ShareLunkers — Icons On A Rod & Reel
So far this season O.H. Ivie Reservoir has produced nine largemouth bass weighing 13 pounds or more that have been entered into the Toyota ShareLunker program. All were special fish to the anglers who caught them, but the ninth was a little more special than the others: Sam Callaway of Corpus Christi will collect $500 a pound for his catch, a total of $6,670.
ATHENS — So far this season O.H. Ivie Reservoir has produced nine largemouth bass weighing 13 pounds or more that have been entered into the Toyota ShareLunker program. All were special fish to the anglers who caught them, but the ninth was a little more special than the others: Sam Callaway of Corpus Christi will collect $500 a pound for his catch, a total of $6,670.
Callaway caught Toyota ShareLunker No. 500 at 9:20 a.m. April 9 using a Zoom Magnum eight-inch lizard in watermelon/red. The 13.34-pound fish was immediately taken to an official ShareLunker weigh and holding station, Concho Park Marina, where it was held for pickup by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) ShareLunker program manager David Campbell. The fish, which is 20.5 inches in girth and 26.25 inches long, now rests in the Lunker Bunker at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.
Callaway caught his big bass on the first day of the Permian Basin Oilman’s Bass Invitational.
Callaway’s $500 per pound reward continues the practice of rewarding centennial catches of entries into the ShareLunker program that began with Jason Baird’s catch of ShareLunker 400 from Lake Amistad on Feb. 28, 2006. That fish paid the Gypsum, Kansas, angler $400 a pound.
With almost three weeks to go in the current ShareLunker season, speculation now turns to how many fish will be entered into the program this season. Callaway’s fish brought the total to 29, which is well above the program’s 23-year average of 20.
Anyone legally catching a 13-pound or bigger largemouth bass from Texas waters, public or private, between Oct. 1 and April 30 may submit the fish to the Toyota ShareLunker program by calling program manager David Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or paging him at (888) 784-0600 and leaving a phone number including area code. Fish will be picked up by TPWD personnel within 12 hours.
ShareLunker entries are used in a selective breeding program at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) in Athens. Some of the offspring from these fish are stocked back into the water body from which they were caught. Other ShareLunker offspring are stocked in public waters around the state in an attempt to increase the overall size and growth rate of largemouth bass in Texas.
Anglers entering fish into the Toyota ShareLunker program receive a free replica of their fish, a certificate and ShareLunker clothing and are recognized at a banquet at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. In addition, if a Texas angler catches the largest entry of the year, that person receives a lifetime fishing license.
For complete information and rules of the ShareLunker program, tips on caring for big bass and a recap of last year’s season, see . The site also includes a searchable database of all fish entered into the program along with pictures where available.
Information on current catches, including short videos of interviews with anglers, is posted on www.facebook.com/sharelunkerprogram.
The Toyota ShareLunker Program is made possible by a grant to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation from Gulf States Toyota. Toyota is a long-time supporter of the Foundation and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, providing major funding for a wide variety of education, fish, parks and wildlife projects.
OTHER RECENT CATCHES
Steve Hand of Snyder kicked off a big weekend about 9:50 a.m. April 3 when he caught Toyota ShareLunker 495, a 13.22-pound largemouth, on O.H. Ivie. He was fishing in 10 feet of water using a Zoom six-inch lizard.
At three o’clock that afternoon Mark Worthington of Abilene landed Toyota ShareLunker 496. That fish bit a seven-inch red shad Senko in 10 feet of water on O.H. Ivie.
“It was an awesome feeling,” Steve Hand said. “I never felt the bite. I just moved the worm a little bit, and she nudged it. I felt the weight and set the hook, and the fight was on.”
Hand is an old hand at fishing Ivie. “I fish Ivie probably 15 to 20 times a year,” he said. “I think everybody who fishes O.H. Ivie realizes that the fishing this year way exceeds anything in the past except the first two or three years when the lake was new. The last two or three years the lake has produced a lot of good fish. I think a lot of that is because of what you all [Texas Parks and Wildlife Department] do—spawning fish out, bringing them back, putting them back in the lake. And the bass fishermen all appreciate it. Without [TPWD], we wouldn’t have the fish we have.”
Mark Worthington’s day ended up a lot more interesting than it started. “I didn’t have a whole lot of luck until the last cast of the day,” he said. “We were fishing off the north island with a seven-inch red shad Senko. I tossed it in a tree, and I guess she was sitting in the top of the tree. She put up a real good fight. She swam out to deep water instead of staying in the tree and pulled drag several times. Then I had trouble getting her to fit in the net she was so big.”
At about 7:30 p.m. April 4, Joseph Burgi of Del Rio was fishing in 20 feet of water at Marker 7 on Lake Amistad when he caught a 13.34-pounder on a pumpkinseed Berkley Power Worm. Burgi took his fish to Anglers Lodge, an official ShareLunker weigh and holding station, where it was picked up by TPWD staff from A.E. Wood Fish Hatchery in San Marcos. David Campbell picked the fish up there and arrived in Athens shortly before noon April 5.
Burgi’s fish is the third this season from Amistad. Lake Fork has also produced three fish this season.
Raymond Ivy of Brownwood caught Toyota ShareLunker 498 from O.H. Ivie April 5. It weighed 13.06 pounds and was caught in seven feet of water on a Strike King swim bait.
Bill Hunter III of Sweetwater caught Toyota ShareLunker 499 from O.H. Ivie Reservoir April 6. The fish weighed 13.04 pounds.
April 11 Jim McDaniel of Cedar Park caught Toyota ShareLunker 501 from the Colorado River reservoir. The fish weighed 13.01 pounds and was 20.5 inches in girth and 26.5 inches long.
Lake Austin has now produced two ShareLunkers this season and nine overall. One more entry will put the lake into double digits with Amistad International Reservoir (11 entries), Choke Canyon Reservoir (13), O.H. Ivie Reservoir (14), Lake Conroe (16), Sam Rayburn Reservoir (23) and Lake Alan Henry (25). Only Lake Fork, with 246 entries, has made it to triple-digit territory.
McDaniel was fishing in 8 feet of water with an undisclosed lure when he caught the fish. Water temperature was 65 degrees.
Lake Amistad moved into sole possession of second place in the number of Toyota ShareLunkers produced this season on April 21 when Marion Merritt from Florida caught ShareLunker No. 502.
Merritt’s 13.87-pound bass was the fourth to come from the border’s Big Friendly during the current season. Lake Fork has produced three fish. O.H. Ivie Reservoir is way ahead of the pack with nine entries.
Merritt was fishing in 14 feet of water in the San Pedro Canyon area west of U.S. 277 when the fish took a 10-inch Berkley Power Worm in green pumpkin.
