It took years of hard work and to understand where we are today, we have to revisit where we came from.

Story and photography by Brian Hughes

While visiting the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center for their grand re-opening, it struck me how far we’ve come in the bass fishing world. And how it seems as though it was overnight, when in reality it took years of hard work. To understand where we are today, we have to revisit where we came from.

The year is 1980, and a young man is very excited about a new lake opening in east Texas. The public opening of Lake Fork was a highly anticipated event in the area. The rest of the state didn’t really take notice for a few years.

Then came Ethel. In November of 1986 the bass fishing world was turned on its ear by Mark Stevenson’s 17. 67 pound giant. At a time when the average angler considered a 10 pound bass to be the Holy Grail, this fish turned heads across the country.

Ethel was the “perfect storm” if you will, hitting the world at the confluence of several events, all of which put her in the spotlight. First, she was a new state record and truly a huge fish. Second, TP&W was launching a new program called Share A Lunker. Designed to both recognize large bass and the anglers that caught them, more importantly the program was a research and breeding program with the goal of enhancing Texas bass fishing for everyone.

Of course, TP&W went out of their way to publicize the Stevenson catch as it was the first entry into the program. In addition, Mr. Johnny Morris had recently finished his 150,000 square foot flagship Bass Pro store in Springfield Missouri. He was looking for something special to feature in the store, and Ethel fit the bill perfectly.

So off she went to live in fame, treated as royalty, in the BP aquarium.  She ruled as the top bass in Texas until Barry St. Clair topped her with an 18.18 in 1992, also from Lake Fork. And Barry’s fish remains atop the leaderboard all these years later.

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