Big Bass Central

Texas a destination spot with big bass hunters around the globe

  • ohn Alexander boated back-to-back state records in 1981 from Lake Echo, a private lake near Canton. The first was a 14.2 pounder in January, followed by a 15.5 pounder in February. Both have since been bumped from the Texas Top 50 list. (Bassmaster Photo)
    ohn Alexander boated back-to-back state records in 1981 from Lake Echo, a private lake near Canton. The first was a 14.2 pounder in January, followed by a 15.5 pounder in February. Both have since been bumped from the Texas Top 50 list. (Bassmaster Photo)
  • Former TPWD inland fisheries director Bob Kemp passed away in 1986, but his legacy lives on in Texas bass fishing as we know it today. Kemp brought the first Florida-strain bass to Texas on his own accord in early 1970s. It was a bold move that eventually lead to a complete rewrite of the Texas Top 50 and helped make Texas a destination spot with big bass hunters around the globe. (TPWD Photo)
    Former TPWD inland fisheries director Bob Kemp passed away in 1986, but his legacy lives on in Texas bass fishing as we know it today. Kemp brought the first Florida-strain bass to Texas on his own accord in early 1970s. It was a bold move that eventually lead to a complete rewrite of the Texas Top 50 and helped make Texas a destination spot with big bass hunters around the globe. (TPWD Photo)
  • Five Top 25 bass have been reeled in at Lake O.H. Ivie in the last three years. Shawn Strength’s 16.65 pounder caught in November 2023 is the most recent. It’s ranks No. 14. (Photos courtesy Dalton Smith)
    Five Top 25 bass have been reeled in at Lake O.H. Ivie in the last three years. Shawn Strength’s 16.65 pounder caught in November 2023 is the most recent. It’s ranks No. 14. (Photos courtesy Dalton Smith)
  • TPWD has used the ShareLunker program to completely rebuild its Florida bass hatchery program with female and male offspring from ShareLunkers with pure Florida genes. In time, every batch of largemouth bass fingerlings stocked in Texas lakes will be descendants of fish that grew beyond 13 pounds. (Photo by Matt Williams)
    TPWD has used the ShareLunker program to completely rebuild its Florida bass hatchery program with female and male offspring from ShareLunkers with pure Florida genes. In time, every batch of largemouth bass fingerlings stocked in Texas lakes will be descendants of fish that grew beyond 13 pounds. (Photo by Matt Williams)
    Some call Texas the Lone Star State. I like to call it “Big Bass Central.” An army of giant bass have been caught in Texas over the years. At last count, more than 90 Lone Star reservoirs had produced lake records weighing 13 pounds or more. The biggest bass are always females. Fisheries experts have told me a mature female bass with egg-swollen ovaries will weigh about ...

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