If you love bass fishing, and you want to catch giants… Texas is the place to do that.
And honestly, it kind of pisses me off.
I’m sitting here in Wisconsin (where I live and fish often) with a few inches of ice on the water, meanwhile multiple dudes down in Texas are pulling 13-pound HOGS out of the water… on the same day… on different lakes. And even if I could be out on the water today, the best I’m looking at is probably a 5-pounder. And that would be a monster for me. Last year, I think I topped out with a 2.5 lb smallmouth and a 3 lb. largemouth.
I guess I just gotta move…
Anyways, back to the story at hand… the Toyota Texas ShareLunker Program welcomed three different legacy class (over 13 pound) bass this past week, caught on the same day, on three different lakes, in the Lone Star State.
“A triple Lunker Day! Angler Aaron Suess (first picture) caught 13.87 pound Lunker from O.H. Ivie and Alec Morrison (second picture) weighed in ShareLunker 655 at 13.82 pounds at Sam Rayburn. A third Legacy Class ShareLunker was caught today by Ben Milliken ShareLunker 656 weighed in at 13.15 pounds. Thank you all for your contribution to bass conservation in Texas.”
Texas Parks and Wildlife’s popular Toyota ShareLunker program basically rewards Texas anglers for catching big fish, and helps to promote a fun and healthy atmosphere for bass fishing in the state. Recognizing fishermen for big bass, handing out merch, doing giveaways and other prizes for bass over 8 pounds, they do something special with those 13-pound behemoths.
Dubbed the Legacy Class, Texas Parks and Wildlife actually take these giant fish and use them to breed before returning them to the water. Big females are typically sent to a hatchery so their offspring can be used to stock lakes and ponds across Texas. O.H Ivie, outside of San Angelo, Texas, in particular has produced some MASSIVE bass in the past few years, becoming one of the nation’s premier fishing destinations for monster largemouth bass.
And if you recognize that last dude, you know he’s caught his fair share of hogs in his day. After a top-10 2023 season in the Bassmaster EQ Opens, Ben Milliken qualified for the Bassmaster Elite Series this year, which is set to begin on Toledo Bend Reservoir at the end of the month.
But if you haven’t followed his professional fishing career, you might’ve seen his YouTube channel where he has amassed over half a million subscribers. If you want to learn about catching big bass, I’d check out his channel.
Looks like he landed this hog on a 6th Sense Juggle Minnow, a great choice (one I use myself) for the popular hover strolling/mid-strolling technique that has taken over bass fishing in the past year or so.
