I had a lengthy call with one of the guys at the ShareLunker Program this afternoon. I'll consolidate my notes and share them. I believe the math will speak for itself.

I would like to see how many of the guys on this forum that caught a 13 + share lunker would turn it loose. My guess not many at all with these egos I know I wouldn’t!

I’ll add that in my unqualified opinion, with all the fish taken from Ivie and transferred to Athens this year it will hurt the lake in years to come. We might get some of those fish back alive and we might not. How many fry did we lose if they did spawn at the hatchery and not the lake? They won’t restock Ivie with all of those fry, they spread them around the state. They’ll give us a token amount, which goes with how they feel about stocking any lake west of hwy 16. I know this will go against some of the SAL huggers, but it’s just mi dos centavos! And by the way a HUGE Congratulations to the young man who caught the fish of a Lifetime!

Not sure where you got the info from but I spoke with the TPW biologist from then 10 from last years group and was told that NONE were SAL babies.

As well as not many of those fish spawned last year at Athens.

My opinion is let nature run its course. GOD KNOWS HOW TO DO IT.