Launching the 2024 ShareLunker Season | Bass Angler Magazine
The 2023 season was another banner year for the ShareLunker program, with multiple milestones reached and memories made by anglers working with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Inland Fisheries Division staff, who together make the program a success.
Key highlights from the 2023 Toyota ShareLunker collection season include:
- A record 15 Legacy Class ShareLunkers produced from O.H. Ivie.
- Five fish weighing more than 14 pounds.
- Angler Kyle Hall recorded a Legacy Lunker in back-to-back seasons.
- Anglers Dalton Smith and Caden Cowan reeled in Legacy Lunkers at O.H. Ivie on the same day (Feb. 2).
- Anglers from seven states, including Texas, etched their name into the program’s record book: Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico and Washington.
- Anglers have submitted 650 Legacy Lunkers in the first 37 years of the ShareLunker program and during the 2022 and 2023 collection seasons, all the loaned fish were healthy and returned to the lake where they were caught.
New for 2024
TPWD fisheries biologists have learned a great deal from genetic scale samples donated by Texas bass anglers. They are eager to receive more data, but for that we’ll need your help. So, new for 2024, anglers who contribute a lunker scale sample will receive a Lew’s baitcast reel, valued at up to $200, while supplies last*. Plus, all anglers who send in a genetic sample will get a 3-month subscription to Bass University. Instructions for submitting DNA samples are located on the Toyota ShareLunker website.
* Limit of 1 Lew’s baitcast reel per angler, while supplies last. Specific model to be determined, valued up to $200.
How to Participate in ShareLunker Program
If you reel in a largemouth bass that’s at least 8 lbs. or 24 inches, you can participate simply by entering your Lunker catch information online or on the ShareLunker mobile app during the year-long season (January 1 – December 31). Lunkers 13 lbs.+ that are caught during spawning season (January 1 – March 31) can be donated to the ShareLunker program – just call the mobile hotline at (903) 681-0550 and we’ll come pick it up!
Once a Lunker is reeled in, 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.
All confirmed ShareLunker participants will receive a Catch Kit corresponding to their fish’s weight class. Each Catch Kit includes an achievement decal, merchandise and other giveaways. Plus, qualified entries will be included in a grand prize drawing to win a $5,000 shopping spree and other prizes! And, if you donate a 13 lb. or larger bass for spawning, you will be entered in an additional drawing to win a $5,000 shopping spree, VIP access to the Toyota ShareLunker Annual Awards event and a high-quality replica of your Lunker fish.
This year, Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine is celebrating the kickoff of the 2024 ShareLunker season with a special issue. We’re taking a deep dive into Lake O.H. Ivie’s success and sharing ways to reel in bigger bass with or without a boat — all wrapped in a life-sized ShareLunker cover.
Don’t let this issue get away! Subscribe before January 22, and we’ll mail you our big bass issue in February. A subscription is just $2/month and includes 10 print issues a year plus full access to our app library of more than 800 features that highlight the great Texas outdoors (and lots of fishing).
Download the App
Download the free ShareLunker app to your phone before you head to the lake so you’ll be ready to enter your lunker catch and stay up–to–date with the program. Available for iOS and Android devices.
