Passport to Texas

Mike Iaconelli during the 2006 season. [Image from www.bassmasters.com]

Will the Pros Reel in a ShareLunker This Week? Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

When more than 100 professional bass anglers converge on one lake for a tournament, excitement runs high. And when the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest kicks off today at Lake Sam Rayburn, east of Lufkin, the excitement amps up with the possibility of reeling in a lunker.

Well, it would be just awesome for our program.

Dave Terre, with Inland Fisheries coordinates the tournament for the agency. A lunker is a largemouth bass that tips the scales at 13 or more pounds.

For a lunker to be caught as part of this nationally broadcast TV program and this benefit event for Texas Parks and Wildlife, you know, it would be huge.

The Toyota Sharelunker program works with anglers to promote the conservation and management of trophy bass fishing in Texas.

Sam Rayburn has produced numerous Toyota ShareLunkers in the past. It would be an awesome thing [to reel one in during the Bassmaster]. But, you know what? I’ve made promises about catching a lunker for the past 10 years [of the Toyota Texas Bass Classic] and it has not happened. We’ve gotten close. And so, I’ve got my fingers crossed, and I’m a positive thinker—so it might happen.

Let’s cross our fingers and hope for the bass-t. The Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest is a free event that begins today and runs through May 21st at Lake Sam Rayburn. Details at bassmaster.com.

The Sport Fish restoration Program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

[Left] Mother ShareLunker #410 | 14.48 pound| length 25.25 inches | girth 21.75 inches | Caught by Edward Reid of Crosby, TX, March 22, 2006 in Conroe [Right]  Daughter ShareLunker #566 | 13.07 pounds | length 25.6 inches |girth 21.6 inches | Caught by Ryder Wicker of Fort Worth, TX, February 10, 2017 in Marine Creek in Ft. Worth | Lake record

ShareLunker Genetics -- All in the Family Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Anglers dream of reeling in largemouth bass that tip the scales at 13 or more pounds. Called “ShareLunkers” Texas Parks and Wildlife encourages folks who catch these big fish to donate them to Toyota Texas Sharelunker selective breeding program.

Since the inception of the program—we just finished our 30th year—we’ve stocked over a million fingerlings of those sharelunker offspring back into the reservoirs of Texas.

Stocking lunker offspring into reservoirs increases an angler’s chance of hooking trophy bass. Kyle Brookshear coordinates the ShareLunker program for the agency, and says biologists can trace lunker lineage.

We’re able to take a small tissue sample from each sharelunker that’s caught. We can analyze that and determine who its parents are, or who its brothers and sisters are.

This year, for the first time, anglers caught “direct offspring” of previous lunkers. Although it’s taken a long time to do, it proves: from big fish, come big fish.

These ShareLunker’s are about 10 to 12 years old on average [and over 13 pounds]. It’s exciting to start to see results come in—and we should start to see more and more.

Anglers donated the “direct offspring” back to the program where they’ll become part of hatchery brood stock statewide, resulting in an increase of lunker-spawned fingerlings stocked in reservoirs.

So long term what that means is, we’ll go from stocking over a million fingerlings in the past 30 seasons of the program to stocking 6 to 8 million annually.

The Sport Fish restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Getting outdoors does a body good.

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This is Passport to Texas

We have more than a million acres of parks and outdoor spaces in Texas, which means recreational opportunities abound, as do the health benefits of being active outside.

It’s recommended adults get a full 30 minutes a day … and children a full hour. Benefits of regular activity include: better overall bodily health as well as improved mental health.

Local and state parks offer something from everyone: from hike and bike trails, to swimming, rock climbing, paddling, and geocaching.

The opportunity for outdoor play is limited only by your imagination!

Being outside means breathing fresh air… and the varying terrain offers challenges to a workout you can’t get from a treadmill at home.

Side stepping puddles, leaping up rocks, and traversing up and down hills exercise your balance and stability in addition to the cardiovascular system.

The outdoor alternative is also more affordable than the gym, as many state parks offer low-cost admission. So go ahead and get out, because life’s better outside.

Find a park or scenic trail near you at texasstateparks.org.

That’s our show…Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Coastal Birds and Birders segment coming up on Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS.

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This is Passport to Texas

The Texas coast is rich with bird life and year-round birding opportunities. Next week discover what all the fuss is about on the award-winning Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS, when ornithologist, Cliff Shackelford takes a group of birders to what he calls a “mecca”.

We are at Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary on Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston County and this is a mecca for birds, for water birds, for shorebirds that use the Texas coast.

[Alice Anne Odonell] Does everybody see the skimmer, going right down that very first wave? You can always go down to the beach and see anywhere from fifteen to thirty species of birds, no matter whether it’s in the spring or the hot summer time.

[Cliff] There are birds here for many reasons, for foraging for roosting and some are even here for nesting. This time of year we have least terns and Willetts.

[Birder] I see it. The least tern went back to the nest.

[Cliff] Oh good, good, good, yes excellent!

Coastal Birds and Birders airs next week on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS. Check your local listings.

The Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Chandler River Park. New parking lot for anglers so they have better access to the water. Image from East Texas Woods and Water.

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This is Passport to Texas

Chandler River Park on the Neches River is a model for public/private partnerships that provide free access to our state’s rivers, which can sometimes be hard to find.

It’s certainly going to be the model that I’m going to use in the future.

Beginning in 2012, Richard Ott, an inland fisheries biologist based in Tyler, worked with a diverse group of public and private organizations to lease and develop the site.

It was complete in 2013. We then were able to get some additional grants to improve the boat ramp on the south side of the bridge. And then in 2016, with another grant, we were able to put in a kayak launch. So, we’ve also got that as one of our paddling trail locations. So, it’s a really multi-functional location.

East Texas Woods and Water paid for the site’s 20 year lease, says Ott. And TxDOT created safe parking and road improvements. Texas Parks and Wildlife develops sites based on angler input.

This was a location that traditionally anglers had concentrated, and fished on the banks, on all four sides of the bridge. And once we located where the anglers and the fish interfaced, we knew that was where we wanted to develop these access sites.

Find out where Texas Parks and Wildlife has agreements with landowners that allow public fishing and boating access through private property, on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.