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Lake Conroe ShareLunker Makes Top 50 List
New Lake Record - 15.93 lbs.
 ATHENS, Texas - Ricky Bearden of Conroe set a new water body record for largemouth bass January 30 when he pulled a 15.93-pound fish from two feet of
water in Lake Conroe.
The big bass now holds the number 24 spot on the list of the top 50 largemouth bass ever caught in Texas.
Bearden was fishing with a plastic worm in 54-degree water when the big bass took the bait about 12:15 p.m. Friday. The fish was
27 inches long and 22 inches in girth.
“It’s one of the healthiest-looking fish entered into the ShareLunker program in some time,” said ShareLunker program manager David Campbell.
The fish is the second ShareLunker to come from Lake Conroe during the current season. On
December 13 Kyle Nitschke used a crankbait to land a 13.07-pound fish that is the junior angler state record largemouth bass.
“Wha’s driving this is the continued stocking of Lake Conroe with Florida largemouth bass,” said
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) fisheries biologist Mark Webb, who manages the fishery. “In addition to the bass that TPWD stocks, the Lake Conroe Restocking Association
purchases fish from Tyler Fish Farms and stocks them into the lake after they have been tested and certified to be Florida bass.”
Since 2000 more than 1.7 million Florida largemouth bass fingerlings have been stocked into the lake.
Lake Conroe has also been the object of intensive vegetation management by TPWD and the
San Jacinto River Authority, resulting in the removal of most of the hydrilla in the lake. Native vegetation is being established in its place. “Anglers are figuring out how to fish the lake in the
absence of hydrilla,” said TPWD fisheries technician Mike Gore. “They’re throwing more crankbaits and Carolina-rigged plastic worms. The fish are out there. You just have to know how to catch them.”
Lake Conroe has now produced 14 ShareLunkers. Only Lake Fork, Lake Alan Henry and Sam Rayburn Reservoir have produced more 13-pound-plus fish.
Anyone legally catching a largemouth bass weighing 13 pounds or more from Texas waters,
public or private, can enter the fish into the ShareLunker program. Fish will be picked up by TPWD personnel and taken to the Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, where they are used in
a selective breeding program that aims to increase the size and number of big bass in Texas. To have a fish picked up, call David Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or page him at (888) 784-0600 and
leave a number, including area code. Anglers receive a fiberglass replica of their catch and ShareLunker clothing.
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Amazing Lake Conroe Does It Again
Fourth ShareLunker of the year comes from Lake Conroe.
 ATHENS, Texas - The water temperature may be only 61 degrees, but Lake Conroe is on fire. Thursday afternoon February 26th, the lake just
north of Houston churned out its fourth ShareLunker of the current season, a 13.8-pound largemouth bass caught by Renee Linderoth of Conroe. The fish was 25.125 inches long and 21 inches in girth.
The big bass is the sixteenth ShareLunker to come from Lake Conroe, giving the lake a solid grip on the number four spot on the list of top big bass lakes in Texas,
after Lake Fork, with 240 entries, Alan Henry (25) and Sam Rayburn (23).
Linderoth was fishing in two feet of water south of the F.M. 1097 bridge when the fish took a
Hula Grub. Linderoth grew up fishing with her father but had not fished in recent years until buying a boat. The fish was brough to April Plaza Marina. ShareLunker program manager David
Campbell was contacted to pick the fish up to be taken to Athens.
Anyone legally catching a 13-pound or larger largemouth bass in Texas waters between October 1
and April 30 can enter it into the ShareLunker program by calling Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or paging him at (888) 784-0600 and leaving a number, including area code. The fish are used in a
selective breeding program at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center aimed at increasing the size and number of big bass in Texas.
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Lake Conroe
Continues To Produce ShareLunkers
 ATHENS, Texas - Lake Conroe and Choke Canyon Reservoir each produced another ShareLunker on Sunday, February 15.
ShareLunker No.460 took Mark Goetzman’s Brush Hog about 10 a.m. on Lake Conroe. The fish weighed 13.13 pounds and was 25 inches long and 20 inches in girth.
If the name Goetzman sounds familiar, it’s because Mark is the father of Tyler Goetzman, who caught a 13.06-pounder,
ShareLunker No.442, from Lake Conroe on January 13, 2008. And Tyler was fishing with Kyle Nitschke December 13, 2008, when Nitschke caught ShareLunker No.456, a 13.07-pounder.
If you go fishing on Lake Conroe and want to catch a ShareLunker, it might be a good idea to have Tyler Goetzman in the boat with you.
Anglers who legally catch a 13-pound or bigger fish in Texas waters, public or private, can enter it
into the ShareLunker Program by calling (903) 681-0550 or paging program manager David Campbell at (888) 784-0600 and leaving a number, including area code.
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Lake Conroe’s
#1 Budweiser ShareLunker For 2009
New Junior State Record!!!!!
 ATHENS, Texas - Teenager Kyle Nitschke of Willis caught Budweiser ShareLunker No. 456 from Lake Conroe December 13, 2008.
The 13.07-pound largemouth bass should qualify as the new junior angler state record by 0.01 pound. Ironically, Nitschke was fishing in
the Ignition Bass Tournament with his friend Tyler Goetzman, who caught the former record from Lake Conroe on January 13, 2008. We had a limit by 8:40 and started culling, Nitschke
said. We caught 14 keepers. She [the ShareLunker] hit a crankbait in six feet of water about 12:30. The fish was 21.5 inches in girth and 25 inches in length. Nitschke and
Goetzman won the tournament with a bag of 32.85 pounds of fish.
Lake Conroe has now produced 13 Budweiser ShareLunkers and ranks number four in the
number produced, after Lakes Fork, Rayburn and Alan Henry. For the past several years Lake Conroe has been the site of intensive management of invasive aquatic vegetation by Texas Parks
and Wildlife Department using triploid grass carp and chemicals. Local anglers, homeowners and recreational users have cooperated in developing an action plan that is reestablishing native
vegetation in the lake.
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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Click Here To View 2008-2009 ShareLunker Bass From Other Lakes In Texas
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