Lake Austin continues to be the sleeper among public water bodies pumping out largemouth bass weighing 13 pounds or more.
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.
McDaniel’s fish was the thirtieth to be entered into the Toyota ShareLunker program this season. The all-time record number of entries is 36.
The ShareLunker season runs through April 30, and with water temperatures slowly rising, additional entries are likely.
Anyone legally catching a 13-pound or bigger largemouth bass from Texas waters, public or private, between October 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.
For complete information and rules of the ShareLunker program, tips on caring for big bass and a recap of last year’s season, see www.tpwd.state.tx.us/sharelunker. The site also includes a searchable database of all fish entered into the program along with pictures where available.
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.By: “>Larry D. Hodge, TPWD
