iStockphoto / Mr Bass Outdoors
Angler Jason Conn of Anna, Texas, a city north of Dallas, just caught the 8th heaviest largemouth bass ever landed in the Lonestar State.
Jason had his camera rolling while fishing on O.H. Ivie Lake, a reservoir of the Colorado River that’s out in the sticks due West of Waco, Texas.
While remote, it’s a major destination for largemouth bass fishermen and reliably produces some of the biggest bass in the country.
Jason Conn was fishing with two friends when he hooked the massive Texas largemouth bass. After getting it back to the boat he quickly realized his fish was a ‘Legacy Class Lunker’ and took it to a certified scale where the fish was officially weighed at 17.03 pounds.
17.03-Pound Largemouth Bass Caught In Texas
Here is the video of him reeling in this 17+ pound largemouth bass:
Want some more pictures of this insanely fat bass? Of course, you do:
What are ‘Legacy Class Largemouth Bass In TX?
Let’s talk about ‘Legacy’ class Largemouth Bass. Any largemouth in Texas weighing 13 pounds or more is designated as a ‘Legacy’ fish. Once caught, they are preserved and donated to the state where biologists from the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.
The goal of these biologists is to “attempt to spawn them to make bigger, better bass to stock in and enhance fishing in Texas lakes” according to a press release from the state.
There’s also a big incentive for anglers to donate the massive bass. The Texas ShareLunker program hooks anglers up with a LOT of prizes for catching a 13-pound Legacy Class bass:
“Anglers who catch and donate one of these 13+ lunkers earn Legacy Class status, receive a catch kit filled with merchandise, a 13lb+ Legacy decal for their vehicle or boat, VIP access to the Toyota ShareLunker Annual Awards event and a high-quality replica mount of their Lunker fish from Lake Fork Taxidermy.
These anglers will also receive entries into two separate drawings- a Legacy Class Drawing and the year-end Grand Prize Drawing. Both drawings will award the winner a $5,000 Bass Pro Shops shopping spree and an annual fishing license.”
The Toyota ShareLunker program in Texas isn’t only for 13-pound fish. There are four tiers of entry and they start at 8-pounds or 24 inches.
This Texas Parks & Wildlife press release about the impressive fish catches explains all of the ways to enter and what you stand to win by entering.
Jason Conn is a very experienced largemouth bass fisherman. He’s even competed on the Major League Fishing circuit and has 1 top-10 finish in 16 events ($15,410 in earnings).
On Facebook, Conn questioned if this is the heaviest largemouth bass ever caught on video in the state of Texas. The answer is it most likely is.
How does this bass compare to other others?
FTW writes that only 2 bass of this size have been caught in Texas in the past 30 years. The chances that the other fish was also caught on video AND nobody remembers it are slim to none.
The Texas State Fishing Record for Largemouth Bass is 18.18 pounds. That fish was 25.50 inches long. It was caugh by angler Barry StClair on Lake Fork back on January 24, 1992.
The IGFA all-tackle fishing world record for largemouth bass is 22 pounds, 4 ounces.
There are wwo anglers that are tied for that world record. The first is George W. Perry whose infamous was fish caught in 1932 in Montgomery Lake, Georiga.
And more recently, Manabu Kurita tied the record with a 22lb4oz bass caught on Lake Biwa in Shiga, Japan in 2009.