Trox

Whatever it takes ?

I don't think so... I love to fish tournaments and travel but part of me feels that the joy would be lost if my livelihood and family depended on it. I'd probably try it if given the opportunity though... I mean, I could always stop if I wanted to.

Word around town is that a majority of those catches are coming from a-rigs around main lake points where the big fish suspend on the top of the submerged trees. Not sure about depth other than "top of trees".

Right or wrong, I have all the fancy gadgets and stuff that I can afford (and some that I can't)... But I do know that a majority of my best, and most enjoyable days on the water, have come from times where my fish finders and electronics were completely ignored or turned off altogether and I was truly disconnected...

If they are pulling enough water to drop the water level a few feet, I won't fish super shallow as I feel like the fish will retreat a bit to deeper water. Other than that, and especially on larger reservoirs, I don't pay an incredible amount of attention to it as I tend to believe there are other environmental factors that play a bigger role. I mean, if there is current from it, it is definately considered, but no more than the wind, blue bird or cloudy skies, etc... It's definately not a "they are releasing water, I MUST fish by the dam" kind of thing.

Maybe this is what the fish are feeling as well...

Latest legacy catch 14.46lbs out of O.H. Ivie by Tim Manley. I’ve caught a 24” fish before that weighed 7.5lbs… this one is almost an inch shorter than that and about double the weight. Unreal. The thing looks like a basketball

15.66 caught by a Mike Ybarra out of Lake Daniel today. Pending lake record by over 2lbs. That makes 21 13+ pound bass so far this year in the Lone Star State.

I have all these high dollar shimano reels (metaniums, chronarch, etc) but absolutely nothing bombs as hard as my Lews LFS reels (I barely, if at all, have to thumb them), and for the life of me I can't figure out why. That being said, I have two DEDICATED top water set ups, both with Lews LFS, both with 50lb straight braid, and you would think I casted my lures off the line with how far they fly sometimes... But consider this... you also wanna make sure that you can set the hook properly on a fish, and the typical Medium rods that are used for walking baits just aren't going to get it done for you when your bait is sitting 60+ yards or so away. ESPECIALLY if there is any chop in the water to catch your line while your working it... Just be sure that you are not setting yourself up for failure here... I've seen people set the hook in these situations and their rod is all loaded up already from just the drag created from the 60 yards of braid sitting on the water, then once they finally make contact with the fish in that situation, there's nowhere else to go to actually set the hook. May need a super long rod to help pick up that extra line...

My step brother got me into the sport when we met at 5yrs old and it's turned into the family thing to do in a hurry... Funny though, as we grew up we both kind of went our own ways in the sport. My brother went the catfishing/striper/whitebass route, and I went the largemouth route... Both die hards in our own rights, but one definitely has more in the freezer than the other lol

Oooh, we get two today... 13.27lb from Lake Nacogdoches caught by Kellie Renfro

Yeah, they've stopped taking fish from Ivie for the moment to make sure that they save room in the hatchery or wherever for other legacy class fish from different lakes... They will still show up and take a DNA sample and all that, but the Ivie fish now immediately go back into Ivie.

Looks like we missed 14.34lber caught on March 6th from Sam Rayburn 14.82lber coming out of O.H. Ivie today

I've also never been asked what pound line I was using when fulfilling a rod warranty so take that for what it is worth as well

I mean, doesn't really seem like he's considering yours. I'd definately talk to him about it.

My single day trips are 2 hours one way typically, sometime 3 if I decide to fish Amistad. There are not a lot of tournament lakes in my general area so I've had to get very used to driving... With that being said, I'd gladly drive ~5hrs one way for an overnight trip to a lake like Rayburn

Super stoked for Christie. Was rooting for either him or Swindle in this Classic

I've been following that too, it's pretty fascinating

Those rod lockers are worth every penny

Let's go!

Another one... 13.96lbs caught out of Lake Austin by Josh Irvine Josh was nice enough to comment on how he caught this one too. I'm sure the mouth of Bull creek is about to be a zoo...

A majority of them at O.H. Ivie are being caught on A-rigs to my knowledge... I know that Josh Jones uses those unapologetically down there. I would be interested to find out how they are being caught everywhere else though but some anglers are a little more talkative or secretive than others Here are a few supporting articles about the a-rig craze at O.H. Ivie: When it all started: - https://www.oklahoman.com/story/sports/columns/2021/03/04/an-oklahoma-angler-a-texas-lake-and-an-alabama-rig-equals-a-15-pound-bass/335344007/ - One of the latest ones (Feb 24th) states "slammed the rig the second time he brought it past her": https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Angler-catches-largest-bass-OH-Ivie-Texas-lake-16956101.php - And apparently there had been some discussion about it last year around this time in this forum

