Tag: lunker

Texas lake yields four monstrous bass in four days

The largest of the catches at O.H. Ivie Lake, weighing 15.82 pounds, is the 37th heaviest bass caught in state history.

A Texas reservoir this week yielded an astonishing four largemouth bass topping 13 pounds in four days.

The bass were caught at O.H. Ivie Lake and the largest – weighing 15.82 pounds – was landed March 18 by Kyle Hall of Granbury.

“I got on the water around 8 or 8:30 a.m. and really didn’t catch much until around 4 p.m.,” Hall said. “I reeled in a 10.20-pound fish and then about an hour later I did something random and ran up the river where I caught an 11-pounder.

“I then ran back down and by the dam I came across this fish. She about ripped the rod out of my hand.”

All four bass were kept alive and “loaned” to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for a hatchery spawning and stocking effort designed to enhance fisheries across the state.

The Toyota ShareLunker Program, as it’s called, accepts only “Legacy Class” bass weighing at least 13 pounds for the spawning portion. So far this year, 17 Legacy Class bass have been donated to the program.

Hall’s bass was the heaviest caught this year in Texas, and the 37th heaviest in state history.

According to the TPWD, Hall has donated Legacy Class bass in three consecutive seasons – all three of his catches coming at O.H. Ivie.

Said Natalie Goldstrohm, Toyota ShareLunker program coordinator: “This reservoir has established itself as a top destination for many trophy largemouth bass anglers and it is no surprise that Kyle Hall and others target these giants at O.H. Ivie year after year.”

The other Legacy bass caught at O.H. Ivie this past week included a 14.18-pounder by Bud Robey on March 17;  a 13.62-pounder by Larry Walker on March 20, and a 13.22-pounder by Scott Hines on March 20.

O.H. Ivie is on the Colorado and Concho Rivers east of San Angelo.

The 2024 Toyota ShareLunker Program will run through March 31.

Texas anglers land two enormous bass to kick off new season

A Texas lake famous for producing giant bass has yielded two behemoths to kick off a new season for an angler-driven program intended to improve fisheries statewide.

A Texas lake famous for producing giant bass has yielded two behemoths to kick off a new season for a program intended to benefit statewide fisheries.

Tyler Anderson and Wendell Ramsey Sr. reeled in largemouth bass weighing 14.48 and 14.92 pounds, respectively, while fishing this past week at O.H. Ivie Lake.

As “Legacy Class” bass, they were donated alive to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department as part of the agency’s annual Toyota ShareLunker program.

The Legacy designation applies only to bass weighing 13 pounds or more. These rare catches are delivered to the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, where biologists “attempt to spawn them to make bigger, better bass to stock and enhance fishing in Texas lakes,” The TPWD explained in a recent news release.

O.H. Ivie Lake last year produced 12 of 23 Legacy bass caught by Texas anglers and used in the selective-breeding program.

The ShareLunker program, which runs from Jan. 1 through March, is in its 36th year. The bass caught by Anderson and Ramsey are cataloged as ShareLunker 609 and ShareLunker 610, respectively.

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Anderson caught the 14.48-pound bass Jan. 5 while casting an Alabama rig in 28 feet of water on his second day of fishing.

Tyler Anderson with his 14.48-pound bass. Photo: Texas Parks & Wildlife

“I stumbled upon a school of what looked to be eight or nine fish,” Anderson told the TPWD. “My cast ended up being a little too short and landed right on top of where they were. My Alabama rig fell right into the school of fish, but I didn’t even have to retrieve the lure. I lifted it right up and started my retrieve and the fish was already on there.”

Ramsey, a West Texas guide, was fishing with his grandsons on Jan. 8 and used an umbrella rig with 3.5 rage tail swimmers to hook the 14.92-pound bass.

“We started out working some spots for white bass and black bass to get a few bites for the kids and have a good time,” Ramsey said. “It was slow and we moved around the lake to some different spots before we circled back to where we started.

Tyler Ramsey Sr. with his 14.92-pound bass. Photo: Texas Parks & Wildlife

“I spotted a fish suspended in about 14 feet of water and quickly grabbed a fishing pole. I sent the cast past the fish and slowly let it go down to about eight feet before I started reeling. The fish hit the bait and when I set the hook it didn’t budge so I knew it was a really big fish.

“The battle started and I eventually brought it into the boat with the dip net.”

Both bass were kept in live wells before biologists arrived to pick them up for the transfer to Athens.

Said Kyle Brookshear, Toyota ShareLunker Program Manager: “This is a great start to the 2022 collection season.  “After the historic 2021 season, it seems fitting that the first two entries come from O.H. Ivie. Many predict another record season for trophy bass catches across the state and with the 2022 season underway, time will soon tell.”