Here’s a bit of trivia that explains the predictions by the pros about how well the fishing is setting up this week on Sam Rayburn.
Since impoundment in 1965, Texas Parks and Wildlife has stocked a total of 19 million Florida largemouth bass to increase abundance of trophy fish. It has worked. Annual stockings have occurred since 1994.
As a result, Sam Rayburn has contributed 26 entries to the Toyota ShareLunker program. The lake ranks third behind Lake Fork (257) and Alan Henry (27) for the most bass weighing 13 pounds or more entered into the program for a given fishery. Coincidentally, and this puts a lot into perspective, Toledo Bend comes in with only 7 entries.
Given the competition that is truly remarkable and pays tribute to the fisheries management practices used by Texas Parks and Wildlife to keep this lake healthy and productive. Signs of the benefits are beginning to show up on the leader board. The evidence is the largemouth weighing over 8 pounds caught by Mark Davis.