‘My Adrenaline Was Pumping.’ Bass Guide Makes Texas History with Trio of 13-Pounders

Bass information Lawrence Lee, of Toler, Texas, has been on the type of roll that almost all anglers solely dream of. On Tuesday, Lee notched his title within the states’ trophy bass history book when he caught two 13-pound largemouths in someday. He donated each fish to the ShareLunker Program run by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Division.

This was only a few weeks after he caught and donated another 13-plus-pound bass. Each a kind of trophy fish have come from his house lake, J.B. Thomas Reservoir.

“That is the primary time within the 40-year historical past of the ShareLunker program that two 13-pound or heavier Legacy bass have been caught on the identical day by the identical angler,” TPWD ShareLunker coordinator Natalie Goldstrohm tells Out of doors Life. “It’s additionally the primary time that three 13-pound or heavier Legacy bass have been caught by one angler in a single season.”

Lee’s first Legacy fish of the season got here on March 8, when he was operating a guided journey on J.B. Thomas. That largemouth weighed 13.12 kilos and you may read the full story here.

Fishing solo, Lee boated another giant bass Tuesday morning weighing 13.1 kilos. That fish slammed a KGB Swimbaits glide bait.

Lee spoke with Out of doors Life round noon Tuesday, after the ShareLunker workforce had collected the trophy largemouth so they might deliver it to the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. Lee was having lunch on the time, and he stated he was going again out that afternoon, since his information buddy, Christian Gladfelter, had discovered a spot on the lake with good numbers of heavyweight pre-spawn bass.

“Christian couldn’t go along with me that afternoon as a result of he needed to information a celebration, so I headed out alone about 3:30 p.m.,” says the 35-year-old angler, who runs Slaunched Guide Service with Gladfelter.

Utilizing forward-facing sonar — similar to he did together with his first two trophy bass — Lee was capable of finding some massive fish in deep water that afternoon. However they wouldn’t commit sufficient to hit his lure.

“I stayed after one massive fish that I figured was a 12 pounder for about an hour – however I simply couldn’t get the bass to chew,” Lee tells Out of doors Life on Wednesday. “Whereas staying with that massive fish I noticed one other heavyweight bass close to backside in 18 ft of water about 7 p.m.”

Lee says he nonetheless hadn’t gotten a single strike till he made a solid towards that fish. This time he was utilizing a 5.5-inch light-colored DC Swimbait rigged on a half-ounce jighead. Utilizing baitcasting sort out and 25-pound fluorocarbon line, he despatched his lure towards the bass and watched the tackle his sonar display screen.  

“My first solid to that fish she whipped round towards my lure and ate it,” Lee says. “I set the hook and she or he jumped simply 20 ft from my boat, and I noticed she wasn’t hooked properly. The lure was on the tip of her mouth, and there was an enormous gap in her jaw there.”

The bass dove close to Lee’s boat as he reached for his touchdown internet. He missed netting the bass because it swam by and went underneath his boat. Then it jumped and took some drag, swimming away from the boat and behind Lee.

“I’m normally fairly calm, however I used to be messing the whole lot up with this bass and my adrenaline was pumping,” he says. “I pulled her again underneath the boat, bought her in my internet, lifted her into my boat, and the hook fell out of her jaw … I used to be fortunate and was actual near shedding her.”

Utilizing a hand scale he had on board, Lee weighed the fish at greater than 13 factors. Then he known as Goldstrohm for the second time that day.

“I’d simply talked to her that morning once I caught my different 13 pounder, so I used to be type of cool speaking to her,” Lee laughs. “She was shocked.”

A crew from the TPWD ShareLunker program was despatched to the lake, the place they formally weighed Lee’s bass at 13.57 kilos. It had a 25.47-inch size and a 21.81-girth.

In a typical state of affairs, TPWD fisheries biologists would have taken the bass to the state-run hatchery, the place it will be spawned in captivity so its fry could possibly be stocked in different Texas lakes. However the holding tank there was already maxed out with different big bass. So, biologists tagged Lee’s largemouth, took fin and scale samples for evaluation, and gave the dwell bass again to Lee.

Learn Subsequent: ‘A Special Big Bass Spot.’ This Guide Just Caught His 15th 13-Plus-Pounder From the Same Lake

Lee says he went again on the lake and launched his bass, then stayed and fished till midnight. He didn’t catch anymore trophies that evening. However he did return out on the lake the following morning and caught a ten.5-pounder, together with a pair of 8-pounders.

“This yr we’ve had 17 bass over 13 kilos submitted to this system,” Goldstrohm says. “4 of these have come from O.H. Ivie Lake, and 4 extra from J.B. Thomas.”

Goldstrohm says the 2026 ShareLunker season ends March 31, and that till then, anglers can nonetheless contact TPWD to submit bass weighing 13 kilos or extra. Even when their fish isn’t collected for this system, they’re nonetheless eligible for the prizes and accolades for the accomplishment, together with a fiberglass duplicate of their bass.