Texas lake yields four monstrous bass in four days
A Texas reservoir this week yielded an astonishing four largemouth bass topping 13 pounds in four days.
The bass were caught at O.H. Ivie Lake and the largest – weighing 15.82 pounds – was landed March 18 by Kyle Hall of Granbury.
“I got on the water around 8 or 8:30 a.m. and really didn’t catch much until around 4 p.m.,” Hall said. “I reeled in a 10.20-pound fish and then about an hour later I did something random and ran up the river where I caught an 11-pounder.
“I then ran back down and by the dam I came across this fish. She about ripped the rod out of my hand.”
All four bass were kept alive and “loaned” to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for a hatchery spawning and stocking effort designed to enhance fisheries across the state.
The Toyota ShareLunker Program, as it’s called, accepts only “Legacy Class” bass weighing at least 13 pounds for the spawning portion. So far this year, 17 Legacy Class bass have been donated to the program.
Hall’s bass was the heaviest caught this year in Texas, and the 37th heaviest in state history.
According to the TPWD, Hall has donated Legacy Class bass in three consecutive seasons – all three of his catches coming at O.H. Ivie.
Said Natalie Goldstrohm, Toyota ShareLunker program coordinator: “This reservoir has established itself as a top destination for many trophy largemouth bass anglers and it is no surprise that Kyle Hall and others target these giants at O.H. Ivie year after year.”
The other Legacy bass caught at O.H. Ivie this past week included a 14.18-pounder by Bud Robey on March 17; a 13.62-pounder by Larry Walker on March 20, and a 13.22-pounder by Scott Hines on March 20.
O.H. Ivie is on the Colorado and Concho Rivers east of San Angelo.
The 2024 Toyota ShareLunker Program will run through March 31.