Fishing at its best

By Larry Hodge

ATHENS, Texas—The water temperature may be only 61 degrees, but Lake Conroe is on fire.
Thursday afternoon the lake just north of Houston churned out its fourth ShareLunker of the current season, a 13.8-pound largemouth bass caught by Renee Linderoth of Conroe.
The big bass is the sixteenth ShareLunker to come from Lake Conroe, giving the lake a solid grip on the number four spot on the list of top big bass lakes in Texas, after Lake Fork, with 240 entries, Alan Henry (25) and Sam Rayburn (23).
Linderoth was fishing in two feet of water south of the F.M. 1097 bridge when the fish took a Hula Grub. “I have to give credit to my fishing guide, Ron Higgins of Higgy’s Freshwater Adventures,” Linderoth said. “Without him putting me in the right place and fishing the right way, I would not have caught this fish.”
Higgins also gets credit for the bass being entered into the ShareLunker program rather than being immediately released. Linderoth grew up fishing with her father but had not fished in recent years until buying a boat. “I had not heard of the ShareLunker program and was going to release the fish, but Ron said ‘No, we have to get it weighed and see if it is a ShareLunker,’” she explained.
Shortly afterward the fish was swimming in a minnow tank at April Plaza Marina and ShareLunker program manager David Campbell was on his way to pick it up.
Anyone legally catching a 13-pound or larger largemouth bass in Texas waters between October 1 and April 30 can enter it into the ShareLunker program by calling Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or paging him at (888) 784-0600 and leaving a number, including area code. The fish are used in a selective breeding program at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center aimed at increasing the size and number of big bass in Texas.

By Larry Hodge

ATHENS, Texas—Lake Conroe and Choke Canyon Reservoir each produced another ShareLunker on Sunday, February 15.
ShareLunker No. 460 took Mark Goetzman’s Brush Hog about 10 a.m. on Lake Conroe. The fish weighed 13.13 pounds and was 25 inches long and 20 inches in girth.
That afternoon Troy Brauchle of Helotes pulled a 15-pounder from Choke Canyon Reservoir, the second time in less than a month the lake south of San Antonio has produced a fish weighing 15 pounds or better. On January 21 Brad Bookmyer of Leander set a new water body record with a 15.45-pounder.
If the name Goetzman sounds familiar, it’s because Mark is the father of Tyler Goetzman, who caught a 13.06-pounder, ShareLunker No. 442, from Lake Conroe on January 13, 2008. And Tyler was fishing with Kyle Nitschke December 13, 2008, when Nitschke caught ShareLunker No. 456, a 13.07-pounder.
If you go fishing on Lake Conroe and want to catch a ShareLunker, it might be a good idea to have Tyler Goetzman in the boat with you.
Anglers who legally catch a 13-pound or bigger fish in Texas waters, public or private, can enter it into the ShareLunker Program by calling (903) 681-0550 or paging program manager David Campbell at (888) 784-0600 and leaving a number, including area code.

Troy Brauchle of Helotes caught this 15.0-pound largemouth bass from Choke Canyon Reservoir February 15. The fish was 25.75 inches long and 22.75 inches in girth.

By Larry Hodge

Bruce Peel caught ShareLunker No. 459 from Lake Fork February 12. The fish was 25.75 inches long and 20.5 inches in girth. TPWD Photo © 2009, Larry D. Hodge

ATHENS, Texas—Bruce Peel of Granbury landed the fifth ShareLunker of the season Thursday, a 13.13-pounder from Lake Fork.
You could almost hear the big bass season kick into high gear.
Lake Fork has produced 240 of the 459 entries in the ShareLunker program, a whopping 52 percent. It doesn’t always produce the first fish of the season, and in 2006 Lake Alan Henry actually produced more lunkers.
But when that first fish from Lake Fork does take up residence in the Lunker Bunker at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center, it’s a sign that the busy season is here.
Game on.
Peel caught his fish in 16 feet of water on the edge of White Oak Creek using a four-inch Big Bite Beaver in watermelon. “It was the second place we tried. We’d been on the water only a couple of hours,” said Peel, who was fishing with his wife. “I was looking for grass that might hold some heat.” Water temperature at the time was 51.7 degrees.
Peel didn’t find the grass before the big bass hit. When he finally wrestled it into the boat, he almost released it immediately. “Then I thought, maybe I ought to have this fish weighed,” he said.
That decision wins Peel a fiberglass replica of his fish, ShareLunker clothing, and a trip to Athens for the ShareLunker awards banquet in June.
Lake Fork and other lakes in Texas will be winners, too, if TPWD biologists are successful in spawning this year’s crop of lunkers. Offspring are stocked into lakes that produced lunkers.
To enter a fish into the program, call program manager David Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or page him at (888) 784-0600 and leave a number, including area code. Campbell or another TPWD staffer will pick the fish up within 12 hours.
“The ShareLunker Program has done a lot for fishing in Texas,” Peel said. “Come to Lake Fork to catch the fish of a lifetime.”
You heard the man.

By Larry Hodge

15.93-pound bass is also new lake record

Ricky Bearden caught the new Lake Conroe largemouth bass record January 30. The fish weighed 15.93 pounds - TPWD Photo © 2009, David Campbell

ATHENS, Texas—Ricky Bearden of Conroe set a new water body record for largemouth bass January 30 when he pulled a 15.93-pound fish from two feet of water in Lake Conroe.

The big bass now holds the number 24 spot on the list of the top 50 largemouth bass ever caught in Texas.

Bearden was fishing with a plastic worm in 54-degree water when the big bass took the bait about 12:15 p.m. Friday. The fish was 27 inches long and 22 inches in girth.

“It’s one of the healthiest-looking fish entered into the ShareLunker program in some time,” said ShareLunker program manager David Campbell.

The fish is the second ShareLunker to come from Lake Conroe during the current season. On December 13 Kyle Nitschke used a crankbait to land a 13.07-pound fish that is the junior angler state record largemouth bass.

“What’s driving this is the continued stocking of Lake Conroe with Florida largemouth bass,” said Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) fisheries biologist Mark Webb, who manages the fishery. “In addition to the bass that TPWD stocks, the Lake Conroe Restocking Association purchases fish from Tyler Fish Farms and stocks them into the lake after they have been tested and certified to be Florida bass.”

Since 2000 more than 1.7 million Florida largemouth bass fingerlings have been stocked into the lake.

Lake Conroe has also been the object of intensive vegetation management by TPWD and the San Jacinto River Authority, resulting in the removal of most of the hydrilla in the lake. Native vegetation is being established in its place. “Anglers are figuring out how to fish the lake in the absence of hydrilla,” said TPWD fisheries technician Mike Gore. “They’re throwing more crankbaits and Carolina-rigged plastic worms. The fish are out there. You just have to know how to catch them.”Lake Conroe has now produced 14 ShareLunkers. Only Lake Fork, Lake Alan Henry and Sam Rayburn Reservoir have produced more 13-pound-plus fish.

Anyone legally catching a largemouth bass weighing 13 pounds or more from Texas waters, public or private, can enter the fish into the ShareLunker program. Fish will be picked up by TPWD personnel and taken to the Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, where they are used in a selective breeding program that aims to increase the size and number of big bass in Texas. To have a fish picked up, call David Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or page him at (888) 784-0600 and leave a number, including area code. Anglers receive a fiberglass replica of their catch and ShareLunker clothing.