NACOGDOCHES, Texas — An East Texas lake is home to the latest Texas Parks & Wildlife ShareLunker!
On Thursday, Kellie Renfro reeled in a 13.27 bass on Lake Nacogdoches.
Not only did the fish qualify for the ShareLunker program, it was Renfro's personal best catch.
Texas ShareLunker season runs from January - March, and that is when female bass are breeding. If you catch a ShareLunker weighing more than 13 pounds, you’re urged to call the ShareLunker program where their biologists will come to the lake and retrieve it.
Once ShareLunkers are collected from Texas lakes, they're brought to the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) in Athens.
Tony Owens is the hatchery manager at TFFC and runs the "lunker bunker," where ShareLunkers stay until spawning season starts.
“It’s our job to get them acclimated to this place, a new environment, treat them if they need to be treated," says Owens. “That’s when we’ll pair these big females with male bass that are off-springs of past ShareLunker spawns."
When the weather warms and fish start naturally spawning, the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center pairs selective breeding with DNA to create these large fish. It’s hereditary genetics that all started with ShareLunker No. 1, a fish affectionately called "Ethel."