#FACT Not all largemouth bass are the same shade of green. Bass can look lighter or darker depending on water clarity, sunlight, bottom color, vegetation, cover, and stress. Their skin contains pigment cells called chromatophores that help create and adjust color patterns.
#FACT Largemouth bass are ambush predators. They often use shade, grass, timber, docks, and other cover to hide their outline before striking. The attack usually happens fast — but the setup starts long before the bite.
#FACT On this day, way back in 1923, Fritz Friebel pulled in a 20.125 pound largemouth monster from Big Fish Lake in Florida using the popular Pikie Minnow by Creek Chub Bait Co. His unofficial state record still stands over 100 years later.
#FACT On this day in 2024, Grant Burroughs caught a 9.19-pound largemouth bass from Lake Austin. The fish measured 24 inches long. ShareLunker Catch ID 4292.
#FACT On this day in 2006, Sam Trinca of Monroe, Louisiana landed a 14.02-pound largemouth bass from Lake Fork that became ShareLunker #421. The fish measured 26 inches long with a 21-inch girth, and was caught on a Grande Bass Mutant.
#FACT On this day in 1961, Marvin Russell Bushong caught Missouri’s state-record largemouth bass from Bull Shoals Lake — a giant that weighed 13 pounds, 14 ounces. More than 60 years later, Bushong’s fish still stands as the Show-Me State’s biggest largemouth ever recorded.
#FACT Good Friday turned into a great Friday for Mark Ward on April 19, 2019, when he landed a new Kentucky state record largemouth. Ward caught the 14-pound, 9.5-ounce giant on the very first cast of the day using a 6-inch Junebug-colored lizard on 14-pound test.
#FACT Largemouth bass can see color, but they do not see the full range the way humans do. Research suggests bass are best at separating reds and greens, while colors like yellow and chartreuse may look closer to white and blue may look closer to black.
#FACT Largemouth bass usually live around 6 to 16 years, depending on the lake, climate, fishing pressure, and food. The oldest known bass was 23 years old.
#FACT Largemouth bass do not need wings to hunt above the surface. When the angle is right, a feeding strike can send them bursting completely out of the water after insects, baitfish, or frogs.
#FACT On this day in 2023, Cole Nelson of Murphy, Texas landed an 8.40-pound largemouth bass from Lake Lavon that measured 22.25 inches, earning Texas ShareLunker Lunker status. It was logged as catch #3550 on April 7, 2023.
#FACT On this day in 2025, Cullie Belveal caught a 16.39-pound, 27.75-inch largemouth bass from O.H. Ivie. The giant is currently listed at #19 on TPWD’s Top 50 all-time Texas largemouth bass list.
#FACT On this day in 2010, Carl Clark landed a 15.13-pound largemouth from Lake O’ the Pines. He caught the fish on a red Rat-L-Trap in about 5 feet of water, and it measured 25.25 inches long with a 22-inch girth.
📸 via TPWD
#FACT On this day in 1995, Steve Estrada landed New Mexico’s standing state-record largemouth bass from Bill Evans Lake — a giant that weighed 15 pounds, 13 ounces, measured 26 1/2 inches long, and had a 24 3/4-inch girth. It was caught on a black plastic worm.
In clear water, bass often see more than anglers think. Long before the strike, they may already be tracking a bait’s path, speed, and body roll — and one small change can be enough to make them commit or fade off. Anglers who fish with forward-facing sonar have likely seen this.
#FACT On this day in 2024, Kyle Hall caught a 15.82-pound largemouth bass from O.H. Ivie that now sits at #38 on the TPWD Top 50 list. Of the strike, Hall said, “She about ripped the rod out of my hand.”
#FACT On this day in 1991, just a year and 3 days removed from his 21.01 lb catch in 1990 (#7 all time) - Robert “Bob” Crupi landed the heaviest largemouth bass on American soil in the modern era. His bass was a full pound heavier than his catch a year before at 22.01.
#FACT On this day in 2017, Ronnie Arnold landed a 15.70-pound largemouth bass from Caddo Lake measuring 25.75 inches long. The giant now ranks #40 on the Texas Parks & Wildlife Top-50 list. Arnold has caught two of the nine Toyota ShareLunker bass ever recorded from Caddo Lake.