Some of us wondered if the re-worked Toyota ShareLunker program had been derailed. By March 1, NO BASS 13 POUNDS OR OVER had been entered into the Lunker Legacy Class, the top category in the big bass program.

Experienced bass anglers have been confused about the categories, so for readers that haven’t gotten the new classes straight in their minds, let’s quickly review.

The former 13-pound category is now in two parts. The top one is called the Lunker Legacy Class and is for bass 13 pounds and over caught from Jan. 1 – Mar. 31, then loaned to TPWD for spawning. The other is called the Lunker Legend Class and is open all year for bass 13 pounds and larger, but not loaned to TPWD for spawning. Both classes award anglers with fine prizes and publicity, but the Legacy Class prizes are the more coveted. For details, go to https://texassharelunker.com.

The Lunker Elite Class is for double-digit weight bass between 10 and 12.99 pounds. The Lunker Class accepts bass eight pounds and over, or 24-inches in length. Both classes are open all year, include prizes, and don’t require loaning TPWD the fish.

The significance of the first paragraph at the top of this column is that some years, a number of bass over 13-pounds have already been entered by March. Their absence this year caused talk. Some blamed extremely cold weather in December and January. A few said fishermen were losing interest in the program. Others said anglers were confused about the new rules.

Craig Bonds, TPWD inland fisheries director, downplayed the big bass-drought. The cold weather and lake water temperatures probably had an effect. Then, on March 2, the drought began breaking.

That day, John LaBove boated the first behemoth, a 13.48-pound bass out of – guess where?

If you know anything about Texas bass fishing, you probably guessed “Lake Fork?” Although the fabled northeast Texas lake has seen its sizzling pace of bass production cool somewhat in recent years, it still has the most entries in the Texas Top 50 Largest Largemouth Bass List. Fork kicking off the ShareLunker entries this year was almost a Duh.

A week later, on March 8, Michael Terrebonne, from Cut Off, Louisiana, claimed the second Lunker Legacy bass — also out of the lake that forks. Weighing 13 pounds, it was 25 inches long. On March 11, Alex Finch caught a 13.06-pound bass out of that same waterbody. Some were beginning to wonder if Fork was simply going to run the table this year. Interestingly, that bass bit a homemade lure Finch calls the “Finch Nasty Thumper Gizzard Shad.” Photograph unavailable.

But the Fork dynasty temporarily stalled, there. Shockingly, the fourth Lunker Legacy came from Twin Buttes Reservoir, a 9,080-acre impoundment on the western outskirts of San Angelo — the first lunker from there since 1989! Austin Terry caught the 13.40-pounder on a spinnerbait.

With the dike broken, expect a flash flood of entries before the end of the Legacy competition on March 31.

JJ

 

 

Photo Caption:

If the background of this image looks more like West Texas than most ShareLunker images, it’s not misleading. That’s the first 13-pound bass to come out of Twin Buttes Reservoir near San Angelo in 28 years. The lake had only a couple of feet of water just a few years ago. Austin Terry, of San Angelo, caught this 13.40-pound beauty on March 14. Photo © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.