Lunker Report

It’s been an eventful year thus far for Toyota Share-Lunker. Through February 26, 13 Legacy Lunkers ranging from 13.05 pounds to 17.03 pounds from three different lakes had been entered in the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s popular spawning and genetics research program.

On February 24, the program saw its first recapture from Lake O.H. Ivie. The 13.89 pounder was caught by Nolan Sprengeler. An internal PIT tag identified the fish as the 14.42 pounder Jim Smith caught in March 2021. The bass spawned successfully at the TFFC and was returned to the lake the a month later.

All but one of the big bass turned in this year occupy private lunker bunkers at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. The other fish — a 13.06 pounder — developed severe air bladder problems soon after being caught from deep water at Lake O.H. Ivie and was not transported back to the TFFC. The fish died at the lake despite best efforts to save it.

Toyota ShareLunker caretaker Tony Owens says all of the fish appear to be adjusting to their temporary housing. Some have settled in well enough that they have regained healthy appetites. TFFC residents enjoy a high-protein diet of rainbow trout and koi carp.

“Things are looking pretty good so far,” Owens said.

The number of fat fish under Owens’ care is almost certain to grow with the height of the spawn just around the corner. The 2023 ShareLunker collection season for Texas- caught bass weighing 13 pounds or more runs through March 31. Six lunker bunkers were still open at last count.

Which lakes might produce the heavyweights to fill the empty spots is anybody’s guess. Big fish are showing up all around the state these days.

Toledo Bend has already produced more than a two dozen double-digit fish this year, including a 13 pounder, 14 pounder and a new lake record 15.67 pounder. Neither of those fish were turned over to ShareLunker, but each was weighed for the Toledo Bend Lake Association’s Lunker Program. The TBLA program provides free replicas to anglers who catch and release bass upwards of 10 pounds, provided the fish are weighed at a designated check-in station.

Another 13 pounder was brought to a Bass Champs team tournament weigh-in at Lake LBJ on February 18. Also in Central Texas, a Lake Belton crappie fishermen recently caught and released a fish that weighed 13.40 pounds. Keith Honeycutt of Temple weighed fish. Honeycutt said the bass reportedly ate a crappie the angler was reeling in from a marina dock.

O.H. Ivie would be pretty safe bet to claim a few more spots. The 19,000-acre reservoir near San Angelo has had the hottest hand for ShareLunkers of all Texas lakes in recent times.

The lake appears to be on track for another remarkable run this year. Brandon Vaughn’s 14.50 pounder caught February 26 bought the count to 11 for 2023.

What is truly amazing about O.H. Ivie are the tall numbers of double-digit fish that are caught there that nobody hears anything about. A 10 pounder doesn’t even raise eyebrows there anymore.

A core group of fishing guides on the lake specialize at targeting big bass using forward-facing sonar. The technology allows for sniffing out fish that are suspended over deep water and seeing how they react to bait presentations in real time. Fishing guides Josh Jones, Jason Conn, Brady Stanford, Dalton Smith, Wendell Ramsey, Brett Cannon and Brandon Burks have scoped up dozens of ‘Ivie whoppers between them since January 1.

Jones claims his boat alone has accounted for 42 bass topping 10 pounds in the last two months. On February 23, the angler caught a pair of 12.5 pounders less than five minutes apart. His guide client reeled in a 10.59 pounder on the same day.

Numbers like those are sure to make a curious mind wonder how many giant fish over 13 pounds might be finning around out there. Lynn Wright has pondered the thought many times.

Wright is the fisheries biologist who oversees O.H. Ivie for TPWD. He says the lake has produced more than 30 bass upwards of 13 pounds over the last four years, but only one recapture.

“We’ve talked about trying to come up with a way to estimate how many 13 pounders might be out there and it’s really hard to do,” Wright said. “Figuring in one recapture and natural mortality I think 170 fish upwards of 13 pounds would be a safe estimate. The number of 8-10 pounders could be significantly higher than that, maybe 10 fold. There is no doubt the lake has got a bunch of big fish in it right now.”

Think “JurBassic Park.” ----------- Matt Williams is a freelance writer based in Nacogdoches. He can be reached by email, mattwillwrite4u@yahoo.com.