The Sharelunker program ends April 30th and there are only 6 fish in the program. Why is there a decline this year? Is it the heavy rains and high water? Is it just a cycle in the fish? Are the fish's gene pool just getting crossed with non Florida gene fish so much that the big fish era is over? Or could it be people are not just turning the fish in to the program anymore??? Is it game over for big fish in Texas?

Grass and water

What's this Sharelunker program you speak of?

How many are still alive in the program?

I know of 4 that died of "Broken Jaw", I wasn't aware that 2 more had entered SAL.

I hope TPWD gets rid of SAL, Waste of time and money......

I think more people are starting to realize it's best for the fish and the fishery to just let it go. I caught my 13.02 lb bass at Fork on 4-30-08. Took some pics, let it go, and got me a replica.

To each their own on donating fish
I will if I'm lucky enough to catch one

Low water out west
High water out east
Lack of grass and the weather was screwy this year so the spawn wasn't typical
Mix that with some messed up winter month weekends and boom The season is over

Looking forward to giving it a try again next year

I'm no expert, but I would think the massive amount of rain did not help the big fish situation on the short term. The peak of share lunker catches usually occurs in mid March. This March virtually all of East Texas was swamped with rain and probably 10-15 degrees cooler than normal. Lots of rain equals muddy water, and cold muddy water does not favor the angler. On the upside we've got full lakes and given all the structure in that fresh water we should have a bountiful spawn with awesome survival rates.

None of the other lakes in Texas had this issue, only the East side did.

I've been bass fishing since the program first started in 1986 so after all those years you would think that there would be scientific evidence that the program is a huge success, but where is the evidence?
The idea was to remove the eggs and have them artificially spawn in the hatchery and then take those supposed superior genetic fry and stock them into the lakes and where again is the proof that it's working?
The PR side of SL is a big success in that it still rakes in the sponsors and media coverage but where are those big bass that are the original purpose of the program?
Stocking of the Florida strain bass is the only success I've seen over the years but that can be done without the SL program.
Yes, after 29 years of trying to change the genetics, there are still those who will continue to believe in the program and claim that TPWD is never going to be wrong, but I guess since it's run this long continuing to let it run longer won't make a whole lot of differnce.
Someday someone in TPWD will admit that in Texas with our dry mostly weather and up and down less than ideal lake conditions contribute to the SL experiment being just a dream.

East Texas is where the majority of the share lunkers come from. Fork alone has coughed up almost half of them over the years.

At first I thought " How Great it would be to catch #xxx SAL " I've come to realize that it's the survival of the fittest. It takes both the strongest female and the strongest male to have the strongest offspring. The missing link in SAL is the MALE.

True; but name one lake other than Fork that is babied by TPWD? What decade were the biggest bass caught out of Fork?