Author: Joe Coker

No doubt T.P.W.D. program to restock Texas Lakes and Reservoirs with the Florida Strain Largemouth Bass & the Sharelunker program has been a huge success in producing Large Bass and keeping Texas at the forefront as a Bass Fishing Destination.
In stocking the Florida Strain Bass, the ultimate goal of the T.P.W.D. was to produce the F1 Hybrid Bass, which a cross between Native Largemouth Bass & Florida Strain Largemouth Bass. This F1 Hybrid Bass has all the desired characteristics of both species of Largemouth Bass, the longer life span and durability of the Native Bass and the size & weight of the Florida Strain Bass. What you are seeing at OH Ivie now and what we saw at Lake Fork in the late 1980’s – early 2000’s is the proof of this.
I fished Lake Fork at it’s peak in the middle 1990’s to early 2000’s when healthy issues forced me off the water. I was fishing Lake Fork at the start of it’s decline after the LMB virus kill and the start of the droughts of 2000’s. Lake Fork was your best chance in Texas to catch a 10 pound plus Bass and still get on large school of 50-100 Bass deep.
In 2018, with some of my health concerns behind me , I purchase 2018 Tracker 175TXW and rented storage at Mustang Resort. Game on, at least I thought. In my ten years away from fishing, I found a very different Lake Fork. No hydrilla, very little grass at all and a much smaller bass population. I zeroed more times in 2018 than I did whole time I fished Lake Fork before my health issues.
Many things factored into this LMB Virus Kill of the early 2000’s, the bad spawns as result of the droughts in the 2000’s and SRA & Local Residents spraying toxic chemicals to kill the grass (which kills the habit those areas).
But, I also think not restocking the Native Bass population has played a huge factor of the Lake’s Decline. I think now more than ever with Artic Blast of 2021 that froze the lake solid in many areas of the lake and killed many fish and this current Lake draw down, unless we get a huge amount of rain before late February, we will have two consecutive years where the Spawn was hugely impacted at the Lake Fork.
I do think restocking Lake Fork with both Florida Strain & Native Largemouth Bass and ban on spraying is the best way for Lake Fork to start producing a 12 or more Sharelunker Bass a year again.

So please sign this Petition