Boy, 11, lands record bass that will help enhance Texas fisheries

Stetson Davis set out with his father hoping to catch his first double-digit largemouth bass. He achieved that goal and then some.

An 11-year-old boy shattered a junior angler waterbody record in Texas on Wednesday with the catch of a 13.31-pound largemouth bass at J.B. Thomas Reservoir.

Stetson Davis of Tuttle, Oklahoma, broke the record by more than five pounds and joined a small number of anglers of any age to have caught bass topping 13 pounds this year in Texas.

The massive fish was donated alive to the state-run Toyota ShareLunker Program, which accepts only “Legacy Class” bass weighing at least 13 pounds for its long-running hatchery spawning effort designed to enhance fisheries statewide.

“We are excited to recognize Stetson’s accomplishments through the Toyota ShareLunker Program and Angler Recognition Program,” Natalie Goldstrohm, program coordinator, stated Friday in a news release. “Getting young people hooked on fishing through these programs is important to creating a lifelong love of the sport.”

Stetson was in Texas with his father, Brodey Davis, with the goal of catching his first double-digit largemouth bass.

The kid had a good teacher; Brodey caught the seventh-largest “Legacy Class” bass in Texas history (17.06 pounds) in 2022 at O.H. Ivie Reservoir.

Stetson recalled his Wednesday outing to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department:

“We didn’t have much luck at the start but around 9:20 a.m. we spotted her. I made multiple casts her way, but she wouldn’t bite, and it was a little frustrating. I finally placed the bait close enough to where she saw and then she bit.

“I set the hook and instantly my dad went to go and grab the net. When the fish came to the surface, we knew it was a double-digit. It was a fairly quick fight, and we were able to secure it in the net and get it into the boat.”

Stetson is the 11th angler this year to donate a Legacy Class bass to the ShareLunker Program. Since 1986, Texas anglers have donated 611 Legacy Class fish to the program.