Two anglers reeled in largemouth bass weighing 14-plus pounds Thursday at O.H. Ivie Lake in Ballinger, Texas.
Both fish were collected by biologists and will be used as spawners to enhance state fisheries as part of the state’s long-running Toyota ShareLunker Program.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department used social media to announce the catches by Brett Cannon of Willis (14.4 pounds; top photo) and Casey Sobczak of Spring (14.2 pounds).
“You get one guess for what Lake produced two ShareLunkers today! Oh yes, that’s right, O.H. Ivie,” the agency asked on Facebook. “SL#593 (14.4lbs) and SL#594 (14.2lbs) are headed to Athens.”
Only fish weighing 13 pounds or more are designated “Legacy” catches and collected for use in the selective breeding program. Thursday’s catches bring to six the number of Legacy fish caught during the 2021 season, which began in January and runs through March.
Only four Legacy-class bass were caught in 2020.
How rare are these catches?
According to the ShareLunker website, “Out of the millions of bass anglers in Texas, only a select few have ever crossed the 13-pound threshold.”
O.H. Ivie is a sprawling reservoir on the Colorado and Concho rivers, and famous for producing trophy-size largemouth bass.
