Update on the hunt for next largemouth world record

We’re at a lull in the production of truly giant bass — not bucket-list double-digit fish, or even a legit 13-pounder to qualify for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) ShareLunker Program or the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission’s (FWC) “Legend” status.

We’re talking the biggest of the big: upper-teen fish to those closing in on or even surpassing 20 pounds. Sound like a tall order? That’s because it is.

For 103 years, Florida’s record has stood at 20 pounds, 3 ounces, while Texas’ mark of 18.18 was set 1992. In California, the great flurry of giant bass began with Dave Zimmerlee’s 20-pound 15-ouncer, caught 14 years after the initial stocking of Florida-strain bass. Fish from 18 to just over 22 pounds were caught sporadically and this surge culminated in 2006 when Mac Weakley boated 25.1-pound “Dottie.” Weakley didn’t submit the foul-hooked fish for any records, but her weight set a new standard.

We haven’t heard of Cali bass exceeding 15 pounds in several years. And by “we,” I mean big bass experts and historians I’ve talked to in recent months. The Mexican record of 19.1 pounds caught at Lake Baccarac in 1993 has endured, with few fish broaching the 12-pound mark since. In recent times, even 10s have become scarce at top reservoirs. In southern Africa, bass from 13 to the 18.25-pound record from Zimbabwe were caught in the late 20th century, yet subsistence fishing and habitat changes have reportedly taken a toll.

Let’s look at how largemouths achieve such size — considering all the factors working against such great growth — and examine trends in bass size range in recent years, and prospects for more massive fish in the future.

Growth and Longevity—Growth rate of black bass species is highly variable and depends on prey type and availability, climate, productivity of the waterbody, genetics, and habitat characteristics. In addition to growth rate, biologists consider how long huge femalesmcan survive in good health.

Maximum lifespan for largemouth bass is just over 20 years, determined for fish near the northern tier of their range. Upon her demise, otoliths from 25.1-pound Dottie indicated 14 years; so 12 when she had already achieved that immense size.

Age data from Texas’ ShareLunker Program suggests bass can reach 13 pounds as early as age-8, during Lake Fork’s early years when “new lake syndrome” likely boosted growth rates. At the other end of the spectrum, others were as old as 13 years when they reached 13 pounds—still incredibly fast.

Competition—Bass biologist and owner of fisheries consulting firm Texas Pro Lake Management, Steven Bardin is quick to note the importance of bass density. “The higher the number of bass in a lake, the slower they grow,” he says. “I tell my clients they need to carefully consider what outcomes they seek in their pond.

“To grow trophy-size bass, numbers of adult fish should be limited, which can mean lower catch rates. In big reservoirs, catch-and-release has grown steadily over the last four or five decades. Bass numbers expand as a result, despite delayed mortality. Increased numbers of fish generally reduce growth rates.”

Mortality—In popular tournament lakes, anglers seek the biggest fish, and their inevitable mortality removes them from the population while smaller fish become more abundant. Bardin notes that studies have demonstrated that tournament anglers tend to catch faster-growing and younger fish while biologists using electrofishing gear collect more slow-growing specimens.

“Given the delayed mortality that accompanies bass tournaments— sometimes two or even three weeks later—anglers are preferentially removing faster growing bass, leaving slower growing specimens to reproduce,” he adds. “Growth rates have heritable aspects, so heavily fished populations may decline in terms of producing the largest bass.”

Genetics—This is a hot topic among record-keeping organizations as well as management agencies. As of 2025, the International Game Fish Association, the largest record-keeping organization in the world, decided to recognize northern largemouth and Florida bass as separate categories, citing George Perry’s 22-4 and Manabu Kurita’s 22-5 as the largemouth co-record.

Future submissions must be genetically verified, though the precise procedures for testing aren’t specified. There’ s no category for hybrids of the species, though they’ve become dominant where Florida bass have been stocked, since they readily interbreed. These records are problematic since Perry’s fish was caught in a part of Georgia that’s been long considered an intergrade zone, where bass genetics were a mix of northern and Florida genes.

A team of biologists, organized by bass expert Ken Duke and fishery geneticist Josh Sakmar of Red Hills Fishery gained permission from Yamaha Motors to collect a DNA sample from the skin-mount specimen of Manabu Kurita’s 22-pound, 4.97-ounce bass caught from Japan’s Lake Biwa, on display in their Georgia office. They sent one sample to the Center for Aquaculture Technologies in San Diego and another to Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Institute Freshwater Genetics Program.

