Ron Henry Strait: Falcon Lake's bounty too much even for bass pros
Web Posted: 04/12/2008 10:20 PM CDT
Ron Henry Strait
San Antonio Express-News
Texas is ready for big-time bass fishing, but is big-time bass fishing ready for what Texas has to offer?
Under normal conditions, the answer is yes. Major tournaments such as the Bassmaster Elite Series are ready for most anything a fishery can offer.
That is, until Falcon Lake's offering hit the scales last weekend at the Lone Star Shootout.
In four days, Falcon gave up 31/2 tons of bass to Elite Series professionals and co-anglers.
Professional bass fishing had not seen such numbers before. Among the 1,386 bass (6,811 pounds) were dozens of fish heavier than 8 pounds and one caught last Friday that weighed more than 13 pounds.
That many big bass with a 13-pound headliner is big fishing news.
BASS, an ESPN-affiliated company that operates the Elite Series, took note of it all and the fact that the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department's Inland Fisheries Division had donated the 13-pounder to the ShareLunker program.
But Saturday morning, there were whispers that the 13-pounder might have died.
Elite tournament director Trip Weldon last week confirmed that news and more about bass mortality at Falcon. A total of 158 (11 percent) of the bass weighed at the Shootout died before they could be returned to the lake.
The mortality was higher than might be expected under normal conditions, said Phil Durocher, director of TPW's Inland Fisheries Division, and it is a matter of concern for TPW.
"What happened at Falcon was not the usual conditions," Durocher said.
No one, even locals, expected nearly 7,000 pounds of live fish to be brought to the scales.
Weldon said losing one bass is losing one too many, but the two live-release pontoon barges that BASS operates at all its tournaments were overwhelmed by so many huge fish.
Each barge sports a 750-gallon, oxygen-enriched holding tank. As the fish were weighed and sent to the barges, the tanks were trying to support as much as 700 pounds of bass at a time before they were sent to the open lake to be discharged. One gallon of enriched water per pound of bass proved insufficient to revive stressed fish.
Other factors were involved as well: The fish were pulled quickly from deep water to the surface; and the lake water temperature was in the 80-degree range.
Add to that, Weldon said, the 13-pounder was caught at 8:30 a.m. and hauled around in a bass boat live well for more than 8 hours. It made it to the scales alive, but died in a TPW holding tank about midnight Friday.
Randy Myers, TPW Inland Fisheries district biologist in San Antonio, agreed that fish stress, depth, lake-water temperatures and tournament mortality are linked.
That's why TPW is studying ways to increase bass survival, he said, and it's not just to help anglers.
Big bass are good for local economies, Myers said. Huge catches in televised tournaments can mean booms.
Of course, TPW is not alone in its desire to help the fish that are laying the golden eggs.
"I've been talking to BASS about different formats," Durocher said. "(BASS) is a leader in conservation and has been real innovative in its approach to these issues."
Weldon echoed the BASS conservation message and said the immediate response for this weekend's Elite event in Del Rio was to cut the co-angler limit from five to three fish a day. Co-anglers caught sixty-five of the dead fish at Falcon.
Durocher said another innovation to watch is the format for the Toyota Texas Bass Classic set for next weekend at Lake Fork. As each bass is weighed and recorded, it is immediately released alive back into the lake.
Mortality at last year's TTBC? "I'm not aware of any bass that died at the (TTBC)," Durocher said.
Zero mortality is a Texas bass record that all tournament anglers are ready to see.