O.H. Ivie Tallies Another Legacy Class ShareLunker season
ATHENS – O.H. Ivie continued adding to its record run of massive largemouth bass on Wednesday with its 14th Legacy Class fish of the 2023 Toyota ShareLunker collection season. Ryan Muhlig of Colby, Kansas, landed 13.64-pound ShareLunker 649, powering O.H. Ivie’s historic run forward while bumping the overall season total to 17 Legacy Class fish.
Muhlig is the 17th angler to reel in a Legacy Class Lunker in 2023; anglers from seven states (including Texas) have etched their name into the program record books during this year alone. Anglers from Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico and Washington have made their way to Texas and brought in a catch of a lifetime. The current three-year run of Legacy Lunkers at O.H. Ivie has helped make it a destination lake for anglers across the nation and the world.
“It was no surprise when O.H. Ivie had an impressive run of ShareLunkers caught in February and into March,” said Natalie Goldstrohm, Toyota ShareLunker program coordinator. “What is remarkable is that Legacy Class Lunkers are being caught in numbers higher than any other collection season in program history and there are still a few weeks left in the season.”
Muhlig and his friend headed out Wednesday knowing they would be battling the wind, but had some points planned out in advance. His friend reeled in a fish and then, not long after that, Muhlig enticed the Legacy Lunker to bite.
“We were fishing in about 10 feet of water and casting into the little stick-ups,” said Muhlig. “I was using a plastic worm and noticed a bigger fish out there. I cast, and the fish turned and looked at it, but didn’t act on it before swimming off. The fish stayed in the area, and this time I had a weedless swimbait lure tied on, so I flipped back out there. I reeled a couple of times and felt the tiniest little tap. It opened its mouth and danced almost all the way into the net from 20 feet out. It was pretty spectacular after that.”
Muhlig quickly weighed the fish, put it in the livewell and immediately headed to the boat ramp. The official weight was registered at Elm Creek and the call was made to the Toyota ShareLunker program.
“Natalie [Goldstrohm] thoroughly explained the process over the phone with me — it was easy to go online and register everything,” said Muhlig. “TPWD staff were great when they arrived and took excellent care of the fish. We got a couple of pictures, placed the fish in their tank and headed off to Athens.”
Since January 2021, O.H. Ivie has been on an unprecedented run, thanks to a combined total of 38 Legacy fish.