Behind the Scenes at the Lunker Bunker

ShareLunker 547. Texas Parks and Wildlife photo.

Check out the new 14-minute video at the Texas ShareLunker Facebook page. It shows what happened when ShareLunker No. 547 was taken into the Lunker Bunker at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens.

You also can see a video in which Donald Deville tells how he caught that 14.06-pound largemouth at Lake Fork.

Catch Confirms Trophy Bass Await Florida Anglers

Here’s a “fish of a lifetime” certainly worthy of mention.

FWC’s Tom Champeau was fishing with Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris (right) and NASCAR champion Tony Stewart (left) when he caught this 11-pound, 8-ounce largemouth bass.

Capt. Mike Tipton was guiding them on the upper St. Johns River near Three Forks Conservation Area when the big fish struck.

“Catching and releasing a trophy bass while fishing with the founder of our major sponsor was an incredible experience,” said Champeau. “The only way I could have scripted it better would be for either Johnny or Tony to catch her.”

Bass Pro Shops is a major partner for Florida’s new TrophyCatch program.

Champeau’s catch will be entered. But as an FWC employee, he is not eligible for any rewards other than a handsome certificate commemorating his catch.

“Catching a bass of a lifetime, with Johnny Morris and a racing legend like Tony Stewart, was the best reward I could ever ask for,” said Champeau.

Big Bass Plentiful in Florida Waters According to Nosca List

Did you know that two largemouth bass weighing more than the current world record (22 pounds, 4 ounces) might have been caught in Florida years ago?

One of them reportedly weighed 24-12 and was taken in 1974 at Lake Toho, while the other reportedly weighed 23-2 and was captured “circa 1880” in Lake County “near Altoona.”

These are but two of the hefty bass included in Paul Nosca’s All-time Top-25 Biggest Florida Largemouth Bass. The list includes both bass that were certified and/or documented and those that were not. Those two potential record-breakers are among the latter.

To bass of 20 pounds or more are included on the list, with the smallest of the top 25 weighing 17-12.

With Florida just beginning its TrophyCatch program, this list provides a great reminder of the big bass swimming in the waters of the Sunshine State.

Oklahoma Stocking Turns Arbuckle into Big Bass Fishery

Jeff Reynolds and Johnny Thompson hoist their winning limit of largemouth bass Jan. 19 at Lake of the Arbuckles. These five fish weighed 42.04 pounds. (Courtesy of Backyard Bassin' Tournament Trail)

Texas and California aren’t the only states where anglers catch big Florida-strain largemouth bass outside their native range.

Twice during January, Oklahoma’s Lake of the Arbuckles yielded five-fish limits weighing more than 40 pounds during tournaments. That’s an impressive 8-pound-plus average.

"Historically, Arbuckle has not been a great bass fishery. It was dominated by large numbers of small, slow-growing bass," said Gene Gilliland, assistant fisheries chief with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

"In the early 1990s, the Wildlife Department backed off on stocking Florida strain largemouth in Arbuckle because there was a period when the department didn't have enough production from the hatchery to stock Florida bass in very many lakes in the state."

About a decade ago, as the hatcheries' Florida strain largemouth production increased, the Wildlife Department resumed stocking them in Arbuckle and other Oklahoma lakes to enhance the trophy possibilities.

"Those fish have obviously matured," Gilliland said. "The fish that we stocked, or the offspring of those stocked fish, are now turning into these trophy bass that are being caught on a pretty regular basis for about the past three years."

Read more here.

Florida's Black Bass Management Plan Shows Success

Lynn Ogle's Trophy Club bass from Lake Istokpoga. FWC photo.

One year in, the Florida’s Black Bass Management Plan “is moving forward and producing some remarkable results,” according to Bob Wattendorf of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

Among the more notable were a trophy tagging study and implementation of TrophyCatch, a program to promote catch and release of trophy bass.

“FWC biologists tagged 136 trophy largemouth bass greater than 8 pounds in Florida’s public waters,” Wattendorf said. Thus far, “results are very informative,” he added, “and will help guide trophy bass management planning in the future.”

TrophyCatch officially began Oct. 1. Fifteen days later, Corey Dolan began the first entrant with a 12.3-pound bass that he caught in released at Lake Talquin. The program includes three tiers --- Lunker, Trophy, and Hall of Fame --- to encourage reporting and live release of bass heavier than 8 pounds.

Another achievement was development of a technique to spawn bass out-of-season, so advanced fingerlings of 4 inches or more are ready to stock when more abundant prey are available. “Now FWC biologists are conducting a small-lake stocking study to determine survival of advanced-fingerling bass in 11 lakes throughout Florida,” Wattendorf said.

Accomplishments also included the following:

• Staff observed and provided guidance to three national tournament organizations, with bass survival of more than 95 percent. FWC issued more than 2,400 permits, allowing possession of bass outside the legal size limits, with requirement that all fish be released into the tournament water bodies. “FWC is strengthening partnerships with bass fishing organizations and local communities to encourage large tournaments to come to Florida and to enhance facilities,” Wattendorf said.
• FWC teamed with other agencies to restore and enhance recreational fisheries. For example, at Lake Okeechobee, the Water Regulation Schedule was changed to benefit lake ecology. At Lake Apopka, a multi-agency task force identified five projects to restore the bass fishery, as the Florida Legislature appropriated $4.8 million for restoration work.
• FWC developed a position statement for managing hydrilla using a risk-based approach, and now incorporates public input into management plans, as occurred at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, as well as Istokpoga, Apopka, and Orange Lakes.

Goals of the plan include ensuring healthy lakes and rivers, strengthening local economies by documenting and increasing economic benefits derived from bass fishing, and attracting major bass tournaments, which have huge economics impacts and enhance Florida’s reputation as “Black Bass Fishing Capital of the World.”

(This article appeared originally in B.A.S.S. Times.)