TARPON SPRINGS -- Nearly 50 years ago, Florida's unofficial, state-record largemouth bass was a 19.6-pounder caught by Riley Witt using a live eel for bait on the south end of Lake Tarpon in Tarpon Springs.

Because the record never was certified by the Game and Freshwater Fish Commission, it was eclipsed by Billy O'Berry's 17.27-pounder caught in a small lake in Polk County in 1986.

``I believe the next Florida record will come out of central Florida, from Lake Tarpon over to the Stick Marsh [near Vero Beach],'' said Paul Thomas, a fisheries biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Veteran Lake Tarpon bass guide captain Lenny Crispino would love to be the record-breaker. He has pulled bass as large as 13 ½ pounds out of this little-known piece of water on Florida's central Gulf coast.

PUBLIC INPUT

To increase the chances for Crispino and other anglers to catch bigger bass throughout the state, the FWC is on the verge of overhauling black bass management statewide. The first step will be a public workshop Oct. 26-27 at Bass Pro Shops in Orlando conducted by the Florida Freshwater Fishing Coalition, made up of recreational anglers and others interested in the fishery.

``We want to involve the public to develop a long-term plan to manage bass in general, and specific management for trophy fish,'' said Tom Champeau, FWC regional fisheries administrator in Lakeland. ``The success or failure of this is totally dependent on the public buying in.''

According to Champeau and others, the state's bass fishery is not what it used to be: the average size of the biggest fish weighed in tournaments has declined from around 8 pounds to around 6 pounds`The success or failure of this is totally dependent on the public buying in.'

TOM CHAMPEAU,

FWC regional fisheries administrator

since the 1970s. And anglers are seeing fewer true lunkers -- 12 pounds and up -- that geneticists call pure Florida largemouth bass, native only to the peninsula.

With a unique genetic structure that tolerates heat and allows a longer growing season, these big fish are widely recognized in the scientific community as a separate species from the other black bass found in state waters -- Suwannee, spotted and shoal bass.

For many years, Florida has lent its unique strain to other states, such as Texas, California, Louisiana and Tennessee, to increase the size of their bass.

The 22-pound, 4-ounce Japanese bass recently submitted to the IGFA for possibly matching the 77-year-old all-tackle world record likely is a Florida bass.

With improved genetics techniques, Florida freshwater fisheries managers want to concentrate on keeping their native lunkers free from interbreeding with northern bass and make sure the local species grows big and fat in its native waters.

POSSIBLE PLANS

Proposals up for discussion at the workshop might include managing specific water bodies as trophy fisheries; changing size and bag limits; and creating angler incentives to report catches, similar to Texas' popular ``Share Lunker'' program.

Under a ``Share Lunker'' system, an angler who catches a largemouth of 13 pounds or larger would keep the fish alive and notify officials at the Florida Bass Conservation Center and hatchery in Sumter County.

The hatchery might dispatch a truck and trailer -- theoretically funded by a corporate sponsor -- to pick up the fish and bring it back to the hatchery to be spawned. Then the fish and its offspring could be put back into the lake or river where it was caught. The angler might be rewarded with a mount, trophy or awards dinner.

Anglers catching trophy bass of 10 to 12 pounds would be encouraged to document and report their catch before releasing it alive, and receive a certificate.

Champeau emphasizes that nothing has been decided and that everyone with an interest in Florida's black bass fisheries needs to get involved in development of a management plan.

Champeau said he hopes to have a draft rule ready to present to FWC commissioners in late 2010.

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