ATHENS The 2024 Toyota ShareLunker program was full speed ahead and produced an exceptional collection season for the fourth consecutive year.
Anglers contributed 19 Legacy Class ShareLunkers from seven different lakes throughout Texas. Three new waterbodies recorded their first Legacy Class fish, but O.H. Ivie in west Texas was at the head of the class again this season with 12 entries, a news release said.
“Thank you to everyone involved in making another great Toyota ShareLunker collection season,” Natalie Goldstrohm, Toyota ShareLunker program coordinator, said in the release. “We’re grateful that so many anglers caught their fish of a lifetime this season and then decided to share their ShareLunker to support a future full of bigger, better bass in Texas.”
O.H. Ivie generated seven consecutive Legacy Lunkers to close out the 2024 collection season. It has produced an unprecedented number of ShareLunkers during the last four seasons, accounting for the final ShareLunker of the 2020 collection season and then exploding for 12 Legacy Class Lunkers in 2021, 2022 and 2024. It proceeded to shatter the single-season collection record for that waterbody, with 15 ShareLunkers in 2023. O.H. Ivie boasts 51 combined Legacy Lunkers and multiple Legend Class entries over the past four collections seasons.
Key highlights from the 2024 Toyota ShareLunker collection season:
- Seven reservoirs delivered Legacy Class Lunkers (Fort Phantom Hill, Inks Lake, J.B. Thomas, Naconiche, O.H. Ivie, Sam Rayburn, Toledo Bend)
- Three new reservoirs with Legacy Class ShareLunkers (Fort Phantom Hill, Inks Lake, J.B. Thomas)
- Three new waterbody records (J.B. Thomas, Inks Lake, Fort Phantom Hill) and one new junior waterbody record (J.B. Thomas)
- Angler Kyle Hall’s ShareLunker 665 (15.82-pounds) made the Texas Top 50 as the 37th heaviest all-time Texas largemouth bass
- Angler Kyle Hall recorded a Legacy Lunker in three consecutive seasons
- Angler Larry R. Walker reeled in two Legacy Class Lunkers in 2024
- Six out-of-state anglers etched their name into the program’s record book. The anglers hailed from Kansas, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma and Washington.
TPWD biologists implemented a genetic analysis of this year’s Legacy Lunkers and made some incredible discoveries. For example, they determined ShareLunker 666, reeled in by Larry R. Walker from O.H. Ivie, was a recapture of ShareLunker 646 originally caught by Mechelda Criswell on Feb. 27, 2023.
A 13.20-pound fish from Lake Athens proved to be the offspring of ShareLunker 552 which was caught by Randall E. Claybourne on Jan. 12, 2014 at Lake Fork. This is the first time a Legacy Class descendant from this specific family tree was discovered in the ShareLunker program.
Of the 19 Legacy Class ShareLunkers, 13 of the fish had secondary relationships to either previous Legacy Class fish or other ShareLunkers that anglers submitted scale samples for genetic analyses. Tissue from a pair of full siblings from Oak Creek were submitted by Criswell through the ShareLunker app. One of these fish was caught in 2023 and the other in 2024. All of these findings highlight the valued partnership that the ShareLunker program facilitates with anglers throughout the world.
Unfortunately, one of this year’s 19 Legacy Class fish, the 13.42-pound ShareLunker 662 from Inks Lake, perished due to extenuating circumstances. However, in the last five years, the program has achieved an excellent overall fish survival success rate of 94 percent. The last time a Legacy Lunker perished in TPWD care was more than three years ago, in 2021.
“The TPWD hatchery teams work diligently to provide the absolute best fish healthcare for each and every ShareLunker bass,” said Goldstrohm. “We continue to learn from these experiences and further refine big bass healthcare and life supporting treatments.”
Anglers who caught and loaned one of these 13-plus pound 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, a high-quality replica mount of their fish from Lake Fork Taxidermy, and Bass University will provide a swag pack and annual subscription. These anglers 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.
While the Legacy class season has ended, the year-round Toyota ShareLunker program offers anglers three additional levels of participation for catching bass over eight pounds or 24 inches in Texas. Each of these levels still provide vital data to TPWD fisheries biologists, helping them to continue to create bigger, better bass in Texas.
Anglers who enter data for any lunker they catch greater than eight pounds or 24 inches during the 2024 calendar year also receive a catch kit, a decal for their vehicle or boat, a one-month subscription to Bass University and an entry into the year-end Grand Prize Drawing to win a $5,000 Bass Pro Shops shopping spree. ShareLunker entry classes include the Bass Pro Shops Lunker Class (8 lb.+), Strike King Elite Class (10 lb.+) and Lew’s Legend Class (13 lb.+).
Once a lunker is reeled in, anglers need to enter the catch data on the Toyota ShareLunker mobile app – available for free from the Apple App Store and Google Play – or on the Toyota ShareLunker online app at TexasSharelunker.com.
In addition to providing basic catch information, anglers have the option to send a DNA scale sample from their lunker bass to TPWD researchers for genetic analysis. Anglers who contribute a sample to the program in 2024 will receive a Lew’s baitcast reel valued at up to $200 while supplies last, with a limit of one reel per angler. Anglers who send in a genetic sample will also get a three-month subscription to Bass University. Instructions for submitting DNA samples are located on the Toyota ShareLunker website.
The Toyota ShareLunker Program is made possible in part by the generous sponsorship of Toyota. Toyota is a longtime supporter of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation and TPWD, providing major funding for a wide variety of fisheries, state parks and wildlife projects.
Additional vital program support comes from Legend class category prize sponsor Lew’s, Elite class category prize sponsor Strike King, Lunker class category prize sponsor Bass Pro Shops, American Fishing Tackle Co., Bass Forecast, Bass University, Lake Fork Taxidermy and 6th Sense Fishing. For updates on the Toyota ShareLunker Program, visit facebook.com/sharelunkerprogram, https://www.instagram.com/TexasShareLunker or TexasSharelunker.com.
