SCURRY COUNTY, Texas — An 11-year-old Oklahoma boy secured a spot in the Texas record books Wednesday with his largemouth bass catch in J.B. Thomas Reservior - just four spots behind his dad who had the seventh largest catch in 2022.
Stetson Davis of Tuttle, Oklahoma, caught a 13.31-pound ShareLunker Wednesday in J.B. Thomas near Snyder, and landed the top junior angler waterbody record for largemouth bass by more than five pounds, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said Friday.
Stetson's catch is the second Legacy Class ShareLunker largemouth bass at J.B. Thomas and the 11th overall in the 2024 Toyota ShareLunker collection season. He smashed the previous J.B. Thomas junior angler record of 7.96 pounds, which was set April 11, 2020.
Brodey Davis, Stetson's dad, submitted the seventh biggest largemouth bass in Texas history in 2022 with 17.06-pound ShareLunker 620 at O.H. Ivie Lake. Brodey's fish holds the current O.H. Ivie waterbody record and the largest in the past 32 years since Barry St. Clair of Klondike claimed the state record of 18.18 pounds in 1992.
“We are excited to recognize Stetson’s accomplishments through the Toyota ShareLunker Program and Angler Recognition Program,” Toyota ShareLunker program coordinator, Natalie Goldstrohm,. “Getting young people hooked on fishing through these programs is important to creating a lifelong love of the sport.”
The Davis duo came to Texas Tuesday and woke up early Wednesday morning to get on the water at J.B. Thomas with the of Stetson catching his first double-digit largemouth bass, which ended up being a Legacy Class ShareLunker.
“We didn’t have much luck at the start but around 9:20 a.m. we spotted her,” Stetson said. “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 was with Brodey when he caught O.H. Ivie’s lake-record ShareLunker 620 in 2022.
“We were just looking for a 10-pounder and ended up catching a ShareLunker and the junior lake record,” Stetson said. “It was really fun to bring the fish over and put it on the ShareLunker scale and to see it say 13.31-pounds. I was pretty excited that I caught a ShareLunker at 11-years old.”
“As usual TPWD and ShareLunker program staff were awesome,” Brodey said. “They were extremely helpful throughout the process and every one of them were really excited for him, so it made the experience even more special.”
From Jan. 1-March 31, anglers who reel in a 13-plus pound bass can loan it to TPWD for the ShareLunker selective breeding and stocking program. Anglers can call the ShareLunker hotline at 903-681-0550 to report their catch 24/7 through March 31.
Anglers have to weigh their potential Legacy Class fish on a certified scale that can be found here - ShareLunker Official Weigh and Holding Stations.
Those who catch and loan one of the 13-plus pound lunkers earn Legacy Class status, receive a catch kit filled with merchandise, a 13 lb.-plus 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 and a Bass University swag pack and annual subscription. They'll 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.
The year-round Toyota ShareLunker program offers four levels of participation for catching bass over eight pounds or 24 inches in Texas.
Aside from sharing basic catch information, anglers have the option to send a DNA scale sample from their lunker bass to TPWD researchers for genetic analysis. Instructions for submitting DNA samples are located on the Toyota ShareLunker website.
For updates on the Toyota ShareLunker Program, visit facebook.com/sharelunkerprogram, instagram.com/TexasShareLunker or TexasSharelunker.com.