Both offer the latest techniques in genetic determination, though their approaches differ. Results indicated it was genetically 97 to 99 percent Florida bass, so depending on standards of definition it’s a Florida or a hybrid.

Since 1986, TPWD has spawned giant bass caught by anglers in Texas waters, the Toyota ShareLunker Program (texassharelunker.com). The first “participant” was Ethel, a state-record 17.67-pounder from Lake Fork. Ever since, largemouths over 13 pounds (labeled Legacy Class), caught from January 31 through March 31, are brought to the Fisheries Center in Athens to spawn in controlled conditions.

In recent years, males have been offspring of ShareLunker females spawned in previous seasons and held as broodstock. Fishery Center staff have noted family trees of ShareLunkers, using tissue collected for DNA testing. ShareLunker Director Natalie Goldstrohm noted that ShareLunker (SL) #9 ShareLunker was caught in 1988, a 16.13-pounder from Gibbons Creek Lake. One of her daughters was stocked into Lake Fork and grew into ShareLunker (SL) #184, caught in 1994. One of her offspring (SL #305) exhibited her grandma’s and mother’s growth potential, as she was caught at Fork in 2000 at 14.67 pounds. Her daughter (SL #365) was also caught at Fork at 13.19. The family trait for size continued into the next generation, as SL #578, the great granddaughter of SL #9, was caught at a TPWD Research Lake.

“Five generations of ShareLunkers is the record so far,” Goldstrohm says. “But we’ve found many other close familial ties. SL #567 and #625 are sisters, both daughters of SL #446 and granddaughter of SL #371. They’re one of the five pairs of sisters to reach ShareLunker status.”

Goldstrohm also points out thecontribution of male broodfish to later generations of giants.

“Males that were ShareLunker offspring contributed to four generations out of the five I mentioned earlier,” she says. “We call the offspring of ShareLunkers ‘Lonestar Bass’ and we’ve expanded their stocking to boost production of huge bass. Just over 50 percent of ShareLunkers have been pure Florida bass. About seven percent are F1 (first generation) hybrids. Only 3 percent show a majority of largemouth alleles.”

But stocking Florida bass doesn’t necessarily boost size. Geneticists have long noted the tendency of first-generation hybrids of mixed stocks to show heterosis or hybrid vigor, resulting in these objectives being achieved in some waters, but not others. Several states outside the natural range of Florida bass have state records that were products of such introductions.

Once Florida bass are introduced, they spawn with native fish and their offspring continue to mix, resulting in populations dominated by backcrossed individuals, sometimes called Fx generations, often dominated by largemouth genetics, with the percent of Florida alleles dependent on environment and other factors.

To evaluate stocking, biologists from the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission studied the population of Lake Ouachita that was stocked with over 800,000 fingerling Florida bass between 2007 and 2015. Results showed that the genetically mixed bass didn’t mature earlier, survive longer, show improved body condition, or have greater growth potential compared to native largemouths.

And there was no difference between time required to catch a 5-pound bass in tournaments before and after introductions.

They concluded that a stocking program resulting in a subtle shift toward Florida bass genetics won’t increase the trophy potential of a fishery. Moreover, the high cost makes it a questionable strategy. In many of the reservoirs of the southcentral U.S. stocked with Florida bass, pure Floridas exist at very low levels, and first-generation hybrids occur with decreasing frequency over time as bass continue to backcross.

This study suggests that this practice doesn’t improve population characteristics for recreational fishing. The more adverse the environment for Florida bass (more different from their native habitat), the faster Florida bass genetics dissipate. Moreover, the high cost of Florida bass production and introduction makes it a questionable strategy.

Bass Boosting Efforts

Efforts are underway to produce big bass, by both management agencies and private enterprises that raise and sell fish to private pond owners or state agencies.

Private Water Potential—Sakmar, the biologist at Red Hills Fishery in South Georgia and a former FWC biologist, has been experimenting with strains of largemouth and Florida bass and their hybrids to evaluate survivability, growth, and trophy potential of hatchery-raised fish.

“Our genetic analyses have identified ‘trophy markers’ in female bass over 8 pounds,” he says. “At Red Hills Fishery, we’re raising largemouth and Florida bass in aquaria and raceways, as we monitor their growth. In these hatchery conditions, largemouths grow much faster during their early years. They often reach 1 pound in a year, while Floridas lag behind. In forage-rich ponds, both species would grow even faster.

