The potential rewards to be reaped from catching a heavyweight Texas bass just got a whole lot richer, courtesy of the Lake Fork Area Chamber of Commerce.
According to Bob Williams of Yantis, the local chamber has teamed up with a Dallas-based SCA Promotions to create the Lake Fork Bounty Bonanza. Anglers who are preregistered in the promotion and subsequently catch a big bass from Lake Fork between Oct. 1 and April 30 could win as much as $100,000 in prize money.
SCA Promotions is billed as the world's leading provider of promotional risk coverage for promotions, contests and games. The LFCC paid the company a healthy sum to secure funds to cover the advertised prizes in case one or more anglers gets lucky. Entering the promotion costs only $20.
Here's the catch. Not just any ol' big bass will cut it. To have a shot at winning money through the promotion, the fish must be huge. That's huge as in heavier than 15 pounds.
The Lake Fork Bounty Bonanza's prize structure consists of four different levels. The first three anglers to bring in a bass that cracks Texas' Top 50 list will win $10,000. The first Top 10 bass carries a $20,000 bounty. A state record is worth $50,000. A world record is worth $100,000.
Other prerequisites worth noting: The fish must be caught on rod and reel, weighed on certified scales by a participating chamber merchant and donated to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Bud ShareLunker program in order to be declared a winner. Anglers also must pass a polygraph test, just to make sure everything is on the level.
Adhering to the rules of the promotion is the easy part. Reeling in a fish big enough to worry about the rules will likely be much tougher. If I owned SCA Promotions, I would feel pretty safe about my investment.
Catching a Top 50 bass is no easy chore, but it is probably the most achievable goal of the promotion. If you fish Lake Fork with any regularity, it would be wise to ante up $20 in the big bass event before wetting a hook.
The No. 50 heaviest Texas bass of all time weighed 15.23 pounds. Since 1989, Lake Fork has produced 35 bass that surpass that mark. Most were caught prior to 2000.
Fork has cranked out four Top 50 fish since 2002. The most recent lunkers on the list include a 15.50-pounder (No. 37) caught by Billy Pfiel in February 2006 and a 15.32-pounder caught in March 2007 by Michael Gray. Gray's fish holds the No. 46 spot.
It will take a fish heavier than 16.77 pounds to win the $20,000 prize for a Top 10 fish. Fork's most recent Top 10 entry came way back in 1993, when Bryan Turner boated a 16.89-pounder.
The odds become leaner as stakes grow progressively richer. Everyone would like to think there is a $50,000 fish swimming around in Lake Fork that would surpass the current state record of 18.18 pounds -- sort of like they would like to believe there is a bass heavier than 76-year-old world record of 22 pounds, 4 ounces finning around out there somewhere.
Still, the odds of catching such a fish are remotely slim. The chances of winning the Texas Lotto and Powerball jackpots simultaneously are probably better.
Williams, the acting spokesperson for the LFCC, said the organization's goal during the program's inaugural year is to generate at least 1,000 entries. That will cover fees charged by the promotions company, plus fund travel and booth expenses for Lake Fork representatives to attend boat and trade shows around the country in 2009.
Generating 1,000 entries is a doable deal, especially considering the amount of local and out-of-state fishing traffic attracted to the lake during February, March and April during the height of the spawn on Lake Fork.
Williams said fishing guides around the lake have been made aware of the promotion and some have agreed to encourage their clients to enter. The more anglers entered in the sweepstakes, the better the odds that one or more of the available prizes might be given away.
"Ultimately, we would like to write one or more anglers a check this year," Williams said. "If we could write just one check, I think [anglers] would be beating our doors down to enter next year. Plus, it might help us attract some sponsors for future promotions. Those $10,000 Top 50 fish are definitely catchable, especially on this lake."
Often heralded as one the top big bass lakes in America, Fork has been a virtual blood bank for the state's Bud ShareLunker program since its inception in 1986. The program accepts Texas caught bass weighing 13 pounds or more for use in spawning and genetics research aimed at producing more and bigger bass for Texas anglers to catch. The program runs Oct. 1-April 30.
To date, Bud ShareLunker has accepted 454 entries. Lake Fork has been responsible for 239 of them.
Participants in the program receive media recognition, a free fiberglass replica of their catch, a certificate and a Bud ShareLunker jacket. The angler who brings in the heaviest bass of the season wins a Texas lifetime fishing license valued at $600.
This year's Bud ShareLunker Angler of the Year could pocket a lot more if he or she enters the Lake Fork Bounty Bonanza ahead of time and reels in a big bass at Lake Fork.
Remember. The magic number to beat is 15.23.
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NOTES -- To learn more about the Lake Fork Bounty Bonanza, call 903-765-4486 or www.lakeforkbountybonanza.com. You can register online or at any LFCC-affiliated business around the lake. ... Bud ShareLunker entries are accepted Oct. 1 through April 30. To report a lunker, call 903-681-0550 or page 888-784-0600 and leave a phone number where you can be reached.
Matt Williams' e-mail address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.
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