My BIGGEST EVER moron moment... Just a few days away from the 1yr anniversary of this event... I had just bought a brand new 2021 Phoenix 721ProXP... literally my dream boat... I go to take it out for the first time to begin the break in the Mercury and give it a few hours of runtime. I beach the boat and power pole down on shore like I have always done, and on this day there happened to be 20+mph winds blowing into the boat from the main lake (so, blowing towards the shore where I was beached)... I hopped out of the boat, got in the truck, and drove about 300ft up the hill to park my truck and trailer. Hop out of the truck, start walking towards the boat, look up, and notice my boat beginning its maiden voyage without me!!! I LEFT IT IN REVERSE, AND IN GEAR!!! I run faster than I think I ever have towards the water and start swimming toward the my boat... I'm not the strongest swimmer in the world, so luckily I was able to realize through my adrenaline that this was likely going to end up with me at the bottom of the lake, so I turned around and headed back to shore just in the nick of time as I was already starting to cramp up... It's important to note that water temps are in the lower 50s and it's a pretty chilly day, I was cold, just didn't know it yet... It was also in during the middle of the week, so I was the only person there that day... anyways... I run back up to my truck because I had a leftover life jacket in there and I was going to try the swimming thing again, but with a PFD on (It was all I could think of at the time). Keep in mind that this would have only been possible because my boat is currently fighting 20+mph winds which are really slowing it down.. MY TRUCK IS LOCKED AND MY KEYS ARE NOT IN MY POCKET!!! Turned out I had dropped them during my first swimming attempt... So now, with very limited options, I run back down to the lake, and just watch the boat, absolutely exhausted (I also smoked ciggarrettes at the time), barely able to breathe... praying that maybe, just maybe another boat would pass by that I could flag down to help... no luck... With my back against the wall, I did the only other thing left to do... about a 1/4 mile up the road, there were a few houses... so I began to run... Finally got to the first house. Luckily, the owner and his son were home. I could barely stand at this point, let alone talk... But was able to get just enough out to let them know that I needed help by the water... plus, they could see the lake AND MY BOAT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT, from their house! lol The son and his father immediately grab their ATV and and throw a kayak (and me) on it and head down to the water. The son puts the kayak in the water for me (cause I was basically cramping up, dead and useless), hands me the paddle, and wishes me luck... great... alright, Kyle, let's see what you're made of. I paddle... and paddle... and paddle... against 20mph winds for what feels like an eternity... I FINALLY CATCH UP TO THE BOAT and just in the nick of time as the opposite shoreline was beginning to break the strong wind. Basically, my boat was less than 2 minutes away from being unhindered by the wind where it would head stright towards the rocky bluffs on the opposite shoreline... After holding onto the boat for a few minutes to catch my breath the best I could, I am finally able to flop in and get behind the wheel... I eventually make my way back to the boat ramp with the steering wheel in one hand, and pulling the kayak in the other, still trying to catch my breath... Finally get to the boat ramp where the father and son duo were waiting with a dry shirt for me to put on... Immediately after, I begin dry heaving for the next 30minutes. My body was completely broken down. I was shivering cold. About an hour later, I finally catch my breath. I called my neighbor to come pick me and pull my boat home for me since I had no keys to my own vehicle... Took an uber to the boat ramp the following morning where I waited for the tow truck that was going to take my truck to get re-keyed at the dealership (yeah, I also didn't have a spare key!) $500 dollars later - I have new keys, and have learned a very important lesson... I can't believe that happend to me... I wasn't a first time boat owner... and was doing something I have done hundreds of times before. But that day, I learned a new term. "new boat stupid" - It's when you are too excited about your new boat that you aren't thinking straight ?‍♂️ That dry shirt that I was given is now kept as a souvenir/reminder of that day. It's pretty neat because it actually has an outline of Medina Lake on it, the lake where it happened.

I've seen a few topics started based on single Sharelunker entries on here so I was thinking that it may be a good idea to start a topic as sort of a "one stop shop" for them, starting today, specifically for the Legacy entries (13+ lb largemouth bass)... I follow the program pretty regularly and will do my best to keep this up to date as I see them come in, but if you see one before I do, please feel free to post it yourself! Figure this would be beneficial for those who don't have Facebook (I know there's a few on here!), or follow the program on social media or their website, and would like to stay up to date with the latest Legacy class catches, or who just like looking at big Texas bass... To start off we have a doozy at 16lbs caught from Eagle Mountain Lake today by Robert Bandy. This fish is also a pending new lake record!

Fake new! Everyone knows it is impossible to catch 10 + lbers on anything other than a $25 Megabass Vision 110. Totally kidding! Congrats on another amazing catch! Great to see!