Big bass action heating up on area lakes, ShareLunker nearing 500
Four hundred and ninety-eight big girls and counting. That was the official tally of the Toyota ShareLunker program as of Monday.
Where it will it stop? Nobody knows.
When will it stop? Not anytime soon.
Toyota ShareLunker is a popular spawning and genetics research program run by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Currently in its 24th season, the program solicits anglers who catch Texas bass weighing 13 pounds or more to loan the fish to the department, so it can be spawned in captivity. Some of the offspring are reserved for genetics research, while the rest are stocked into public lakes around the state.
Each ShareLunker donor receives a free fiberglass replica of their catch along with special ShareLunker clothing. As a bonus, the angler who turns in the heaviest fish each season earns a lifetime fishing license valued at $1,000.
Keith Burns of Jefferson is in the driver's seat to claim the bonus prize this season. Burns, 38, reeled in a 16.17-pound giant from Caddo Lake on March 20. He caught the fish out of 5 feet of 63-degree water using a Senko. Once certified, the fish will rank as a new lake record over the 16.01-pounder caught by Bobby Shaver in 1992.
Burns' bass is the heaviest reported in Texas since 2002. It currently ranks No. 15 on the Texas Top 50 list.
In a normal year, I would says Burns would be a shoe-in to claim the ShareLunker Angler of the Year title. But this year has been anything but normal in terms of big bass parades.
The same day Burns caught his fish, James Hollis of Longview caught a 13.2-pounder to set the lake record at Lake O' The Pines near Ore City. Then on March 22, Lake Fork kicked out a 15.61-pounder. James Quisenberry of Emory caught that fish on a live waterdog in 10 feet of water.
The bonanza continued picking up steam throughout the week.
While most folks were working, Jesse Garza Perez of Laredo took advantage of a warm spring day on March 24 to reel in a 14.79-pounder at Lake Casa Blanca in South Texas. Perez caught his giant on a junebug worm in 10 feet of water.
Lightning struck again at Lake O' The Pines on March 26 when Carl Clark of Marshall caught a 15.13-pounder that unseated the Hollis' bass as a new lake record before it was officially certified. Clark, who was fishing alone, said he caught the fish on a red Excalibur One Knocker lipless crankbait in about 5 feet of water.
"I didn't get on the water until noon, and I caught her about 12:30 p.m.," Clark said. "I had fished through this area with a spinnerbait and didn't get any bites. There was a little channel down there that looked pretty good, so I decided to fish back through it with the lipless crankbait. That's when I caught her."
Clark said one his buddies, Rusty Jacoba of Longview, was supposed to join him on the afternoon fishing trip but was unable to make it because of a last minute call from work.
"He's regretting it now," Clark chuckled.
Matt Williams' e-mail address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.
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