Texas’ O.H. Ivie Lake, located in central Texas east of San Angelo, is one of the hottest waters in America for producing giant largemouth bass. The 19,000-acre impoundment was the fishing destination between Christmas and New Year’s Day for a pair of Kentucky bass anglers who trailered their boat as part of a roadtrip to catch the lake’s legendary largemouths.
Cole Logsdon, of Brownsville, Kentucky, and Dalton Smith, of Columbia, Kentucky, drove 15 hours to Texas to chase famed double-digit bass on the plentiful waters. The reservoir was formed in 1990 after damming parts of the Colorado and Concho Rivers. The lake boasts depths of more than 100 feet.
“We worked the lake for a little over two days,” Smith said, in a Facebook video post from the lake. “We just sort of rode around and looked at the lake the first day. But the second day, Cole caught and boated an 11.11-pound bass.
“The next day we went back and busted them, went to a spot where I caught a 5-pounder the previous day and then had a crazy fish catch. I got a bite from a giant, but I didn’t hook her. Then about five minutes later I hooked the fish on a 7.5-foot finesse (spinning) rod using 8-pound fluorocarbon line with a 15-pound test leader and a 2.7-inch [swimbait].”
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While standing in his boat on Ivie Lake, Smith detailed the wild five-minute fish fight that ensued. He worked the bass toward the surface, he says, but then it fouled and hung in a flooded tree beneath the boat.
“That’s when my buddy Cole took the (landing) net, laid on the boat deck, and we could see her down in the water, and after about 10 minutes he scoped the fish up in the net and boated the fish,” Smith described. “It was crazy.”
The bass was quickly put in the boat’s livewell and the anglers raced over to the lakeside Elm Creek R.V. & Campgrounds. There, they grabbed a scale and weighed the fish at 14.69 pounds. The second big bass Smith caught that day scaled 14.27 pounds. In total, their top three bass of the trip weighed more than 40 pounds.
Smith’s Facebook video ends with him taking the lively 14.69-pound bass from the boat’s livewell, holding the massive fish out toward the camera and showing off his prize.
“We’re going to let her go, but we want to first shoot some more photos and get some measurements,” he exclaimed. “Let’s go baby — 14.69 pounds!”
Big Bass Highlights
- Dalton Smith caught 14.69- and 14.27-pounders
- Cole Logsdon boated an 11.11-pounder
- In total, their best three bass weighed more than 40 pounds
