by John Jefferson
Usually about this time of year or a little earlier, I write about the first Toyota ShareLunker in the 13-plus pound range of the Lunker legacy category having been caught – probably from Lake Fork. But since this is Leap Year, I guess I should have expected something unusual.
According to published accounts, Lake Fork has now produced over 250 female bass 13 pounds and larger for the ShareLunker program. No other lake has coughed up more than 28. Fork has thrilled anglers with 30 of the top 50 largemouths ever recorded in Texas.
But just days after being blanketed in snow, West Texas Lake Alan Henry produced the first Legacy Class largemouth bass entry of the 2020 ShareLunker season. On Feb. 9, angler Blake Cockrell, of Lubbock, caught a 14.36 pound, 26.25-inch largemouth bass on a crankbait in 5-10 feet of water while targeting spotted bass in the lake.
That category of the ShareLunker competition has been open since New Year’s Day. By now, there have usually been an entry or two earlier than Cockrell’s catch. Before the rules were changed to begin competition on Jan. 1, there were even entries in Nov. or Dec. But I don’t believe there was ever an entry that early from Alan Henry.
High Plains anglers have told me they think the rules should be changed to allow entries a little later than March 30 since AH is farther north than most Texas lakes and the spawn is delayed by the cold weather. The little lake just off Highway 84 east of Justiceberg is fed by the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River, which flows in from even farther north.
Most ardent bass anglers have by now quit asking “Where IS Alan Henry.” When it first started producing 13-plus pound largemouth bass, the little West Texas water body of 2,880 acres in Garza County that furnishes water for the City of Lubbock 45 miles to the north was relatively unknown to bass fanatics – except those in far West Texas. To tell the truth, I didn’t know where it was.
About the second time a 13-pounder was hoisted out the lake, things changed. The word got around quickly. But time and distance from Texas population centers kept fishing pressures down. One fishing partner told me he had wanted to fish it, but it “was so danged far” that he had never made the trip. Too much good water too close by.
Reading of the snow shortly before Cockrell caught his trophy reminded me of my only trip to the picturesque lake. We spent a February night near the lake, wishing I had brought tackle. About midnight, we were jolted out of bed by thunder as a sleet storm struck. Reluctantly, we packed up and left to race the storm. We drove thorough it for 45 minutes before getting ahead. It snowed-in residents until Tuesday — and we had to be back Sunday.
I want to go back. It’s a treasure. Try it yourself.
JJ
