Laredo, TX – Toyota ShareLunker
entry #559 was picked up at 2:00 a.m. this morning from the famed Tecomate Headquarters, La Perla
Ranch, which has been the talk of the bass fishing world the past couple of
months. The behemoth largemouth was caught by Blair Schwarz late yesterday
afternoon and weighed soon thereafter on certified scales kept at the ranch. Sharelunker #553 weighed in at an incredible 14.3 pounds,
which equates to 14 pounds 5 ounces, and is the largest ShareLunker
caught since 2013.
Blair was working a Jackall squarebill crankbait
around a brush pile on what is known as Star Island in La Perla
Lake when the massive bass engulfed the lure. A subsequent call was made to
TPWD, and when they arrived in the wee hours of the night, the fish appeared to
be healthy and in great condition.
The La Perla lunker is the
second submission of the season to Texas Parks and Wildlife's ShareLunker program. It is not yet known whether the fish
is a pure Florida largemouth. If she is not pure Florida, she will be returned
to La Perla Lake as soon as possible. However, if DNA
testing at the San Marcos Fish Hatchery shows that she is pure Florida, she
will be held in Athens through the spring so that any fry she produces can be
grown and then distributed. A portion of any fry produced will be released into
water bodies producing ShareLunkers during the
current season. Some will go back to La Perla Ranch,
and some will be used for research.
Tecomate's La Perla Ranch
and lake projects on the ranch are the brainchild of Blair's father, Dr. Gary
Schwarz, who first became famous for his pioneering work on nutritional food
plots along with biologist and whitetail legend David Morris. That work led to
the formation of Tecomate Seed Company and eventually
to the "The Bucks of Tecomate" TV show, one
of the highest-watched shows in outdoor TV history.
Seven years ago, Schwarz turned his attention to bass and began a quest to grow
largemouth bass to mega proportions using the same high-nutrition "food
plot" concept he pioneered for deer.
The recent catch and submission of the giant La Perla
bass to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Toyota ShareLunker
program is the latest in a long list of recent headlines about La Perla in the bass world. A week ago, Mark Zona, MC of the Bassmaster Elite series and host of "Zona's Awesome Fishing Show," aired an episode that
featured his incredible introduction to fishing La Perla
Lake. The previous week, fishing juggernauts Shimano and G. Loomis hosted 16
outdoor writers at La Perla to test new products on
several of the La Perla Ranch lakes, which was
fitting since the most recent La Perla lunker was caught on a Shimano Curado
reel and G. Loomis IMX rod.
Three bass over 10 pounds were caught in one day during the Shimano event, and
several articles documenting the trip and the incredible fishery ensued.
Blair's bass tops the previous La Perla Lake record,
caught by Matt Carter of Austin, Texas, by almost two full pounds. For more
information, visit www.laperlaranchresort.com
and www.tecomate.com and follow Tecomate's La Perla Ranch and Tecomate Wildlife Systems under the following social media
accounts:
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