Passport to Texas

Colin Pack of Round Rock caught Toyota ShareLunker 548 from Lake Austin March 27, image by Nathan Reynolds, © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Angling: Donating Largemouth Bass Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

If you reel in a largemouth bass from Texas waters, and it weighs 13-pounds or more, donate it to the Toyota Sharelunker program through the end of the month; you’ll help spawn the next generation of big bass.

To donate a fish, handle it as little as possible, then…

Get a weight on it. If you have a set of scales that you feel like are close enough that you can actually say it’s a good enough weight to call us, weigh it and let us know.

David Campbell coordinated the program for 26 years before retiring in 2012. He explains what to do if you think you have a lunker, and want to donate it to the program.

We would like to have these fish in our possession in less than 12 hours. I realize sometimes if you’re on the other side of the state of Texas is may take me a few hours to get there. If you have to go somewhere and have that fish weighed, leave it in the water in aerated live well or whatever it is, try not to dry the fish off. If that fish weighs 13-pounds on a set of certified scales—whether it’s for business or whatever it is—give us a call as quick as possible. And we dispatch a vehicle; and take care of it until we get there. That’s the main thing.

Log onto the Texas parks and Wildlife website for more information.

That’s our show…with support from the Wildlife and Sport Fish restoration Program…providing funding for the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

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

Donald Deville of Ville Platte, Louisiana, caught Toyota ShareLunker 547 from Lake Fork March 20, Larry D. Hodge, © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Angling: Breeding Bigger Bass Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

The Toyota ShareLunker program takes largemouth bass—13-pounds or more—and uses them to breed even bigger bass. By placing the males and females in the same tank, you’d think nature would take its course. It’s not that easy, says David Campbell.

04—It’s very hard to get these older fish to spawn in a strange environment.

Campbell retired from TPW in 2012, after 46 years with the agency, and 26 years managing the ShareLunker program. The bass donated to the program are ten years old or more, making their journey to the spawning tanks more stressful.

08—When you catch a thirteen-pound bass with a rod and reel, that’s not something you just reel in real quick and get it out of the water and put it in a live well—it usually takes some time, and it stresses the fish.

Music and dim lights work to calm humans and put them in the mood for romance. I asked, in jest, whether Campbell tried such mood enhancers with the bass.

11—(laughter) We haven’t tried it, but we have thought about it. (chuckles) We thought about a lot of this in the first few years of the program because we found it was extremely difficult to get them to spawn.

They’re doing something right, because they’ve stocked nearly a million fry in lakes from the Sharelunker program. Donating your catch to the program…that’s tomorrow.

The Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series and provides funding for the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

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

Johnny Spruiell of Iowa caught ShareLunker 546 , Cody Talley, © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Angling: The Sharelunker Program Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

Anglers know they can find big bass in Texas.

06—We have more big bass caught in Texas than anywhere I know of. I’m talking about anywhere in the United States or anywhere in the world.

From its inception in 1986, until he retired from Parks and Wildlife in 2012, David Campbell coordinated the bass spawning program at Parks and Wildlife, called the Toyota ShareLunker program.

17—I know there’s been some bigger fish caught in California, Florida—but it’s the numbers of big fish. And the anglers can go to almost any reservoir in the state of Texas and have the potential of catching a thirteen pound plus large-mouth bass. I don’t think that Anyone else can come close to that.

Anglers who reel in largemouth bass weighing 13-pounds or more are encouraged to donate their catch to the ShareLunker program. The donated bass enter into a spawning program, with the hope of creating faster growing, bigger bass.

11—We’ve had somewhere in the neighborhood of three quarter of a million fry from the sharelunkers through the years. We only had one year last year. We’ve had some years we didn’t have any spawn. Then some years we might have five, six or seven spawn.

The challenges of breeding bass in captivity…that’s tomorrow.

That’s our show for today…with support fro the Sport Fish Restoration Program…providing funding for the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens…

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

Guadalupe Bass

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Nearly 40 years ago, Texas Parks and Wildlife began stocking smallmouth bass in the streams and reservoirs in the Edwards Plateau region to improve Hill Country angling opportunities. The unforeseen result: the fish hybridized with the native Guadalupe Bass (known only to those waters) threatening to displace the State Fish of Texas.

02—It’s got its problems and its challenges.

Dr. Gary Garrett says the plight of the species goes beyond hybridization. Inadequate land management caused changes to GB habitat, which also exacted a toll.

Over the past 20 years, fisheries research biologists, like Dr. Garrett – who heads up the watershed conservation program for Texas Parks and Wildlife – landowners, and others have worked together to help improve land and conserve GB habitat using an ecosystem approach.

29— The help is everything from restoring grasslands on the uplands; helping to restore and preserve good riparian habitat; preventing erosion; keeping sediment flows properly balanced within the streams; good water quality and water quantity. You don’t just stock more fish and they’re happier and everything’s cool. You do all of these things together to make a solid, sound, healthy ecosystem, and everything flourishes within it – especially our state fish.

Tomorrow: Life in the city affects life outside of the city.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series and funds conservation projects in Texas.

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

Hunstville State Park’s Lake Raven

Parks/Angling: Lake Raven for Bass fishing Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

Largemouth bass fishing reigns supreme in Texas; while most anglers choose to cast in big lakes like Amistad, our SP Guide, Bryan Frazier tells us smaller State Park lakes, like Lake Raven, might surprise you.

53— Lake Raven, only 210 acres, inside Huntsville State Park – very scenic — was rated as the number one bass lake for bass in the 14 to 17-inch size. And one of the top overall lakes that was done in the study for all year. It gets overlooked a lot. Lake Raven is just one example. Bass fishing in Texas is legendary; it is maybe the model fishery for the rest of the United States. And the inland fisheries department here does a fantastic job with that. And it’s a good marriage with state parks, because of all the other recreation. And Huntsville SP, where Lake Raven is, has lots of other things to offer. From miles and miles of trails to horseback riding – you can rent horses there – and lots of different things. But the fishing…Lake Raven really is a shining star; smaller bodies of water can oftentimes have great fishing, too. And state parks – when you’re inside a state park, no one even needs a fishing license, with the free fishing in state parks, And Lake raven is one of them. But bass fishing in Texas is king, and Lake Raven is at the top of the list.

Thanks, Bryan.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet, supporting outdoor recreation in Texas; because there’s life to be done.

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