LEGACY LUNKER: Going through the process

Listen up big bass junkies.

The lunker bunkers at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center are open for business and the time is ripe for catching a whopper. Here’s a fishy scenario to get those trophy wheels turning....

It’s a chilly winter day and a casual cast to the shallows turns into an epic battle with a whale of a bass. It takes some doing, but you eventually subdue the fish and work it into a landing net. It is obvious the bass has a serious weight problem. A friend says it may qualify as a “Toyota Legacy Lunker.”

What should you do next? For those who may not know, a Legacy Lunker is a Texas- caught bass weighing upwards of 13 pounds that is reeled in between January 1 and March 31, then turned over to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for spawning and genetics research. It’s a pretty special fish.

Legacy Lunkers are the heartbeat of the Toyota Share-Lunker program, a popular campaign aimed at producing bigger and better bass for Texas anglers to catch. Currently in its 38th season, the Texas Parks and Wildlife outreach program is built around cooperative anglers willing to loan the big fish to the state for selective spawning in hatchery raceways.

Participating anglers receive a free catch kit filled all sorts of goodies. They also get VIP access to the Toyota Share-Lunker Annual Awards event, a high-quality replica mount of their fish and earn entries into two separate drawings for $5,000 Bass Pro Shops shopping sprees given away at the end of the year.

There is a multi-step process involved in loaning a fish to Toyota ShareLunker. It begins with making sure the fish stays healthy enough to survive.

If you forget everything else you read here, remember this: A bass that weighs 13 pounds is more than likely at least 10 years old. Big they are, but tough they aren’t.

Think of them like senior citizens of the aquatic world. Some big bass become feeble in their old age. They do best when handled the least after they are caught.

Like people, every fish is different. Handling with kid gloves always the best policy. Excessive handling can cause stress and reduce the chances of survival.

That’s the word from Natalie Goldstrohm of Athens. Goldstrohm is in her second year as Toyota ShareLunker Program Coordinator.

Among other things, it is Goldstrohm’s job is to oversee the safe transfer of qualifying big bass from lakes across Texas to the Toyota ShareLunker headquarters at the TFFC. The fish are relocated using special hatchery trucks equipped with large, oxygenated tanks that are filled with treated water.

Teamwork: Have Lunker, Will Travel Carrying out a transfer could mean a 50-mile round trip to a nearby lake or an hours-long journey to a lake on the opposite side of the state. Goldstrohm says long trips typically call for some tag team efforts among inland fisheries staff.

“The location of the catch determines if the ShareLunker team will collect the fish or if a response team will collect the fish,” she said. “If the fish is caught near Athens, then the ShareLunker team will respond. However, if the fish is caught from a lake closer to one of the fisheries management teams or hatchery teams, they will respond.”

Tag team responses usually involve the two teams exchanging the fish at a designated location halfway between the Toyota ShareLunker headquarters in Athens and the lake of origin. Goldstrohm says the main idea is do what is in the best interest of the fish and the anglers willing to loan their prize catch.

“The purpose of having the fisheries management and hatchery teams involved is to get the fish to the hatchery sooner and to provide good customer care to the angler so they don’t have to wait as long for TPWD to arrive to pick up their catch of a lifetime,” she said. “Because of the geographic distribution of reservoirs in Texas, response time with just one transporter can be excessive depending on where that fish was caught.”

Last year’s ShareLunker collection season was among the busiest in recent times. Goldstrohm said state hatchery trucks gobbled up more than 10,300 miles of highway in the 2023 Legacy Lunker shuffle. TPWD staff retrieved 18 fish, including an all-time high of 15 entries from Lake O.H. Ivie near San Angelo.

The first Toyota Legacy Lunker of 2024 was reported on January 17 from Lake J.B. Thomas, a 7,200 acre West Texas reservoir near Snyder. The 13.79-pound lake record was caught by Lawrence Lee of Tolar. It’s the first-ever Legacy Lunker reported from the 72-year-old reservoir.

The 2024 collection season is young. More Legacy Lunkers entries are certain to come in the next 2 1/2 months. Likewise, TPWD hatchery trucks are all gassed up and ready to roll.

I recently asked Goldstrohm to describe the Legacy Lunker entry process to give lucky anglers an idea of what to do when the big bite comes, and what to expect from the entry process: Loaning a Lunker 1.) The first order of business if you catch a fish that may qualify is to place the fish in aerated livewell filled with lake water. Next, contact the the Toyota ShareLunker hotline at 903-681-0550. The phone number is monitored 24/7. If you don’t get an answer, leave a message or send a text.

2.) Goldstrohm will be in touch with directions to the nearest certified scale to weigh the fish. It could be a local marina, convenience store or bait shop. There are several official Toyota ShareLunker Holding and Weigh Station locations throughout the state that provide both a certified scale and a place to hold the ShareLunker.

3.) Once the weight of the fish has been verified as 13 pounds or heavier, a response team will be deployed. This team will be the fisheries management biologist or hatchery team closest to the location where the fish was caught.

4.) Goldstrohm says anglers are encouraged to minimize handling of fish, to use fin weights when a fish is experiencing an inflated air bladder and to allow the TPWD biologist to fizz the fish, if needed. It’s a good idea to wait until TPWD arrives before taking any photos. Once the response team arrives, they will evaluate the fish, set up the process to photograph the fish with the angler, and the transfer of the fish from the holding location to the transport vehicle.

5.) While awaiting the arrival of the response team, the angler should fill out the Toyota ShareLunker Legacy Agreement via the ShareLunker app or website, texassharelunker.com.

6.) The agreement authorizes the department to take possession of the fish for spawning/genetics research, confirms the fish was caught legally and releases the department from any liability claims should the fish die. It also allows the angler to dictate what happens with fish once spawning and genetics testing are complete.

Most anglers choose to release fish back into the lake from which it was caught. TPWD will return the fish and help coordinate the process. You cannot release the fish into a different public water body. Anglers can agree or decline to share their contact information with media outlets.

Matt Williams is a freelance writer based in Nacogdoches. He can be reached by e-mail, mattwillwrite4u@yahoo.com.