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Three "Bass-Geteers" Land Somerville Record, ShareLunker 464
Lake near College Station produces its first ShareLunker
 March 5, 2009 - ATHENS, Texas - Steven Vela of Lyons knows that sometimes you
need a little help from your friends. Fishing right at the Lake Somerville Marina Wednesday, Vela landed a 13.6-pound largemouth that is the new lake record and the first ShareLunker to come from the
lake. But he didn’t do it alone. On Sunday his friend Bobby Vanwinkle hooked what they believe was the same fish in the same spot, but it got off at the boat. Vela was
fishing with Vanwinkle and Larry Martinez when he hooked the big bass Wednesday, and Martinez lipped it and brought it aboard. The catch came about 6:15 p.m. in
six to seven feet of water. Vela was using a jig.
The fish is the 10th to be entered into the ShareLunker program during the current season. Four
fish have come from Lake Conroe, two from Choke Canyon Reservoir and one each from Lake Fork, Caddo Lake and a private lake. Lake Somerville was stocked with largemouth bass
in 1967, the year it was impounded. In 1990, 2000, 2001 and 2008 the lake was stocked with Florida largemouth bass. Stockings in those four years amounted to more than 1 million fingerlings and fry.
Anyone legally catching a 13-pound or larger largemouth bass can enter it into the ShareLunker
program by calling program manager David Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or paging him at (888) 784-0600 and leaving a number, including area code.Anglers receive a fiberglass replica of their
trophy and ShareLunker clothing and are honored at a banquet at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens after the close of the season, which ends April 30th
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It’s True: Caddo Lake Holds Monsters
 ATHENS, Texas (03/03/09) - Caddo Lake has long been a lake of mystery, spawning rumors of strange happenings and sightings of mythical creatures.
Ronnie Arnold of Karnack met one of those creatures face to face Monday: a 15.1-pound largemouth bass that became the latest entry into the ShareLunker
program. The fish was 22 inches in girth and 27 inches in length.
Perseverance is important whenever one pursues monsters of the deep, and Arnold’s experience is an example. “I was fishing in the same area where I’d
hooked and lost a big fish a month ago,” he said. His first impression was that he’d caught just another ordinary bass. “I’ve caught four-pounders that fought harder,” he said. “But when I got
it up on top, I saw it was a big fish.”
Arnold was fishing in 5 1/2 feet of water with a crankbait. He was quick to clear up the mystery about where he caught it: “On the Texas side.”
Arnold’s catch becomes the sixth ShareLunker entry from the East Texas lake, but it’s not the
biggest. In 1992 Bobby Shaver of Waskom caught the current lake record, a 16.01-pounder.
The last ShareLunker to come from the lake was caught just more than 10 years ago, on February 22, 1998.
Arnold’s fish is the ninth entry into the ShareLunker program this season and the fourth to weigh 15 pounds or better.
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Fork Fish Means ShareLunker Season Is NOW!
ATHENS, Texas - ”Bruce Peel of Granbury landed the fifth ShareLunker of the season Thursday, a 13.13-pounder from Lake Fork.
You could almost hear the big bass season kick into high gear.Lake Fork has produced 240 of the 459 entries in the ShareLunker program, a whopping 52 percent. It doesn’t
always produce the first fish of the season, and in 2006 Lake Alan Henry actually produced more lunkers.But when that first fish from Lake Fork does take up residence in the Lunker Bunker at the Texas
Freshwater Fisheries Center, it’s a sign that the busy season is here. Game on.
Peel caught his fish in 16 feet of water on the edge of White Oak Creek using a four-inch Big Bite
Beaver in watermelon. “It was the second place we tried. We’d been on the water only a couple of hours,” said Peel, who was fishing with his wife. “I was looking for grass that might
hold some heat.” Water temperature at the time was 51.7 degrees. Peel didn’t find the grass before the big bass hit. When he finally wrestled it into the boat, he almost released it
immediately. “Then I thought, maybe I ought to have this fish weighed,” he said. That decision wins Peel a fiberglass replica of his fish, ShareLunker clothing, and a trip to Athens for the
ShareLunker awards banquet in June.
Lake Fork and other lakes in Texas will be winners, too, if TPWD biologists are successful in
spawning this year’s crop of lunkers. Offspring are stocked into lakes that produced lunkers.
To enter a fish into the program, call program manager David Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or page
him at (888) 784-0600 and leave a number, including area code. Campbell or another TPWD staffer will pick the fish up within 12 hours.
“The ShareLunker Program has done a lot for fishing in Texas,”Peel said. “Come to Lake Fork to catch the fish of a lifetime.” You heard the man.
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Choke Canyon Gives Up Seventh ShareLunker
15.45-pound bass is also new lake record
 ATHENS, Texas—Brad Bookmyer of Leander had his fishing trip cut short January 21, but he was happy about it. After hooking two fish so big
he could not turn them and keep them from getting off the hook, he landed a 15.45-pound largemouth bass that was 22 inches in girth and 26.25 inches long.
The fish is the seventh ShareLunker to come from Choke Canyon and weighs nearly a pound more than the previous lake record, a 14.66-pounder caught in 1991.
Bookmyer was fishing in 10 feet of 53-degree water when the fish took a crankbait. “I immediately quit fishing to get the fish into the
minnow tank at the Calliham Store as soon as possible,” Bookmyer said.
 The fish is the third to be entered into the ShareLunker program during the current season,
which runs through April 30. Anyone legally catching a largemouth bass in Texas waters, public or private, weighing 13 pounds or more can enter the fish into the program by calling
program manager David Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or by paging him at (888) 784-0600 and leaving an area code and phone number.
ATHENS, Texas - Choke Canyon Reservoir produced another ShareLunker on Sunday, February 15.
Troy Brauchle of Helotes pulled a 15-pounder from Choke Canyon Reservoir, the second time
in less than a month the lake south of San Antonio has produced a fish weighing 15 pounds or better. On January 21 Brad Bookmyer of Leander set a new water body record with a 15.45-pounder.
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Budweiser ShareLunker Season 23 Began October 1, 2008
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Budweiser ShareLunker Season Off to Early Start
 ATHENS, Texas—John True of Dallas kicked
off the 2008-2009 Budweiser ShareLunker season October 3 with a 13.38-pound largemouth bass from a private lake in Rusk County.
True was fishing with his three-year-old son, Jack, when the fish took a Senko in 10 feet of water. The fish was 26.75 inches long and 20 inches in girth.
Only five other fish have been entered into the ShareLunker Program in October. The first was Scott Tongate’s 16.02-pounder from Possum Kingdom Lake caught October 13, 1989. The
latest was Danny McBride’s 13.16-pound Lake Fork lunker, caught October 29, 2004.
True’s fish is the earliest October entry, but other fish have been entered earlier in the year. One fish was entered in July, two in August and one in
September because of special circumstances. Normally fish are accepted into the Budweiser ShareLunker Program only from October 1 through April 30.
Any angler legally catching a largemouth bass weighing 13 pounds or more may enter it into the Budweiser ShareLunker Program by calling program manager David Campbell at (903) 681-0550
or paging him at (888) 784-0600 and leaving an area code and number.
Anglers entering fish into the program receive ShareLunker clothing, a fiberglass replica of their catch, and recognition at a banquet at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens following
the close of the season.
The Budweiser ShareLunker program is made possible through support from Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Since 1991, Anheuser-Busch, in partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation,
has contributed millions of dollars in funding to support conservation causes and fishing, hunting and outdoor recreation programs in Texas.
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Return To Lake Conroe ShareLunker’s Caught In 2009 Season
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