Guys, come on, read what I said, I have no ability to sell one dime worth of fishing trips for 15 years! The State is in control, period, because that was the terms of what they proposed to me, take it or leave it. Furthermore, this is not a reward for some rich fat cat...I did not pay anything for the fry, but I have had to pay for building the lake they are going into, and for taking care of it for the next 15 years, while they do their studies and whatever else they may want to do. And do not presume to understand what kind of financial burden that has placed on me and my family to pursue this crazy dream, or to know how wealthy I may or may not be. Will they raise funds for the State program by selling some fishing trips on down the road when it gets really good? I don't know, but they have that right if they choose to, because they are in charge, and not me. Will they even do some charity fund raisers or take a lucky John Q Public lottery winner on the trip of a lifetime? I don't know, but they could if they wanted to. The bass were stocked here as part of a research project the State was interested in to measure the potential of prime nutrition, and that is it. What I am doing is unique because of the long growing season down here, and because of the lake and water resources the ranch had been blessed with when I purchased it. Don't make this into something beyond what it is: the joining of forces of a guy with a great water quality and nutrition program, together with the State's genetics experience to see what we can do to make this state proud, and to learn what we can.

And to compare it to hunting a high fenced small piece of property is ridiculous, and goes against all that each of you know about bass fishing. Come on guys, think. Bass won't come to a corn feeder, in fact they won't even move to a water release site where prawns and shad are pouring into the lake to feed them. I know, I tried! Bass are ambush predators who are not out rushing about in search of food. Bass can't be patterned with digital cam tracker cameras, and bass can't be bagged from 400 yards away. Bass have to be presented just the right lure, in just the right way, from within feet of their locations or less, and enticed to strike, which is no certainty, especially in the older ages. Perhaps most significantly, bass are not spatially limited to the surface of the ground, but instead are vertically dispersed throughout the column of water depth in addition to the same horizontal dispersion we see in deer, and except for when you might catch them on beds, you can't even see them most of the time! By the time you add in their much smaller size, I can just tell you with 100 % certainty after having had an opportunity to go after both species, that locating and then catching a specific monster bass on the 90 acre intensively managed Lake La Perla, is like finding a needle in a haystack, as compared to locating and bagging a monster buck, on even a 10,000 acre low fenced ranch.

I posted this because way back when Jordan Shipley posted his story about La Perla, I was asked if I was buying Share Lunker fry and I said no. Now I have ended up with them through another route that worked out for me several months ago. I wanted to share this change with you for transparency purposes and because I thought it was something you should all be interested in as Bass lovers and Texans.

I also believe you should be proud of the Share Lunker program, as it has made a huge impact for Texas fisheries. I don't have to donate any of my own Share Lunker qualifiers in the future from my other lake back to the program, but I will, because I believe in the importance of the program. I also believe that in the end, more of her offspring will survive predation by coming back into the lake as fry, than would have made it on their own by staying in the same lake from the egg stage on. I say this based on what my private fisheries biologist who is not connected to the Lunker program has told me for years about stocked fry versus fry raised in the lake by fish.

I believe it is a win win scenario then when a Share Lunker is donated, as other lakes benefit when a portion of the fry are stocked into various lakes around the State, and the donor lake benefits on the basis of what I explained above. As I understand it, over the years, a very small percentage of the fish have gone to a few contracted lakes on private property for research purposes as was planned from the start. I have been told that there were no plans to do anymore, until they saw the opportunity with me, and so, here we are. I had hoped to include you in the unfolding story, so those are my thoughts.

Yeah, I am shocked at where some of you are running with this, and not sure if I will continue to post given how crazy some of this speculation has gone. We will see where this latest text leads to, then decide. I was very touched by the warmth and kindness of the readership in response to Jordan's initial post months ago. Many of you asked for me to keep you posted as we moved along. This change has taken me aback.
Gary

Clarification: Over the 28-year history of the ShareLunker program, approximately 1% of the more than 1 million fingerlings produced have been used for research. Some were stocked into private lakes, some into public lakes. In many years no fingerlings are used for research.
Clarification: The agreement anglers sign when donating a fish to the ShareLunker program DOES NOT address what use will be made of the fingerlings, only of the fish itself. Anglers are given two options, A and B. The language in the agreement spelling out those options is as follows:
"A. TPWD will return the fish to me within a reasonable time after genetic identification, spawning and/or conclusion of the (season date) Toyota ShareLunker Program.
B. TPWD can keep the fish for use as a brood fish or any other needs. If the fish dies it will not be returned."
As for the fingerlings, item 7 in the agreement reads:
"I further agree and understand that the progenies of the Fish, if any, are property of the TPWD."

