[quote=Let nature run its course and it will be better if man dont mess with it. All the fish that died from the start of the program to now should not have had to die for the glory of a fisherman or for a program that dont work for the better of a Trophy Lake or World Class Fisheries. IMO

One last thing if this was such a great program then why are California and Florida not doing it ? Or other states. They produce bigger fish than we do ! It is cause they do not mess with it other than limits. [/quote]

Man shouldn't mess with it? Man messed around and made it. Your right Florida does very little to manage their fisheries and they are in a tailspin, tournament results have been declining year after year for a long time. California imports Florida strain bass and then practically injects them with protein in lakes smaller than La Perla. I'd hardly say man isn't intervening.

I do agree mother nature is number one. Habit and forage is difficult to control on our enormous reservoirs. The one variable we can most easily influence is genetics. I for one would like to see us try. I think it does very little harm, likely a lot of good, and if nothing else it provides and pool of information on big bass that would otherwise not be available.

Those fish grew without the help of sharelunker. They were stocked Florida most likely. TPWD and sharelunker operate "separately". I used to think sharelunker was a good thing but not anymore. I agree with Marc, there's no proof the program has done anything except take productive spawners out of lakes. They could have grown some pure f1 giants and spawned those fish. I'm glad people are paying attention and not donating. The lakes will be better for it.

I know TPWD and SAL are seperate, just stating that they both get a lot complaints from some folks.

Here is how bad it has got here at Fork. Do we all agree Florida Strain made us Famous ? Well at a meeting 2 years ago with the TP&W they said 80 percent of the fish in Lake Fork are 50/50 half native and have Florida strain. I was blown away by that statement alone. Only one of the top 10 is a F1 cross.

Now just think if all the SAL that came out of Fork just stayed in Fork to spawn instead of a concrete tank on a piece of carpet. Un-natural setting for sure. It is a wonder that even one will breed under that circumstances.

Everyone talks about stocking Lake Fork.If all the fish would have just stayed in Fork to spawn we would still have some of those genetics. Lake Fork has stocked most of the lakes in TX. With what 247 + entries into this program.

I am telling you the survival rate in a natural setting is way better than in a pond out back with no preditor threat.

The fry when released into a lake have no idea what is about to happen cause they were taken away from the parents right a away.

Put in a pond with all fry. Now we all no the male watches and teaches them for several weeks to insure survival. In a pond out back they have no teachers from either side.

Now I can tell you that is like raising a wild animal then just one day turning it loose in hopes to survive.Chance are it cannot fend for itself and ends up going down a dark highway.

If you do the math there is no way Fork got the best end of the deal. To see the light you have to open your eyes. The reason why I speak out against the program is cause it does not work for Lake Fork or any Lake that produces giants.


I remember back in the days a 13 lb fish would not draw much attention cause 14-16 lb fish were being caught. Some of the original stockings that were reaching their mature age. Notice not much has happen since all of them have passed.

I understand about the low water conditions and all but I am telling you this goes way back before that. I am passionate about what I do for a living and I do not want it to ever go away but I do want it to get better or as good as it once was. Proper tactics can go a long ways. IMO.

Simply killing the SAL program and funding growing pure F1" s to 12" prior to releasing will change everything.....

Deep Donkey,

To answer your question, I refer back to my 5 biggest fish, and only one was hooked near the bottom jaw, in the side, the others were caught in the side or top of the mouth. I have not caught a 13 lber, so they might bite differently than all the other fish I have caught. But, that could happen, but the way lures are designed today, most are trying to get the roof of the mouth as the anchor point for the hook. My top 5 are 11-8, 10.48,10.12, 9.18 and 9.17, all on CB's, except the 10.48 on a scum frog. I have hooked big fish, but lost them, so I do not know how big they were or if they were hung on the bottom lip. Who knows, in other words. Thanks for suggesting it, though. Tight lines, keep safe and good luck.

Thad Rains

So you say end the program and see what happens nothing will happen the lake will get better. Look at Toledo hasnt put alot in the SAL program but look at how well that lake is doing. The program in my opinion is what happened to Fork.

Marc Mitchell,
The lake was made by man, and it was heavily stocked by man.
If man just let Mother Nature run its course, you wouldn't be able to make a living fishing on a man made lake... How do you justify trying to pick and choose which actions should remain "natural" when the lake isn't natural...
Just be happy that dam was built so you can make a living catching fish that man put there.
And if he wants to spread a little throughout the state , so be it . Hopefully they bring some of those mutant little fork bass to canyon lake for a change.

Why do you want them in Canyon, the filet boys will just eat them. Also you don't seem to quite understand what Marc is saying.


And Canyon was stocked with bass from TPWD last year.

Great post. The lakes in southern OK and Louisiana don't have the benefit of the TPWD programs but basically the same growing seasons and similar habitat compositions to the TX lakes and they don't kick out the same amount of big fish that TX does. Go spend a year fishing table rock, hartwell, grand, LOZ and you'll appreciate what TPWD has done and continues to do.

Why does Japan have 2 bass on the top 25 ever caught, and Texas has zero. Texas is twice as big as Japan, and most parts of Texas are warmer than Japan.

California is a beast producer.

Good point if SAL is go great why is Texas the only state doing it. I say if Toyota stops funding it then it goes away.

It was good run for SAL and it was worth a shot, but now it needs to go away.......

How do you explain Mexico lakes having so many big fish in them? Lack of pressure?

I think there has been 254 or so SALs donated from Fork.
Keep in mind, that back during that time frame, Fork had millions of Fish.
Let's just use 1 million for a number of females in Fork at any given time. (back in the day)
Let's use 1/8 of 1% as having the genes to achieve 13 lbs. (.0125 %)I think.
That's 1250 potential SALs at any given time. (this does not even factor in the male influence)
I'm pretty sure that there are many other factors that contribute to the demise of most of those potential SALs, than the SAL program.
On a side note, many of the SALs donated from Fork were returned for release back into Fork.
I know that all 3 of mine were released alive and healthy.
I think it is and has been a great program, and completely disagree with Marc.

You guys that are saying it killed Fork aren't taking into consideration all the factors. Fork may have been on a downward swing no matter what. Increased fishing pressure, drastic fluctuating water levels, lack of grass, etc probably has more negative influence on the fish that taking out a fish or two a year.

If everybody agrees that grass in a lake helps it, why is TPWD the one that destroys it?