I am an advocate of the SAL program because I have seen several fish that were caught, put into the program, and caught again at a later date. I know there have been numerous fish die from transporting them but I don't think you can necessarily blame TPWD for the mortality rate. David Campbell cares for these fish exceptionally well.

Some of these fish are old when they are caught. I have had fish die in my livewell that I know were being properly cared for. Nobody's fault. They just didn't make it for whatever reason. Some of them will die, bottom line.

Lake Fork was/is the Crown Jewel in Texas. It remains to be seen if Choke or Falcon can produce an new state record. I believe they can and very well may.

However, what many folks fail to realize is that the life cycle of any body of water begins in microscopic form as plankton. I am no zoologist but if the lake loses the ability to produce a healthy base of plankton then the baitfish population will suffer. If the baitfish population goes down you know what will happen to the gamefish population as a result.

Fork is now almost 30 years old. Most man-made lakes peak when they are 10-15 years old.

The reason: As timber & vegetation rots at the bottom of the lake over the years it produces sulfate reducing bacteria which lowers the pH of the water over time. This is why many privately funded premium fisheries "lime the lake" every few years. Lime buffers the pH back up to a point where plankton proliferates in abundance. This supports a healthy baitfish population and so on...

I think the SAL Program has done good things for the State of Texas in general. You cannot look at the decline of Top 50 fish from Fork and blame the SAL program. The lake is 30 years old! It is past it's peak for producing 15+ pound fish. I think many of us may be in denial but the numbers speak for themselves.

Personally I think we should feel blessed that it produced the giants for as long as it did. And who knows... It may pop another state record tomorrow!

Ken

Folks on here are totally missing the obvious. The SAL program was never intended to produce a large quantity of big fish. That was what the Florida strain introduction was all about. And that was successful throughout Texas, without question.

The SAL program is to produce a record quality bass, not large numbers so that fishermen can enjoy catching one every time out. The spread of genetics does not guarantee all the offspring to grow just as large, any more than you can expect your children to all be just like you. If a world record is caught out of Fork, due to the program, they can genetically fingerprint it and tell if its one of theirs. That's the benefit of the program. Then they will say, and all of you have to say, it was a success. But its not about numbers, its about one. And that one has a very small, infinitely small chance of being the record one. That's why its not about the numbers. The program just hopes to increase the probability of one, or a few, or growing to the record size.

I invite any and all fisheries biologists to respond. All the questions posted so far have been answered hundreds of times by the TPW, go to the constituency meeting in Atherns and listen for yourself, Its free.