by John Jefferson

That man named Shakespeare that people talk about, and some even know some of his memorable lines, warned about March 15. He said beware of it.

It’s come and gone, so it must not have harmed you. But it does mean that there are only 16 days left to catch a 13-pound or better largemouth bass for entry in the Legacy Category of the Toyota/TPWD ShareLunker Program. The Legacy ends on March 31.

And that’s a big beware for many anglers. Since Legacy opened January 1st,14 – largemouths have been entered. Lake O.H Ivie has been the

Big Daddy of the program for the last three years and has spit out a couple of fish this season.

But, as I’ve mentioned before, don’t be cowed by Ivie, lakes Fork, Sam Rayburn, or other waterbodies that have produced behemoth bass weighing over thirteen pounds.

Willie Pipkin was bank fishing in February 2025 without a way to secure his record fish and had to hold it in the water with both hands until TPWD arrived. I’ll bet he had something to contain the fish in the water this year! (Photo courtesy of Willie Pipkin)

There have been 80 different Texas lakes that have spawned the coveted fish, and each year a newbie lake appears that’s never before made headlines. And many of those waters had never been heard of before. So don’t fret if you can’t make it to one of the glamour lakes.

Lots of Texans didn’t know where O.H. Ivie was, and during its drought years, there weren’t many reasons to know. I knew it was somewhere northwest of where I live, near Round Rock – assuming you know where RR is.

And many Texans also couldn’t put their finger on Lake Fork when its heyday hit. By the time other waterbodies were replacing Fork after its 15 or 20 dominant years, all anglers and quite a few normal Texans knew.

Then came Lake Alan Henry, south of Lubbock. Too many Texans zip through West Texas enroute to western states for skiing, trout fishing, or visiting colleges and never even notice signs pointing the way to Alan Henry – the lake with two first names. And what a shame. It’s a picturesque little lake with lots of bass.

The latest hideout lake to breed a big bass is Hord’s Creek Lake near Valera, just west of Coleman. You’re excused if you’ve never heard of Valero, but I’m not going to help you on Coleman.

But I will tell you that almost all of the thirteen-pound bass entered in ShareLunker were returned to the lake from which they were caught. A growing number of them have also been caught again in subsequent years – sometimes even for the Third Time.

Willie Pipkin caught the new Lady Bird Lake record bass last year – a 14. 05-pound big’un. He recently caught another trophy fish from the same lake. Knowing what a 14-pounder fought like, he thought it would be over thirteen pounds. It was just a frisky 11.2- pound battler. It, too, was returned to Lady Bird just as was his lake record last year.

So don’t overlook a lake as being fished out — or having never produced a thirteener. The only worry is fishing on or before March 31.

JJ