SHARELUNKER PROGRAM: Will you be lucky enough to 
catch a trophy-sized bass? ... details on Passport to 
Texas.

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife
and the Sport Fish Restoration Program

Largemouth bass are a prized catch for Texas anglers. 
And fishermen who donate live bass, weighing thirteen 
pounds or more, to the Budweiser ShareLunker Program 
help state fisheries biologists to breed larger, healthier 
specimens for stocking in Texas reservoirs.

Allen Forshage (for-SAH-ghee) is Director of the Texas 
Freshwater Fisheries Center, home to the program.

The ShareLunker Program is probably the reason this facility is 
here. The way this center was built, particularly the extensive 
hatcheries, improved our ability to do a selective breeding 
program where we've taking these ShareLunkers and spawning 
them with males that are also offspring of ShareLunkers in an 
effort to try to improve the genetics of fish that we put back into 
public lakes. :20
 
Anglers who donate a qualified fish receive recognition 
for their donation, as well as a fiberglass replica of their 
catch. Forshage says the ShareLunker Program has 
reeled in its share of publicity.

One of the measures of success for the program is how many 
column inches are being written about the ShareLunker Program. 
In 2005, there was over 211 feet. A lot of the outdoor writers 
use the ShareLunker Program as a barometer to measure how 
good fishing is in Texas and the last couple of years have been 
some of the best years we've had. :20

Details about the ShareLunker Program are on the Texas 
Parks & Wildlife website.

That's our show for today ... supported by the Sport Fish 
Restoration Program ... providing funding for the 
operations and management of the Texas Freshwater 
Fisheries 	Center. For Texas Parks and Wildlife ... I'm 
Cecilia Nasti