A Texas angler has landed the eighth-heaviest largemouth bass in state history.
Jason Conn caught the 17.03-pound bass Monday afternoon at O.H. Ivie Lake, which has yielded several giant bass this year. (See video posted below.)
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the largest bass caught in Texas weighed 18.18 pounds. It was landed by Barry St. Clair at Lake Fork in January 1992.
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Six of the seven bass heavier than Conn’s were caught in the 1980s and 90s. The other, a 17.08-pound largemouth, was caught at O.H. Ivie in 2022.
Texas Parks and Wildlife announced Conn’s catch Monday via social media, describing the fish as “one of the largest Lunkers to hit the scales in Texas history!”
Conn, a pro angler and guide, stated late Monday that his accomplishment had yet to fully set in.
“I am now in the top 10 with biggest bass ever caught in the state of Texas and only 2 fish this size caught in the last 30 years,” Conn, who did not disclose the type of rig he used, wrote on Facebook. “So unreal and I am still in shock.”
Jason Conn just caught a top 50 largemouth bass from O.H. Ivie! ShareLunker 642 weighed in at 17.03 lbs and is one of the largest Lunkers to hit the scales in Texas history! His Legacy Class Lunker is the 8th heaviest Texas largemouth bass of all time. Amazing! Congrats! pic.twitter.com/Z7tiiU4d6H
— TPWD Fishing (@TPWDfish) February 14, 2023
Hundreds of followers posted congratulatory comments.
The bass was kept alive and donated to Texas Parks and Wildlife to become part of its long-running Toyota ShareLunker Program.
The selective-breeding program collects bass weighing 13 pounds or more. In a hatchery setting, the fish are encouraged to spawn and their offspring are stocked statewide.
The program, in its 37th year, runs from January through March.
For comparison, the world record for largemouth bass is a tie at 22 pounds, 4 ounces. One bass was caught by George W. Perry at Montgomery Lake in Georgia in 1932. The other was caught by Manabu Kurita at Lake Biwa in Shiga, Japan, in 2009.
Any largemouth bass catch exceeding 10 pounds is considered to be extraordinary.
