Codybphillips, Yes man made it our tax dollars helped it but here is what I mean so dont twist it into something else. The breeding of the fish is what this issue is about that I had mentioned.

Not who built the lake or made it possible for me to make a living doing something I love. The program is about trying to create a better bass which it has not done period.

If it were my tax dollars and others I am sure we all would complain about the wasted money. In one of my last post I said you cant see the light with your eyes closed. That is a true statement.

Not everything the TP&W does is correct nor perfect but they do a lot of good for TX. As a guide here on Lake Fork for now my 34 th year I have seen changes in the lake.

I record my daily trips as well as I have tagged several bass to follow movements. I can honestly tell you that numbers per acre are down and I do have records from the TP&W to prove it.

The days of the 15-17 lb fish are over here at Fork. May not ever be another one caught in my lifetime. IMO Poor management or bad decisions can cripple a fisheries or a game ranch.

My biggest complaint is all those fish should have stayed where they were at Lake Fork to breed with the male they choose. Each fishes off spring would stay in the lake.

The fish would have a higher survival rate to be just put back in and not be thrown into a back of a tank truck and hauled to Athens to try and breed in a concrete tank.

How can anyone think this is good for the fish. It is crazy to do such a thing. If you just let nature runs its course we will be better. That does not mean man cannot have some assistants but leave the fish in the lake and just control the limits.

Everyone for this program is because they are only looking at one side and not both sides. What happens to the lake,fish,fry.Here is something to chew on.

TP&W spend 1.4 million on trout for the city park ponds for our kids to catch them. Now to me that is a big waist of money and we are teaching our kids to catch a species not even a native species.

Take that money and buy Florida Strain like you did in the late 70's and 80's that put TX on the map. Easy fix. TP&W just need to quit playing GOD with the fish and let them do what they do in nature.

For those of you that dont know. Mark Stevenson's Ethel in 1986 was the first fish into the program and the one that started the program itself. So again Lake Fork made the SAL program it did not make Fork !!!!!

That fish and others that followed were pure Florida Strain fish stocked in Fork back in the late 70's. Again way before any program. Lots of fish have died in this program.Lots of fish have made the ride and did not spawn under unnatural settings. In fact I know one fish from Fork that was full of eggs in late March went to Athens and stayed there for 18 months and never dropped a egg.

If that fish would have stayed in Fork we probably would have received two spawns and about 160,000 fry. WE GOT NOTHING !!!!! This has happened more than just once. You can see how that would effect a lake right there if you open your eyes.

KILL THE PROGRAM ! IMO Let Lake Fork Become A Trophy Lake Again.

I also disagree with Richard on this issue cause he is not looking at the fry count that would have stayed in the lake. Numbers again dont lie. If all the fry would be in the lake from 254 SAL that could be over 20 million more bass out there.

KILL THE PROGRAM ! IMO Let Lake Fork Become A Trophy Lake Again.

Marc, I think the anglers are going that route on their own.

Reservoirs go through a natural decline in productivity with age. As mentioned, lack of grass, dramatically increased pressure, the rise of "Mega tournaments," drought, etc all are likely exasperating factors. If a Fork fish died in the SAL program there is a good chance it would have died if released anyway. It's not like it had a 12 hour truck ride. In fact an argument could be made many SAL's probably live because of the care they get in the program whereas they would have died if released. A few big fish missing a spawn season over the course of 20+ years is not why Fork is in a tough spot right now. Let's not forget that even if you stretch and draw the conclusion the SAL program is bad for Fork, it's good for a whole bunch of other fisheries that would have never had the genetics. Fishing in Texas is more than just one lake.

I often wonder how much damage sand & white bass do to the bass population. Those vicious little things are hungry little pigs.

TP&W have said they would give us a permit to purchase pure Florida Strain fish to be released into Lake Fork. I will be looking into this more now.

I may figure a way to take money from my trips to put back into Lake Fork. I said at the meeting two years ago I would like to see 3-4 inch fry put in and the TP&W said they were to expensive to get to that size.

The survival rate of a 3-4 inch fish is way better than a 1 inch fry. If anyone knows where they can be bought that size PM me so I can look into it more.

Common sense tells us they have a better chance of surviving in a natural setting with cover.

Since the lake has flooded bushes last years spawn has done well. No one has probably notice less water turkey's the last two years. Still around but not as many.

There's no guarantee a fish spawning in the wild has any kind of survival rate for their fry. It's just impossible to predict. What we do know is that adequate stockings combined with full lakes and plenty of cover creates an ideal situation. Falcon and Toledo are great examples of this. Medina and Travis are 2 lakes to watch progress into fantastic fisheries because of this "ideal" situation.

It wasn't stocked with SAL fingerling , never has been to my knowledge.
You wont see me crying to the fillet boys , if they catch em , thy can eat em, I don't play God or try and tell people what to do with their lives. I just hope there is enough people who catch and release to balance everything out .
Also , I don't really understand what he was saying , that was the point of my post ...

We need to stop stocking share lunker offspring and start stocking hydrilla.

Not sure share lunker has done much for making big bass. Cali stocked Florida's way back in the day and really never managed them and look what they got.

Check the top 25 bass of all time....where are they from?

Sure forage (trout) accounted for many of those, but some came from lakes that never got trout.

Share a lunker my foot.

^^^^^^^^^

Broken jaw threads should automatically be routed to the bunker... Just my opinion.

Marc, maybe you're on to something with managing the lake yourself. A group at Toledo formed the Toledo Bend Lunker Association and look what it's done for the notoriety of the lake. Of course, the fish have to be there in order to show them off, but my point being is that area realized by putting money into an effort to bring attention to the lake it will pay off for them financially.

This same thing could be done at Fork. Establish an organization that "manages" the bass population on Fork (I use the term manage loosely). Every business around Lake Fork knows where their revenue comes from. Without trophy bass you don't have people driving in from ten-buck-two to try to catch that fish of a lifetime. Without people driving in, businesses suffer and eventually dry up. An organized effort with a structured plan to not only improve the quality of the fishery but to also market the successes of Lake Fork. Social media is a crazy thing nowadays, and it's FREE. With these outlets, show off the fish that's being caught on Fork (not the guides - it's about the FISH).

It would take effort, planning and lots of leg work, but I really think something can be formed up there that would be supported by everyone in the area. It's not rocket science. Everyone up there better start giving back to what has given to them for so long or it's going to disappear as we all know it.

From what I understand only lakes that producer share a lunkers are able to receive fry from the program.

You can stock all the special fry and fingerlings you want but if there isn't adequate cover for them and the forage base, you are just feeding the white bass, crappie, perch etc.

Marc, this buy your own fingerling program... Do you have to pay the state to do the stocking & purchasing? I think many people would be interested in this.