Choke Canyon Produces ShareLunker No. 469
March 23, 2009
ATHENS — Choke Canyon Reservoir continued its big bass bonanza March
20 with another ShareLunker, a 13.12-pounder caught by Joseph B.
Thoman, Jr., of Farmersville, Louisiana.
Thoman was fishing in the Texas Bass Club for the Deaf tournament
when he caught the fish, which was 25.25 inches long and 21.25 inches
in girth.
Meanwhile, the Bass Champs South Region team tournament, also taking
place on Choke Canyon on Saturday, weighed in two potential
ShareLunkers at the Calliham Store. Store owner Brian W. Loy certified
the weights as 14.47 and 15.27 pounds. Unfortunately, neither fish
survived.
No tournament has ever weighed in more than one 13-pound-plus fish,
and the fact that two tournaments on the same lake produced three in
two days is extremely good news for Texas fishing.
The deaths of the two big fish has generated quite a bit of
discussion both within Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the
tournament industry about ways to avoid similar tragedies in the
future.
Tim Cook, state conservation director for the Texas B.A.S.S.
Federation Nation, fished the Choke Canyon tournament. “No one wants
to see big fish like these survive more than a tournament angler. We
want the opportunity to catch that fish again when she’s bigger, but
a little extra help may be necessary such as the ability to weigh that
fish early in a tournament,” he said “I am a big advocate for
anglers policing themselves and not for government regulation. I
believe that we can successfully work to reduce ShareLunker and
tournament mortality.”
Brian W. Loy, himself a former tournament angler on the B.A.S.S. and
FLW trails, established a ShareLunker holding station at the Calliham
Store as a way of helping big fish survive. Sometimes the problem is
getting fish to the store, and Loy is ready to help. “I will provide
a boat and operator with the right gear to keep big fish alive to go
pick up fish during any tournament with more than 100 boats,” he
said. “We will bring the fish to the store, get a certified weight
on them, and put them in a tank where they will have a better chance
of surviving than in a livewell.”
Loy says the common perception that big bass are tougher than small
bass is not true. “People don’t realize how delicate these big
fish are,” he said. “They really need delicate handling.”
David Campbell, ShareLunker program manager, encourages anglers to
handle fish as little as possible, always support the head and tail
when moving or photographing them, and getting them to a minnow tank
at a marina or ShareLunker holding station as soon as possible after
catching the fish. Suggested handling and care procedures can be found
at
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/visitorcenters/tffc/sharelunker/handle/.
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