Anglers are catching a lot of big largemouths in Texas.
Last year’s Toyota ShareLunker Program, which tracks bass heavier than 8 pounds, certified 486 bass caught from 89 Texas lakes in 2018, and that’s just the fish that were reported.
At the beginning of 2018, the Toyota ShareLunker program debuted a new year-long season for anglers to enter bass for prizes, recognition, and to help enhance bass fishing in Texas.
Anglers entered largemouths into four categories including six “Legacy Class” bass of 13 pounds or heavier that were entered during the spawning window Jan.1 through March 31 and loaned to TPWD for the selective breeding and stocking program. The total number of entries in other categories who provided citizen science data included: five “Lunker Legend” bass 13 pounds or heavier caught outside the spawning window or not loaned for spawning, 107 “Lunker Elite” bass weighing 10 to 12.99 pounds, and 368 “Lunker” bass at least 24 inches or weighing between 8 and 9.99 pounds.
The top five ShareLunker producing lakes in 2018 included Lake Fork near Quitman with 73 entries, Lake Conroe near Houston with 41 entries, Lake Athens in Athens with 28 entries, Sam Rayburn Reservoir near Jasper with 21 entries, and O.H. Ivie Lake near San Angelo with 17 entries.
For updates on the Toyota ShareLunker program visit on Facebook and learn more at TexasSharelunker.com.