Tag: OH Ivie

Texas lake yields 10th ‘Legacy Lunker’ bass of 2023

O.H. Ivie Lake in Texas has yielded 10 largemouth bass topping 13 pounds so far in 2023, and anglers statewide will benefit from the catches.

O.H. Ivie Lake in Texas has yielded 10 largemouth bass topping 13 pounds so far in 2023, and anglers statewide will benefit from the catches.

The 13.89-pound bass caught Friday by Nolan Sprengeler was No. 10 for the sprawling reservoir on the Colorado and Concho rivers.

It was the 12th “Legacy Class Lunker” donated since Jan. 1 to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for its long-running selective-breeding program. The others were caught at  Lake Nacogdoches and Lake Alan Henry.

The Toyota ShareLunker Program collects bass weighing 13 pounds or more. The big females are encouraged to spawn in a hatchery and their offspring are stocked throughout Texas.

Sprengeler’s catch comes two weeks after Jason Conn reeled from O.H. Ivie the eighth-heaviest bass in state history, weighing 17.03 pounds.

O.H. Ivie, which attracts anglers from around the world, produced Legacy Class Lunkers on four consecutive days in early February.

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According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, the largest bass caught in Texas was an 18.18-pound largemouth reeled from Lake Fork in 1992.

For comparison, the world record is a tie at 22 pounds, 4 ounces. One bass was caught by George W. Perry at Montgomery Lake in Georgia in 1932. The other was caught by Manabu Kurita at Lake Biwa in Shiga, Japan, in 2009.

Any bass catch exceeding 10 pounds is considered to be exceptional.

Texas lake continues to yield enormous largemouth bass

O.H. Ivie Lake in Texas this week yielded two largemouth bass topping 13 pounds – rare catches that are eligible for a selective breeding program designed to enhance state fisheries

*Update: Texas Parks and Wildlife reported another Legacy bass catch on Friday, bringing the number to six this year – five from O.H. Ivie

O.H. Ivie Lake in Texas this week yielded two largemouth bass topping 13 pounds – rare catches to be used in a selective breeding program designed to enhance state fisheries.

Dalton Smith and Caden Cowan, pictured left-to-right atop this post, landed bass weighing 14.76 pounds and 13.31 pounds, respectively.

“Do not adjust your screens, you are seeing double double-digits bass!” the Toyota ShareLunker Program boasted Thursday via social media.

The “Legacy Lunkers” were donated to the state’s ShareLunker hatchery program to be used as spawners for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department stocking programs.

Legacy bass must weigh at least 13 pounds. The bass caught by Smith is the largest of four Legacy bass caught since the program began its 37th season on Jan. 1.

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O.H. Ivie, on the Colorado and Concho rivers, has produced four of the five catches; the other was that of a 13.51-pound largemouth bass by Jack York at Lake Nacogdoches.

Jack York displays 13.51-pound ShareLunker Legacy bass caught at Lake Nacogdoches

The ShareLunker Program, which runs through March, is off to another impressive start.

Last year, 24 Legacy bass were caught from nine water bodies and collected for hatchery spawning. That was the most since 27 were caught in 1995.

Since the program began, 75 Texas water bodies have yielded Legacy bass.

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Texas catch of enormous bass described as ‘historic’

An Oklahoma man who drove in snow with his son to fish in Texas has landed one of the largest bass ever caught in the Lone Star State.

An Oklahoma man who drove in snow with his son to fish in Texas has landed one of the largest bass ever caught in the Lone Star State.

The 17.06-pound largemouth bass, caught Thursday by Brodey Davis at O.H. Ivie Lake, is a pending lake record and one of the top-10 heaviest bass weighed in Texas.

“It’s been an unbelievable day,” Davis, who lives in Tuttle, Okla., told FTW Outdoors late Thursday. “We drove from Oklahoma to specifically fish O.H. Ivie for a double-digit bass. My son Stetson, who is 9, was out of school due to the winter storm that went through Oklahoma earlier this week.”

Brodey Davis and son Stetson pose with 17.06-pound largemouth bass

The Toyota ShareLunker Program, run by Texas Parks and Wildlife, announced the catch Thursday on Facebook:

“Historic day! Angler Brodey Davis just weighed one of the largest Texas ShareLunkers to hit the scales in the past 30 years!!”