Clarification: Over the 28-year history of the ShareLunker program, approximately 1% of the more than 1 million fingerlings produced have been used for research. Some were stocked into private lakes, some into public lakes. In many years no fingerlings are used for research.
Clarification: The agreement anglers sign when donating a fish to the ShareLunker program DOES NOT address what use will be made of the fingerlings, only of the fish itself. Anglers are given two options, A and B. The language in the agreement spelling out those options is as follows:
"A. TPWD will return the fish to me within a reasonable time after genetic identification, spawning and/or conclusion of the (season date) Toyota ShareLunker Program.
B. TPWD can keep the fish for use as a brood fish or any other needs. If the fish dies it will not be returned."
As for the fingerlings, item 7 in the agreement reads:
"I further agree and understand that the progenies of the Fish, if any, are property of the TPWD."

Clarification: Over the 28-year history of the ShareLunker program, approximately 1% of the more than 1 million fingerlings produced have been used for research. Some were stocked into private lakes, some into public lakes. In many years no fingerlings are used for research.
Clarification: The agreement anglers sign when donating a fish to the ShareLunker program DOES NOT address what use will be made of the fingerlings, only of the fish itself. Anglers are given two options, A and B. The language in the agreement spelling out those options is as follows:
"A. TPWD will return the fish to me within a reasonable time after genetic identification, spawning and/or conclusion of the (season date) Toyota ShareLunker Program.
B. TPWD can keep the fish for use as a brood fish or any other needs. If the fish dies it will not be returned."
As for the fingerlings, item 7 in the agreement reads:
"I further agree and understand that the progenies of the Fish, if any, are property of the TPWD."

Can some one post cliff notes so I don't have to read a Novel?

or perhaps grown men should not act like selfish little children over a stupid fish

Gary,

This may have been mentioned earlier or you may have considered this yourself already, but....I would suggest creating a program where a few lucky anglers can fish your lakes each year for no cost. You are now connected to the Texas fishing public for 15 years and this sort of gesture will help maintain a positive image. You own the lake and signed the contract, just a suggestion.

[quote=LHodge]Clarification:

What's surprising to me is that there were only two pure Floridas entered into the program this year, which is significantly less than the 2009-2011 years (from the data that is available in the SAL archives), yet 143,000 or so fry were produced. That's over 14% of the number produced in the 28 year span. I guess this was an exceptional year in terms of production when compared with previous years. I need to brush up on my SAL history; have the pure Floridas donated to TPWD been spawned over the course of the entire 28 years?
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This part of this post got me to thinking, Every year SAL or Not, Millions of pure Florida's are stocked in lakes all across Texas. There were only two Pure Florida's Entered this year. You can go back and look at the stockings 7 to 9 years ago which should be around the time those fish would be around the SAL mark. Now there are other 13s turned in but they are not pure thus not being a part of the program. I may be wrong but there were more mixed 13s reported that were not excepted vs Pure Florida's. I guess my point in this is shouldn't there more Pure Florida Bass showing up based off the sheer numbers alone with the stocking program. Is this a indication that maybe 99% of these fish do not survive to reach the age to be in the SAL class. I don't think we have near the stocking program in Native Bass but with the natural spawn and natural survival patterns of Bass in the wild, Maybe more of these Native fish do survive which is why there are more mixed strain showing up vs Pure. In my rather simple mind I look at billions of Pure Florida Bass being stock in our lakes and proof is in the pudding, these fish grow bigger. with the billions being stocked I would figure a few more would show up. I just think that this type of stuff is just as important to protect the lakes we all love to fish. If it is a survival issue with fish thrown into a lake with no protection and no survival skills. Maybe that is why the weights are down from a few years ago. I know other stuff plays into that but man, Where are the Florida's at.

No doubt criglizard. I had already planned on doing this, but did not want to bring it up during the firestorm and have it look like insincere damage control. Now that this thing is turning around, and now that YOU brought it up, the answer is yes, I am going to come up with something. Allan will have to decide on Jalisco, as he controls fishing chances there, but I would be in favor of including a few lucky no pay fishermen on Jalisco when it is appropriate and if The State agrees, as well as on my La Perla Lake. Jalisco will be a while getting there, but LP is ready for the coming year to plug this in.

I am thinking to include 2 fishermen from each of two groups. First, the One who donates the top SAL bass each year, plus one from a drawing of the rest of the SAL donor fish. Then, two other fishermen who win the spots from a random draw. All I would require is that they write about their trips on the Forum.

What are your suggestions??
Gary

I think that all sounds good and makes sense. Reward the SAL guys for participating with that program. Talk about an extra incentive to turn a fish in...the chance to fish your lakes. The odds are good too with 20 or so SAL per year.

Possibly try to bring a kid or two into the mix, although you will spoil them for life with that lake.

It's exciting to think about what your lakes will do over the coming years. Your research will likely contribute to bass fishing forever, worldwide.