You guys act like every 13+ lber in a lake is caught when a few get turned into the program. The lake will be fine. Can't believe how worked up people get about a couple of fish.....

Loose lips sink ships

now this might sound like a crazy questions, but I gotta ask. Do you all feel that you have more knowledge about black bass and freshwater lakes than the biologist and people that work for TP&W on the sharelunker program?

[/quote]

I’ll answer your question with another question and that will be that...What’s better for bass in a lake, a lake with health lush hydrilla or a lake with dead poison sprayed hydrilla? Yeah, there you go with your educated biologist BS theory.[/quote]

Id like to think the Sharelunker people are less involved and separate from those decisions and aspects of lake management, but I may be wrong. I also thought I read somewhere some of the spraying you see was done in part to satisfy property owners....but that mightve been florida, cant really remember. Its hard to be right all the time when it comes to nature since it tends to do its thing regardless of what we want it to do.

You are bringing up somethig im not debating or disagreeing with at all...but im still wondering if some of you all feel like you are more knowledgeable and better equipped to make decisions on best practice for growing big fish? I just really feel that the Sharelunker people know what they are doing.....and what is going on in West texas, and has continued to happen in places like fork really have me putting faith in the Sharelunker people.[/quote]



not really interested in arguing a point Im not making. All im saying....the select few that work with ShareLunker not only have more education on black bass, but also more experience and data points/sample size than anyone out there. Because of this I value their opinions and practices on how to grow big bass for an entire state...over the opinion of some people going off limited personal experience, and anecdotal second hand stories.

Its already been stated that 1 of 17 died. Thats great in my books. But im just trying to be objective on the matter with no dog in the fight either way....but I do appreciate what Texas does for bass fishing.[/quote]

Bockscar is making reasonable, well thought out posts. Not sure why people can't express their opinions without being harassed.

SAL - sounds good but doesn't work, propaganda at this point

I know we live in snowflake world now, but it’s called a “discussion”. He makes a comment and someone makes a rebuttal. If you see a harassment, then well.....

Dave Mercer made the exact same comment, people explained to him the negatives/positives. Neither Dave or Bockscar are crying about the discussion.

The only senario I might... just might turn one in is if I caught it at a lake I don't fish much away home and it was cold, basically the same situation the youtube guys had at Ivie in February. No way I'd turn one in from my home lake I've seen what the publicity they bring can do to traffic on a small lake and once it starts to warm up like it is right now that stresses the fish 10 fold and they kill them.

Sounds like you’re the guy that lets his dog [censored] in someone else’s yard! Hahahaha. Just kidding.
If ya catch the fish legally, it is yours to keep, release, donate, eat....it’s the law. Five a day.


......it’s a fish.

Catching a sharelunker, snapping a picture, and quickly releasing is easy to say for those that have caught multiple DD fish.

For a significant amount of these people, these are fish of a lifetime. If a man catches a true fish of a lifetime, I will never criticize his decision to do whatever he chooses with said fish. If I am lucky enough to one day catch a 13+, I will be calling the Sharelunker program. Can't say what I would do if I were lucky enough to catch a 2nd. If I catch a 12.99 or smaller and am not fishing a tournament, that fish won't see the inside of my livewell.

I don't think TPWD is to fault for any sharelunker deaths, it is likely handling in the field. If you are going to carry that fish in your livewell all day for a tournament, I think turning it into Sharelunker gives that fish the best odds at surviving.


I do question why people run to the marina with every 7,8 or 9 lb fish for a certified weight. However, I ran into a guy at Sandy Beach at P.K. one year that had a fish on a stringer that he just knew was the next lake record. I told him I had a scale if he wanted to get a weight before we started calling people. I grabbed the scale and when he lifted the fish out of the water, I knew this fish wasn't over 8 lbs. You would have thought his dog just died when I told him it was probably a heavy 7 and the scale read 7+ lbs. That man was convinced he had a 15+lb fish.

Let's include tournament fish. Over the weekend there were multiple 20 and 30 pound stingers weighed in. In some cases your looking at 6,7 and 8 pound average per fish. These fish are in a livewell for up too 8 hours. 17 Share a Lunker's and 1 has died.. And let's say 200 bass between 6 and 10 pounds. Are we 100% certain that they are all surviving. I realize they are smaller fish. But some of the 7 and 8 and 9 pound fish just don't grow to be over 13. Me personally I don't have a problem either way. I actually think catch and release has gone to far. Any angler has a right to do whatever he or she wants with that fish.

LOL, BTW I hate dogs

If I catch a 13lber, I'm donating it to be spawned with a genetic superior maie and have that fry stocked, getting a replica is a bonus. The fish may die, but the fish may die this year anyways. I would rather try and make the stockings in our lakes the best they can be rather than putting stockings from some random 3lb florida bass in the lake and hoping they have the right genetics.

Grape kool-aid tastes the best

Your negativity is really showing through If you don’t agree with his opinions why try to belittle him?

If I catch one. I'm donating just for the free replica. I'm to cheap to pay for one.