Season�s Second Toyota ShareLunker Comes from Falcon

ATHENS�When Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine publisher Randy Brudnicki planned a fishing trip to Falcon International Reservoir with his sons Jason and Dustin for the week after Christmas, he knew the time was right to catch a Toyota ShareLunker.
But the trio struggled for two days, catching only small bass mid-lake and near the dam. On Wednesday, December 28, the north wind shifted to the south, and that made all the difference. �I knew to look for places where the south wind would blow in to points,� Brudnicki said.
It was their last day to fish, and they wanted to get on the road early, so they put in at the county ramp in Zapata and began fishing around the city�s water intake structure. �After spending some time on the main point but only catching small fish, we moved upwind to a ledge,� Brudnicki said. �My son Jason, who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, started throwing a Strike King 6XD crankbait, a Christmas present from his older brother, Dustin. The big girl hit right under the boat as he ended his retrieve. He set the hook and she pulled a little line. Dustin grabbed the net and in seconds the fish was in the boat.�
A few casts later Jason caught another big fish, and they decided to weigh them. The smaller fish went eight pounds, but the big fish bottomed out their scale. After borrowing a scale from another boat, they realized they had a ShareLunker and took it to Falcon Lake Tackle to be weighed on a certified scale. The official weight is 13.36 pounds. Length and girth were not available at the time of writing.
Keeping the big fish alive for the five hours it would take for a truck to arrive from the A.E. Wood Fish Hatchery in San Marcos now became their top priority. �We ran both recirculating and aeration pumps non-stop,� Brudnicki said. �The mid-50 degree water temperature helped a lot.� They finally turned the fish over to TPWD about 7 p.m.
The Toyota ShareLunker program will be profiled in the Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine�s Spring Fishing Guide due out in February. That guide will also feature a fishing forecast for 2012 and other relevant topics for Texas anglers. The guide will be available free at www.tpwmagazine.com.
Anyone legally catching a 13-pound or bigger largemouth bass from Texas waters, public or private, between October 1 and April 30 may submit the fish to the Toyota ShareLunker program by calling program manager David Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or paging him at (888) 784-0600 and leaving a phone number including area code. Fish will be picked up by TPWD personnel within 12 hours.
Anglers entering fish into the Toyota ShareLunker program receive a free replica of their fish, a certificate and ShareLunker clothing and are recognized at a banquet at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens.
For complete information and rules of the ShareLunker program, tips on caring for big bass, a list of official Toyota ShareLunker weigh and holding stations and a recap of last year�s season, see www.tpwd.state.tx.us/sharelunker. The site also includes a searchable database of all fish entered into the program along with pictures where available.
Information on current catches, including short videos of interviews with anglers when available, is posted on www.facebook.com/sharelunkerprogram.
The Toyota ShareLunker Program is made possible by a grant to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation from Gulf States Toyota. Toyota is a long-time supporter of the Foundation and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, providing major funding for a wide variety of education, fish, parks and wildlife projects.

Great job TPWD!

Heard that fish is on its way back to Falcon.. Not a Florida I assume.. Like most of em..

james, since it's on it's way back, are you gonna let it be entered into the spare-a-lunker program????

Sorry.. Rules say that fish must be released after catch..

hahaha, i knew the answer james. just trying to get you fired up.

why aren't you out fishing?

Good story.
James, Seems to me that they should be able to determine if a fish is pure Florida strain without having to take it to Athens? You have any insight on that?

Fish from Falcon are taken to the A. E. Wood Fish Hatchery in San Marcos, where the DNA testing lab is located, and held there until the DNA results are known. If the fish is not a pure Florida, it is taken back to Falcon as soon as possible. If it is a pure Florida, it is then transferred to Athens and held for spawning.
SL 525 was returned to Falcon today by Randy Brunicki, the father of the angler.

While we don't yet know that this is the case, it is what I first thought when I heard about the fish being caught last week and entered into the program - that is, it's most likely not a Florida strain bass and would, therefore, be rejected.

Is that the case - that the bass in Falcon are mostly not Florida strain? If so, are the bass in Falcon not affected by cold fronts like Florida strain bass are? I have heard that Falcon bass do shut down after a cold front comes through so I am confused. Any clarification would be appreciated.

They are still used for the DNA research part of the program.

Great job to the angler there are still a few around that can take care of a big fish.

Great write up Larry.

How many total fish from Falcon have had enough Florida strain in them to have been kept in the program through the years ?

Testing in the past has put the average Falcon fish at about 82% Florida. That is a good mix for Falcon evidently.. Last years study was a bit lower if memory serves.

When I saw this fish I was pretty sure it was not pure.. Only about 20% of the SL fish taken from Falcon have been pure, and that is all the program accepts.

No genetic study on this fish will be done that has not already been..

Does anyone know why the fish wasn't returned to Falcon by TP&W? Seems like they would be much better equipped to do something like that.

Until recently data has not been shared with the general public on the fish turned into SL.

But... Last year six fish from Falcon were turned in to SL.. One was a pure.. It, along with a few others, died.. One out six=less than 20%..

In 2010, One fish was turned in, and it was pure, but it did not spawn and was returned to the lake.

In 09 none were turned in..

Two were turned in in 08, and one in 07.. But no info on either year on their site..

I have heard that they intend to publish data on previous years, but have yet to see it done..

But I have spoken with the biologists many times, and like stated above, only about 20% from Falcon are pure..