It’s been a busy March for the Texas ShareLunker Program — in addition to the many qualifying bass caught since the month began, there have been three Legacy Class ShareLunkers added to the books in as many weeks.
Most recently, Curtis Melvin landed a 13.24-pound bass at Toledo Bend, which became the 11th Legacy Class fish of 2025 and the 680th Legacy bass for the program. Before that, Jason James landed the 10th Legacy bass of 2025 with his 13.2-pound fish pulled from Lake Tyler. But it’s the 9th Legacy catch of the year landed by Zack Fogle on Sam Rayburn that has the most unique story behind it. It also put up one heck of a fight.
Fogle caught his 13.11-pound slob while he was fishing in the American Bass Anglers (ABA) Pro League Texas Division event on March 22 on Rayburn, and while the delay he experienced to enter the fish with the ShareLunker program may have cost him the top spot in the tournament, he says it was completely worth it.
The Toyota ShareLunker Program is administered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to support its ongoing and much heralded selective bass breeding program. To qualify as a Legacy Class ShareLunker, a bass must weigh 13 pounds or more and be caught between Jan. 1 and March 31.
Around 10:30 a.m., Fogle hooked into the big bass, and after an intense fight involving several jumps and dives, he decided to prioritize the fish over further competition, cutting his day short and making sure the bass was handled properly.
Interestingly, Fogle’s fish weighed 13.39-pounds on the ABA Pro League tournament scales soon after it was caught. Hours later, when the bass was weighed by TPWD officials, it came in at 13.11-pounds — it had lost .28 pounds in the few hours that Fogle waited for TPWD officials to claim his fish for its bass breeding program.
“I lost three and a half hours of tournament fishing by waiting for the TPWD folks,” said Fogle, 9, who works as a BPX energy production superintendent. “I had just an hour left to fish in the tournament. Unfortunately, I only had four small bass to go with my 13-pounder.”
Fogle still managed to finish in second place with a five-fish bag weighing 21.75 pounds total for which he received $1,930 and the event’s Big Bass award.
“I think if I’d had that three and a half hours to cull some of my small bass I could have won the tournament, but donating a huge 13-pounder to the [ShareLunker] program is worth far more to me and the future of Texas bass fishing than winning the tourney.”
Fogle said he started fishing a cove at a creek mouth on Sam Rayburn early the morning and caught a five bass limit of 2-pounders, then started easing up the creek hunting for bigger bass to fill out his tournament weight.
“It was about 10:30 a.m. and I spotted two large fish on my LiveScope in 5-feet of water,” he said. “They were so big I thought they were catfish, so I cast a jerkbait to them to see if they’d bite.”
On his LiveScope, Fogle watched the bass both rise up to his jerkbait, but they refused to hit. He believed then that the fish were bass, not catfish, because they reacted to his jerkbait plug. He then grabbed another heavier rod with 25-pound-test braided line and cast a 10-inch plastic worm to the fish. He saw the two bass rush his plastic worm, and the bigger of the two took it.
“It’s hard to describe the chaos that happened next,” he said. “The 13-pounder jumped completely out of the water. Then it jumped another three or four times. It rushed my boat, went underneath it, and jumped again.”
Fogle finally got the huge fish close, netted it, and put on his boat deck. His biggest bass prior to this was a 10-pounder, and he knew the bass he’d just caught was much bigger.
“I put it on my Bubba scale in the boat and it went [to] 13 pounds,” Fogle continued. “Immediately, I called the tournament director and told him I had a 13-pound bass and wanted to give it to TPWD for their Legacy program. The tourney folks called TPWD, and they wanted me to run to another lake site to have the fish weighed and taken away to the state fish hatchery.”
Fogle got permission to officially weigh his big bass for the tournament early, so he could then take it to give to TPWD, and then go back to fishing in the event.
“It was a great experience, and the folks at TPWD are incredible,” Fogle said. “They called me the night I caught my bass and told me my fish had been transported safely to the state fish hatchery and will be spawned in their breeding program. Nothing could have made me happier than hearing that news.”
There are four classes of bass in the Toyota ShareLunker Program — anglers who catch, submit, and donate a bass 13 pounds or heavier to the program during the spawning months from January through March earn Legacy Class status, the top class, which comes with awards including prizes, entries into drawings with cash prizes, and shopping sprees.
The angler-reporting aspect of the Toyota ShareLunker program provides vital data to fisheries biologists, helping them continue to create bigger, better bass in Texas.
Anglers who reel in a 13-plus pound bass from Jan. 1 – March 31 can loan it to TPWD for the ShareLunker selective breeding and stocking program and report their catch via the ShareLunker 24/7 hotline at (903) 681-0550. Once certified, the catch earns Legacy Class status.
First, the fish must be weighed on a certified scale (a list of official weight stations can be found here). Anglers must also enter the catch data on the Toyota ShareLunker mobile app – available for free from the Apple App Store and Google Play – or 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 will receive additional prizes, including a Lew’s baitcast reel.
Legacy Class anglers 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, ShareLunker branded apparel provided by AFTCO, and Bass University will provide a swag pack and annual subscription.
They 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.
