DNA test reveals surprising origin of Texas man's record-breaking fish

A record-breaking 12-and-a-half-pound bass recently caught in a Nacogdoches lake is one of the many offspring of a another record-setter caught several years ago in a Laredo lake, roughly 450 miles apart.

In December 2004, Jerry Campos was fishing for bass on Falcon Lake in Laredo and he caught a 14-pound largemouth bass, later named the ShareLunker 370. Nine years later, Allen Lane Kruse of Nacogdoches set a water-body and catch-and-release record for Lake Naconiche when he caught the 12.54 pound bass.

DNA testing showed that the recent catch is the son of ShareLunker 370, which spawned at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. Campos had entered his fish into a "ShareLunker" program, which allows catchers to share their prize fish with others. Fingerlings from the program that spawned have stocked into more than 60 reservoirs across Texas.

If Campos had not submitted his catch, the Nacogdoches fish would not have existed for Kruse to catch.

More at http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/DNA-test-reveals-surprising-origin-of-Texas-man-s-4447462.php .