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State biologists collect live bass weighing 13 pounds or more as part of the ShareLunker Program. These “Legacy Class” bass become part of a selective breeding operation designed to enhance fisheries statewide.

Davis’ catch, on a 6th Sense Divine Swimbait, is the largest of 12 Legacy bass caught so far this year. The fish measures 27-1/4 inches with a girth of 23-1/4 inches.

According to Josh Jones of Josh Jones Fishing, Davis’ catch ranks No. 7 all-time in Texas. The state record, an 18.18-pound largemouth bass caught at Lake Fork, has stood since 1992.

Jones on Thursday shared video footage showing Davis’ bass being weighed and the reactions of those who were present.

O.H. Ivie routinely produces trophy-size bass during the winter-spring spawning season.

On Wednesday, Jones landed a 14.79-pound largemouth bass at O.H. Ivie to become the first angler to submit four Legacy bass to the ShareLunker Program, which began in 1986.

–Images courtesy of Toyota ShareLunker Program and Brodey Davis

Texas lake yields two giant ‘ShareLunker” bass in one day

Two anglers reeled in largemouth bass weighing 14-plus pounds Thursday at O.H. Ivie Lake in Ballinger, Texas.

Two anglers reeled in largemouth bass weighing 14-plus pounds Thursday at O.H. Ivie Lake in Ballinger, Texas.

Both fish were collected by biologists and will be used as spawners to enhance state fisheries as part of the state’s long-running Toyota ShareLunker Program.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department used social media to announce the catches by Brett Cannon of Willis (14.4 pounds; top photo) and Casey Sobczak of Spring (14.2 pounds).

“You get one guess for what Lake produced two ShareLunkers today! Oh yes, that’s right, O.H. Ivie,” the agency asked on Facebook. “SL#593 (14.4lbs) and SL#594 (14.2lbs) are headed to Athens.”

Only fish weighing 13 pounds or more are designated “Legacy” catches and collected for use in the selective breeding program. Thursday’s catches bring to six the number of Legacy fish caught during the 2021 season, which began in January and runs through March.

Only four Legacy-class bass were caught in 2020.

How rare are these catches?

According to the ShareLunker website, “Out of the millions of bass anglers in Texas, only a select few have ever crossed the 13-pound threshold.”

O.H. Ivie is a sprawling reservoir on the Colorado and Concho rivers, and famous for producing trophy-size largemouth bass.

Twist of fate leads to catch of a lifetime for bass angler

Fate was on James Maupin’s side when he became one of an elite few Texas anglers to have caught a largemouth bass weighing 13-plus pounds.

Fate was on James Maupin’s side last Sunday when he became one of an elite few Texas anglers to have caught a largemouth bass weighing 13 pounds or more.

Maupin, from Cypress, intended to fish several days with his dad at Lake Amistad. But after their first day the lake was ordered closed because of concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“So we packed up and headed to the nearest lake – O.H. Ivie,” Maupin said in a news release issued by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

O.H. Ivie, east of San Angelo, is a four-hour drive from Lake Amistad and Maupin had never fished there. But chances are strong that he’ll visit again.

He and his dad spent three days at O.H. Ivie and on Sunday, their last day, Maupin caught a largemouth bass that weighed 13.15 pounds and measured 27 inches.

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The fish was donated to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as part of its Toyota ShareLunker Program, which places giant bass in a selective breeding program designed to enhance Texas bass fisheries.

The ShareLunker program has three divisions beginning with the Lunker division for bass weighing eight-plus pounds.

Maupin’s bass earned a spot in the more prestigious Lunker Legacy Class division, for bass weighing at least 13 pounds caught during the spawning season from January through March.

According to the ShareLunker website, “Out of the millions of bass anglers in Texas, only a select few have ever crossed the 13-pound threshold.”

Maupin, who caught his bass on a Texas rig in seven feet of water, said he thought it would top the 13-pound mark at first glance.

“I put her in the live well and called the marina immediately,” he said. “They had an official scale, so we got her weighed and measured, and the ShareLunker guys came out to get her.”

The bass is cataloged as ShareLunker 585. It’s the fourth and final Legacy Class entry of the 2020 donation season, which ended Sunday.

The largest was a 15.34-pound largemouth bass caught by Joe Castle at Nacogdoches Lake on Feb. 29.

–Images show James Maupin with his 13.15-pound largemouth bass (top), and  Joe Castle with a 15.34-pound bass caught on Feb. 29. Credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department