ShareLunker program winds down below average, with 13 entries

The 2007-08 Bud ShareLunker program rolled to a close April 30 with well-below-average fanfare. ShareLunker is run by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The program solicits anglers to put Texas-caught bass weighing 13 pounds or more on loan to the state for spawning and genetics research.

ShareLunker has averaged about 20 entries per year since its inception in November of 1986. This year's total of 13 entries from 10 different lakes is the fifth lowest lowest total recorded in the program's history. It is well off the record mark of 36 bass collected in 1994-95.

FLW Outdoors photo (enlarge photo) Texas bass pro Sean Hoernke's first FLW Tour win paid off nicely - $150,000. Hoernke is the first angler to notch a win at every FLW Outdoors bass tournament level.

Lake Fork produced more entries this season (3) than any other lake, followed by Falcon (2). Lakes Conroe, Toledo Bend, Waco, Amistad, Richland-Chambers, Sam Rayburn, Casa Blanca and Tyler State Park yielded one entry apiece.

Interestingly, the biggest bass turned over to the program this season came from the smallest lake on the list. Brett Harris of Tyler won the Bud ShareLunker Angler of the Year title with a 14.5 pound bass he caught on March 17 from a 64-acre lake located inside Tyler State Park.

The 27.75 inch bass had an equally large appetite. Harris caught it on a rainbow trout pattern swim bait. He chose the lure to simulate the rainbow trout that are stocked in the small lake each winter by TPWD.

Harris will receive a lifetime fishing license valued at $600 for catching the year's heaviest entry. All participants will be awarded Bud ShareLunker clothing and a free fiberglass replica of their fish.

Two of 2007-08 entries died, a 13.75 pounder from Toledo Bend and a 13.13 pounder from Lake Falcon. Two of the remaining 11 entries have achieved successful spawns, according to program leader David Campbell.

Campbell said a 13.05 pounder caught from Richland-Chambers Reservoir by Jeremy Bruton of Blooming Grove was the most productive of all. Bruton's fish spawned four times.

Robert Taylor's 13.25 pounder caught from Sam Rayburn spawned twice. Together the fish produced more than 110,000 eggs.

Campbell said more than half of the fry will be retained as part of the state's Operation World Record program. The youngsters will be reared in hatchery ponds and grown to six inches in length before they are stocked in designated OWR research lakes. The remaining fry will be released into their lakes of origin.

Campbell also noted that descendents of previous Bud ShareLunkers retained for use in the OWR program produced more than 250,000 bass fry this year. Those fish will be used in hatchery reproduction program.

Five of the ShareLunker entries from 2007-08 have already been returned to their home lakes - Fork (2), Waco, Richland-Chambers and Conroe.

Hoernke racks of $150,000 in FLW Tour win

Pro angler Sean Hoernke of Magnolia recently proved he is capable of winning at any level. Hoernke, 31, won the FLW Tour National Guard Open held April 24-27 on Lake Normal in Charlotte, N.C.

The victory, his first at the tour level, paid him $150,000. Hoernke also as earned titles on the FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League and BASS Open circuits. He is the only angler FLW Outdoors history to win at every tournament level the organization offers.

"The four are complete," Hoernke told reporters following his most recent victory. "I've won at every level of FLW competition. Now I'll wake up in the morning and set some new goals. But I'm going to relish this win for a day or two first."

Falcon still on fire

The big bass fire continues to blaze at Lake Falcon in deep South Texas. Bass Champs hosted a South Division qualifier there on April 26. It took better than a seven-pound average with five fish to win, and more than a five-pound average to collect a check.

Terry Oldham and Jaime Buitron won the team event with 37.84 pounds and racked up $20,000. The first team out of the check cut in 28th place had 26 pounds, 10 ounces. Eighty teams weighed in five bass limits weighing upwards of 20 pounds.

Spring squirrel season underway

May 1 marked the beginning of one spring hunting season in East Texas and the end of another. The month-long spring squirrel hunting season got underway last Thursday in 51 East Texas counties, while the spring gobbler season across the region closed on April 30.

Spring squirrel hunters should be particularly careful when maneuvering in the woods this time of year, as warming weather trends have caused poisonous snakes like copperheads, water moccasins and timber rattlers to get active.

It also would be wise protect yourself from vectors such as moquitoes, ticks and chigger with a good insect repellant. Insects can pass on some nasty diseases to humans, including Lyme disease and West Nile disease.

The spring squirrel hunting season closes May 31. The daily limit is 10 per day.