Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

The 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 program coordinator, David Campbell.

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

The bass donated to the ShareLunker program are ten years old or more—which makes them eligible for membership in the aquatic equivalent of AARP. Besides, the journey to the spawning tanks is stressful.L

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.

Do you feel romantic when you’re exhausted and stressed? Apparently, neither do bass. Music and dim lights work for humans. 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.

Helping the cause by donating your lunker…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

Lunkers in the Mood (or not) for Love Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

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.

David Campbell coordinates a bass spawning program at Parks and Wildlife, called the 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 through the end of April 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.

10—We’ve had somewhere in the neighborhood of three quarter of a million fry from the ShareLunkers through the years. 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.

ShareLunker Program Overview Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is passport to Texas Outdoor Stories

Bill Harwell’s paternal grandmother and his great aunt loved to fish… and often invited Bill and his cousin to share the adventure.

59—One night I got the exciting news that my great aunt had come into possession of what we called a pontoon boat. But the even better part of it was we were going to go night fishing, which we had never done before. Her living in Atlanta, the best place to put in was a big lake, just southwest of Texarkana called Wright Patman Lake. And so my cousin and I – we were probably about eight…nine…ten years old at the time…this is around 1960 -61 something like that — get all of our gear aboard the two of us and these two ladies… They tell us they’d been told that the best thing to attract fish, above and beyond the worms and the minnows, is to hang a couple of lanterns off the side of the pontoon boat…. maybe that is the best way to do it… but my main recollection of this was just this incredible plague-like swarm of June bugs, mosquitoes…getting bugs of all sorts and shapes in our soft drinks….up our noses….we did do some good fishing, but the overwhelming remaining impression of night fishing for me is lots and lots of bugs.

Share your Texas outdoor memory… by logging onto passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Texas Outdoor Story: Bill, the Boat, and the Bugs Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Budding artists take note: draw or paint any recognized state fish, include an essay on the species, and you might just win a great prize.

14—The Toyota Texas Bass Classic sponsors this, and they give us money for prizes; also for travel to the National Expo Awards Ceremony—which this year will be at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

Zoeann Stinchcomb, with the Texas Freshwater Fisheries center in Athens, says the competition is open to fourth through twelfth graders, and prizes range from $50 to $1,000! And all winners go on to the national competition.

14—This is one of my favorite times of the year, once we start getting the entries in, because I don’t think most people realize how many talented students we have as far as artwork goes—it’s amazing.

Students must also submit an essay about the fish they draw in order for judges to consider their entry.

16—The idea on that is they have to do a little bit of research about the fish that they’re going to be representing. And, they have to be able to tell us something about that fish, either the conservation status, the biology or ecology of that fish… And they can even put it in story form.

Deadline to submit an entry is March 31…the Expo and awards ceremony is June 25. Find contest details at www.statefishart.com.

That’s our show… with support from the Sport Fish Restoration program…providing funding for management of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

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

State Fish Art Competition, 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download