Everything is bigger in Texas, including the bass. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is praising an angler who caught a huge waterbody record bass in Lady Bird Lake in Austin back in February. The bass was recently released back into its home.
TPWD highlighted the legendary catch in a Facebook post on Thursday, May 22. Officials congratulated Willie Pipkin for reeling in a 14.05-pound bass during the Toyota ShareLunker season, a program with TPWD that allows anglers who reel in 13-pound largemouth bass to loan it to the organization for selective breeding and stocking purposes.
Pipkin caught the bass on a rod and reel on February 5. It was safely released back into Lady Bird Lake months later after the Toyota ShareLunker season finished. The season typically runs from January 1 through March 31.
“He just released her back into the lake to let the legend live on,” TPWD wrote in its post.
Since 1986, the TPWD’s popular Toyota ShareLunker program has been partnering with anglers to promote and enhance bass fishing in Texas. In 2025, the program had another excellent collection season for the fifth consecutive year. Anglers provided 14 Legacy Class ShareLunkers from nine different public lakes across the state of Texas.
O.H. Ivie, the reigning waterbody champion for the past five seasons, finished 2025 with six of the 14 total Legacy Class entries.
“With new lakes joining the Legacy Class ranks, and returning favorites like O.H. Ivie continuing to impress, it’s clear that lunker bass fishing in Texas is thriving. Every ShareLunker catch helps Texas Parks and Wildlife Department advance bass genetics, fisheries management and angler recognition across the state,” Natalie Goldstrohm, Toyota ShareLunker Program Coordinator, stated in a May news release.