RIP

4:6 mortality rate... Not good!

I think Elvis said it best, "If you turn in every 13lb fish you catch, then how do they ever grow to be a lake record."

Perhaps we quit trying to breed them and feed them trout like they do in California.
How much would it cost to dump in a bunch of trout compared to other programs.

I've heard rumors they were planning on stocking trout in Lake Palestine. Not sure why with our max depth being 43 feet deep survival rate and summer lake temps trout wouldn't make it. I'm from Washington state where trout are abundant but can't see why they'd stock them unless to feed the bass. Palestine had pumped out 2 sharelunkers last 2 years in Jan so maybe they're gonna baby lake Palestine a little. I'll never understand why 100% of the fry do not go back to the Lake it was caught. Obviously that bass genetics thrived on that certain body of water. Yes releasing the fish to spawn in its own lake keeps genetics in lake but you can't guarantee those fry make it and I think that's the only good with share lunker but I would bet the bass spawning in its own lake with the best buck bass it could find would have better results than some buck bass that's been sitting in some tank with lazy sp*rm... Sorry couldn't resist.

Except for the fact that a sl offspring is now the lake record on Lake Naconiche

Funny thing is that the parent of that fish was from Falcon.. And it was not even a pure Florida. That's how whack the the methodology of SL is.. Or was.. There is no telling how many of the fish from the early days were not pure Floridas due to innacurate genetic testing.

It does not have to be a pure Florida to be a monster..

Monsters come from good conditions for extended periods..

And conditions will win out over genetics every time.. Nature will provide us with truly big fish, if conditions will allow..

If we allow them to get to giant porpotions, before we eat em, mount em, or kill them otherwise..

Lack
Of
Grass

At least in the lakes that have historically pumped out the greatest number of SALs.

That's the long-term answer. In the short term, the high muddy water in East Texas has made it difficult for most fishermen.

Lake Athens, which the Fisheries Center is on the shoreline.

It's not all Doom & Gloom for the Texas lakes boys.

All lakes cycle. The pendulum swings back & forth.

Here is a random sampling of the number of SALs turned in over the last 15 years:

2000 - 23
2001 - 5
2006 - 32
2009 - 17
2010 - 33
2014 - 9
2015 - 6

It will be very interesting to see what the influx of freshwater will do for the local lakes.

This is the first time Fork has been full in how long? Four years?? If I were you I wouldn't be hanging up my rods just yet....

Good point Ken. And now there's all that shallow cover which should really help the forage base and the bass.

I like the direction the pendulum is heading.

Keep in mind that a lot of folks caught big fish and instead of releasing they went to the frying pan. Remember the stories at Falcon and Amistad of 8-9lber's being cleaned?

IMO, more of the big fish need to be released and more the the smaller fish should be removed for the frying pan.

Austin would have put out some BUTTTTTTTTTTT Grasscarp are king now in that lil ole mudd hole. Funny the locals complained the water they were drinking smelled fishy...Honey that's not fishy that's carp [censored]

Only Austin area lake that will turn out a SL will be Town Lake (Lady Bird). Slot lakes where people actually keep under the slot fish will, or at least some of them, will help grow some of the big bass. As long as those lakes have water and cover.

Only 6 fish this year? It's because I haven't been able to fish enough. If I'd gotten out a few more times, we could have at least gotten into double digits.