“We’ve maintained a small lake with only females. We sample it regularly and find average size around 6.5 pounds, with fish up to 14 pounds. We see high demand for all female populations from pond owners who want top-end bass fisheries, since growth is fast and reproduction eliminated, reducing competition. Costs are high and restocking required, but money is no object for some folks.

“It’s also important to have a fertile body of water with good supply of varied forage for bass as they grow,” he says. “Water quality must be maintained to avoid fish kills through oxygen reductions or disease. On average, it takes 10 pounds of forage to put a pound of weight on a bass, so 100 pounds for a 10-pounder. That’s why it’s also important not to overstock bass. They require space as well as prey to grow fast and reach maximum size.”

In Texas, interest in giant bass is even higher. Catching one in a large public reservoir requires great skill, exquisite timing, and often a touch of luck. So wealthy Texans like to create private fisheries where conditions can be carefully managed, and fishing pressure limited. Hiring a pond management biologist is often the best strategy.

Bardin of Pro Lake Management specializes in managing private waters.

“Since 2010, we’ve seen lots of interest from pond owners eager to produce big bass,” he says, “and they’re willing to pay the costs. Lately, owners are wanting bass of 12 pounds or more. They’ve heard that Texas has 75 reservoirs that have produced 13-pounders. Many want pure Floridas, while owners a little farther north sometimes seek F1 hybrids. They grow fast and get big in the first generation, but subsequent backcrosses generally don’t grow as well. Some want stocking with all females, such as the bass from Red Hills Fishery.”

Florida Findings—Allen Martin is a biologist with FWC involved with the new Florida Trophy Bass Project. “Our goal is increased production of bass that reach 15 pounds or more, fish that have become rare here. While our Trophy Catch Program documents lots of 8- to 10-pound bass and a fair number to 13 pounds, we’re looking for opportunities to produce even bigger bass.

“Summer water temperatures can exceed what’s optimal for Florida bass, however. There seems to be a latitude range that offers prime conditions to produce giant bass; we see it across California, central Texas, Japan, and northern Florida. Waters there are more moderate, which may allow bass to live longer so cooler water may enhance growth and allow greater longevity.

“Florida’s formerly pristine habitat historically produced bass that exceeded 20 pounds, but the state’s nothing like it was decades ago. Lakes have been drastically altered, most notably by stabilization of water levels— the opposite of the natural situation. In the past, major fluctuations renewed lake fertility by reflooding areas, bringing in nutrients and providing habitat for spawning fish and the production of forage fish.

“We decided to add trout to the forage base in two North Florida lakes, Suwannee and Kingsley.

FWC renovated 63-acre, spring-fed Suwannee Lake and restocked Florida bass and natural forage species. Over the last three years, we’ve added rainbow trout in the colder months to boost growth, such as in California and Japan’s Lake Biwa. Trout have a high caloric value; one equals about 12 bluegills of similar weight.

“To test bass feeding, we placed ‘depredation tags’ in trout that indicate when they’re eaten. Bass quickly devoured rainbows in Suwannee. It’s produced 10-pounders, so we don’t know what the ceiling may be.

“We also stocked trout in Kinglsey Lake, a big circular flooded sinkhole. It’s 83 feet deep and its oligotrophic status is unusual, as well as its production of bass over 13 pounds. With low fertility, forage is limited, however. Kingsley’s bass live longer than most big Florida bass, likely due to the deepwater thermal refuge. We aged one fish at 16. A telemetry study there showed that bass stayed down near the thermocline during summer or even dipped below it for short periods. They remain deep all year, spawning around 13 to 14 feet. Feeding on trout hasn’t been as successful here, though. In winter, trout remain shallow while the bass hold deep. We’re committed to a 5- to 10-year period to test how the bass population responds,” Allen adds.

So, official records remain in flux and often open to debate, due to recent genetic findings. In addition, some states and the IGFA don’t accept record fish from private waters. This makes lunker hunting fascinating from a biological perspective as well as for anglers. Current research and new technologies may provide breakthroughs, while we wait for natural and human-induced forces to open another lunker window.

Steve Quinn, former In-Fisherman senior editor and now longtime field editor, has been writing articles for In-Fisherman publications for over three decades. He’s been inducted into the Bass Fishing and National Fresh Water Fishing halls of fame.

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