Fouzman, who are you?? Do I know you?? You were actually my next person to respond to because of your excellent post where you gave your personal experience from fishing the current best place in Texas to fish at from what I hear, Camelot Bell. I am having Outdoor writers who are good, smart, people that are being critical by comparing what I am doing at the ranch with bass to ruining fair chase for Whitetails, and it just blows my mind and frustrates the heck out of me.

What you described at Camelot is exactly what I have seen on La Perla Lake....when it is on, it blows your mind, and when it is not, you pull your hair out and wander if they all died. The importance of nutrition in my mind is in fact similar between deer and bass, just as it is important for athletes or race horses. That is the duhhhhhh point that some have mentioned which should not require rocket science to prove...and yet it has not been quite all worked out and figured out how to make it primo better. That is what we are trying to do.

BUT.......TO SAY THAT CATCHING A GIANT BASS ON A 30-100 ACRE INTENSIVELY MANAGED PRIVATE LAKE IS lIKE KILLING A TROPHY BUCK IN A 100 ACRE HIGH FENCED RANCH IS JUST WRONG, it is ignorant, and it just proves to me that the person saying it has never tried to catch a specific bass in such a place, but rather is drawing conclusions from a mental expectation of what it would be like, and not reality.

Anyway, you humble me very much sir, and elevate me much more than I deserve. I am anxious to learn who you are, and how you know so much about me. Anyway, thank you for those kind words.

To all, I have to go to a meeting for a few hours, then will pick this up again with more.

Frank, welcome to the forum!!!

It is a bunch of [censored] what they have done with the fry.

Talk about transparency! Cant fault the man for explaining the entire process. Personally I don't see the big deal now that I have read over everything. If we don't take chances every once in a while we may never know the true potential of growing bass. It would be one thing if the entire sal program was being used to stock Jalisco, but a few thousand fry? guys need to calm down and realize its a risk that could potentially bring a wealth of knowledge and insight into the program

I have wondered about this myself. I also wonder how many of the SAL fry released into public waters actually survive predation from other fish. We will never know the answer to that but if its a small percentage then it defeats the purpose.

Gary,
Thank you very much for the transparency!!! I truly have no problems with you or what you are trying to accomplish.
I was also curious as to the details of donating a SAL from the angler. Im glad fkirk joined in the discussion to enlighten us on his experience. Im also disappointed as he is that he was not notified after the SAL program changed their agreement and did not notify him first to get his approval. He did in fact catch the SAL and donated it to the program with the understanding what the future plans for the fish and her offspring would be. SAL program owes some more explanation on this matter.
I do continue to have a problem with TP&W and how THEY choose to spend our tax dollars. Im all for continued research for growing bigger LMB. Unfortunately, I do not believe we as taxpayers should allow the State to contract with private individuals who may eventually benefit from this. You and I both know that you cannot duplicate what you are doing with private waters in a public water system. So why the research in a private system? Genetics is the key. Unfortunately, Texas needs to remove ALL LMB and start over to get bigger LMB and possibly a world record. Once Native LMB genetics are removed, then they will see the results. We also know this will never be done. The other option, is a new lake in a fertile land area stocked with pure Florida or better yet, California LMB. Give it an off limits of ten years, then limited fishing pressure. Texas has had such a long term success in growing 13 lb+ fish, that now they believe it is not good enough. Come fish with me in Oklahoma some time. You will truly appreciate what Texas has to offer! I fished lakes in South Texas for 13 years and it was amazing! Even I got spoiled on Falcon and got disgusted catching an 8-9 lb fish. I always wanted a 10 lb+ or it wasn't good enough. Fish in south Texas grow very quickly in the warm climate. They also die prematurely. Here again, genetics is the key. They need a LMB with superior growth genetics which also has a longer lifespan genetic potential. Also, the climates in North Texas and South Texas are very different. The same genetic makeup will not work in both places.
I wish you the best in your journey!

La Perla boss man, what confuses me is what do you get out of this? It seems like a losing situation for you in my opinion. Sure you get some baby bass but whoopty doo, you are missing out on a lot of money from potential clients. I just don't see why you would have agreed to this partnership. 15 years is an awfully long time to be a lab rat.

Hey Man... can someone send me the Cliff Notes? thanks

Talk about sore behind...

If you didn't want the fish used for scientific purposes you never should have turned it in to start with. Get over it.

So he should be ok with a broken contract?

He was okay with 1% for studies.

Gary,

Do you know if TP&W has plans to donate any of the fingerling produced from the fish in Jalisco to other bodies of water? I realize that it would create stress on the fish during transport so I may have answered my own question. You do not have to answer publicly. I was just wondering. Good luck and continue to fight the good fight!!

Thanks,

Shawn M.

I am sure he turned it in for the free mount, regardless of what would happen with the fish. Not one user on this thread can honestly say they would turn away the SAL program if they agreed to these terms. This research will one day benefit the entire state of Texas on either how to or how not grow world class LargeMouths. If it works it will be remarkable for fisherman across the state, if not TP&W will try the next plan on the list. Just give the man time to work and hope for the best. Thank you Dr. for dedicating your time and efforts

On the topic of state wildlife resources, I wonder how many on the forum realize the number pf private landowners that have permits to take threadfin shad out of public lakes. The particular operation with which I am very familiar occurred at Fairfield. On almost a daily basis during the shad spawn, threadfin shad were removed by the truckload (literally) and transported to a private ranch in East Texas. I never understood why this was permitted, though the owners were well connected. I never complained about the fishing though, which was amazing. Several folks now have these permits, but good luck to you if you decide you want one!

Cliff's Notes:

TP&WD Owns the fish (whether stocked by TP&WD or not?). TP&WD CAN (at their discretion) repatriate all the fish when the study is over.

I won't get into my opinions, but that little fact was interesting to me...

Honestly, none of this concerns me. I'll hook up my 17 year old Nitro to my 8 year old Navigator and go fish Fork because that's my love, my heart, often my salvation.......

Gary and his family seem to be great folks with huge contributions in whitetail management. I've been a huge fan from watching "The bucks of Tecomate" and used those lessons to greatly improve several leases over the years...... I'm sure his bass experiments will be equally informative and his results will be shared openly with the public...... if he happens to eventually make money, well that's fine too. It's the American way.

To those of you displaying shock that a State Government agency could be up to some shenanigans, I am at a loss. I work for the State, and shenanigans is our middle name! The Federal Government's middle name is "GD MFing shenanigans"........ true story.

Good luck Doc!!

I think everyone is getting a little worked up over nothing. Life is to short to dig into all the fine print of the Sal mission. It seems that there is a research aspect to it. If this fall's into it so be it. Some are also worked up because the recipient of these has done well and has some good propery that he charges a big fee to access. That's the way it works. The reality is if they want control lakes, etc for their research I don't know how else they are suppose to do it short of building their own. I assume they are looking for lakes with certain characteristics, depth, climate, size etc. I assume that they aren't interested in stocking some farm pond that goes dry every 5 years and they need to be able to control certain factors. That means a private lake. In addition that need to find a landowner that is willing to participate, with a suitable lake, and willing to provide them access when they want. Could there be a buddy deal, maybe. Could somebody get a hunt from time to time, who knows and I could really care less. The program gets another research place, the owner gets high quality stocking, it is what it is.