest that used to be Lake Fork is now slowly decaying. I really believed Lake Austin was our best chance for a Lake not to be affected by aging. LA had a ton of hydrilla and is constant level (other than years past when they lower it for a period of time). I saw first hand how that lake exploded with the grass…. Now with the carp having been put in and Hydrilla eaten to nothing… I think we will soon see a decline there as well.
Let me say this though… How cool is it that we have a State that would even try something like the SAL program in order to help bass fishing in our Lakes? I love the thinking.

Having personally seen Jalisco and La Perla and the blood, sweat, and tears that Gary poured into both Lake projects (it’s hard to fully understand until you’ve seen it)… I believe 100% that the best investment TPWD could have ever made is to put Sharelunker fry into Jalisco Lake. The first fish Gary donates to the program could easily provide our public lakes with many times the amount of fry that TPWD put into Jalisco. If I had to guess… I think that will happen this year-- and from a Lake that TPWD had no involvement or INVESTMENT in creating. There is a reason why the editor of Bassmaster Magazine said that the La Perla bass projects were the biggest bass project to date in the history of the world. I can promise you that what Gary has done has come at a huge personal sacrifice. Gary has already said he will turn in bass to the SAL program and he didn’t buy the SAL fry that were stocked in Jalisco. And why would he? He’s not the one who will benefit from them… at least not for a looooong time.

To be truthful, Dr. Schwarz doesn’t need the SAL program. By that I mean he didn’t need them to give him fry from a SAL that didn’t come from La Perla. They shocked up a 14 lb bass in a survey at La Perla last fall that TPWD didn’t take because it wasn’t caught. I feel sure that we broke off a few SAL’s during SAL season this year. Gary definitely understands that he could have waited until SAL season coming up and in all likelihood he’d catch one out of La Perla to turn in. He caught a 12-6 four days ago. We caught several other 12’s this year – 2 in one day on a TV show and didn’t fish it hard at all. I probably fished 4-5 times… all during the middle of the day.
If he had waited and been able to turn in a SAL from La Perla this fall he would have received many more fingerlings from the La Perla SAL than what TPWD just put in to Jalisco. AND with absolutely NO TIES to or restrictions from TPWD. He could do whatever he wanted with it whenever he wanted from the word GO. It would all be the Gary Schwarz project. Think about this…. He signed a 15 year contract that gives him no control over his own Lake that he has a HUGE investment in in order to help TPWD and the Sharelunker program. Not only will most people on this forum never fish Jalisco… Gary Schwarz can’t even fish his own lake for 15 years unless TPWD invites him! Who would make that kind of a sacrifice and investment and hand it to TPWD to help bass fishing in Texas? Not me. Not anyone I know of. It’s hard for me to criticize that.
As mentioned, if and when a SAL is turned in from La Perla Lake this fall or in the next couple years and spawns… TPWD will get many times the amount of fingerlings that they put in to private Jalisco….. to put into PUBLIC Lakes! So… to answer the question of why were Sharelunker fingerlings put into a Private Lake? Because TPWD saw the opportunity to take advantage of something that’s already been funded and built, that is truly incredible… which Gary has basically donated to TPWD in order to grow other SAL’s to enter into the program. PLUS, they’ll get SAL’s from La Perla Lake as a bonus. Thank goodness Allen Forshage recognized that the cost/benefit ratio made it a no brainer from their end. If anybody is a loser on this deal it's Schwarz. If anybody else had built what Gary did TPWD would probably invest SAL fry with them too. I think they’d be stupid not to. With several large forage ponds (that can be drained into the lake) that make up 50% of the acreage of the entire lake, the nutrition (prawns included) they will get at Jalisco is obviously far superior to anything they could get in a public lake situation. Plus, they’ll manage the Lake to make sure it’s not overpopulated. What this creates is an incredible opportunity to grow several more Sharelunkers that can be donated to the program... and provides an opportunity to release the resulting SAL fry into PUBLIC lakes in amounts that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

Another thing to consider is the incredible advantage the SAL fry TPWD stocked in Jalisco will have as far as survival rates. I have no doubt that the fingerlings that came from Frank Kirk's SAL stocked in Jalisco will have the highest survival rate of any SAL stocking in history. They have 0 predators at this point. It’s them and 15 times the standard stocking rate of fathead minnows. And who do you think paid for all those fathead minnows? Not the state… not Toyota…..the same person who funded everything else on this deal. They will be stocking on a timeline with bluegill and shad when the fingerlings grow to appropriate size so they aren’t vulnerable to predation. Another note...Let’s say a SAL is caught from Jalisco in year 6 or 7 when TPWD test fishes it and they take it to Athens. When the “home lake” percentage of fry go back to Jalisco they can be initially stocked into one of the 15 acre forage ponds above the lake to be grown with fathead minnows and released when they are close to a pound. Therefore they won’t be nearly as vulnerable to predation from adult bass already in the lake and will again have exponentially higher survival rates. The same is true for any SAL from Jalisco in the 15 years that TPWD controls it… and I wonder who will be the first person to help TPWD after those 15 years are up? I know where my bet is.

These are just my thoughts... although I do have the added perspective of having seen what’s going on at La Perla… and I also know Gary Schwarz’s heart for people, our state and our fisheries. I personally see a lot of potential benefits with what’s going on at La Perla… and as a bass fisherman on public lakes in Texas… TPWD stocking SAL fry into Jalisco might end up benefiting you more than you think.

It sure makes you wonder if we have been seeing some hybrid vigor like that found in terrestrial animals. Where are these published results horseplaydvm? That will be an interesting read.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/visitorcenters/tffc/sharelunker/archives/