11-Year Old Angler Smashes Record With Giant Texas Bass

Originally posted on Men's Journal | By Kurt Mazurek | Last updated 3/13/24

Double Digit Quest

Wednesday, March 6th, Tuttle, Oklahoma anglers, 11-year-old Stetson Davis, and his father Brodey headed out on J.B. Thomas Reservoir in west Texas. It sounds like a beautiful, bonding opportunity, and I’m sure it was, but it also sounds like these guys take their fishing pretty seriously. Their stated goal of the trip was for young Stetson to catch his first double digit largemouth bass.

“We were just looking for a 10-pounder and ended up catching a ShareLunker and the junior lake record,” said Stetson Davis. “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.”

And just to clarify for the uninitiated, a ten pound largemouth bass is a lofty goal for any experienced angler. Yes, Texas is a pretty magical place with better odds of meeting that goal than almost anywhere else (thanks in large part to their ShareLunker Program). But a double digit bass is something most anglers never catch in a lifetime.

Texas Share Lunker Program

From the Texas Parks and Wildlife Share Lunker website: Since 1986, the Texas Parks and Wildlife's popular Toyota ShareLunker program has been partnering with anglers to promote and enhance bass fishing in Texas. Each season (January 1 through December 31), anglers will have new and exciting opportunities to partner with ShareLunker and be recognized for their achievement and contributions all year long.

There are four levels of lunker that qualify for the program with largemouth bass of at least 8 pounds or 24 inches as the minimum size. Fish over 13 pounds reach the highest honor, or Legacy Level. Out of the millions of bass anglers in Texas, only a select few have ever crossed the 13-pound threshold.

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

It's In His Blood

It’s fun to note that at just 11-years-old, Stetson Davis is no stranger to freakishly large bass. He was there when his father, Brodey Davis caught the seventh biggest largemouth bass in Texas history in 2022, when he landed 17.06-pound ShareLunker 620 at O.H. Ivie. His catch is the current O.H. Ivie waterbody record and the largest in the past 32 years since Barry St. Clair of Klondike, TX recorded the state record of 18.18 -pounds in 1992.

This article first appeared on Men's Journal and was syndicated with permission.

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