O.H. Ivie Reservoir in western Central Texas is a relatively new lake, being just about 20 years old. It’s also not very big, covering just over twice the surface area of Lake Waco.

But the lake has become a big-time destination for Texas bass fishing.

In a state that boasts world-class bass lakes like Fork, Sam Rayburn, Toledo Bend and Falcon, little O.H. Ivie outpaced them all when it came to big bass, highlighted by the fact that seven out of last season’s 19 entries into the Toyota ShareLunker program came from Ivie.

So it only made sense that the Robinson Bass Club hit the road to O.H. Ivie, located roughly 50 miles east of San Angelo, for its May bass tournament, and the lake lived up to its reputation.

Bud Mitchell and Ronnie Griffin teamed up to win the tourney with a five-fish bag that weighed 31.91 pounds — averaging out to 6.38 pounds per fish.

Mitchell traveled to the lake for some pre-fishing at the end of April. He hung a bass that he estimated to weigh well in excess of 10 pounds, but the fish broke off before he could get it into the boat.

So during the tournament, he paid another visit to the area and caught the tourney’s big fish, a 13.58-pounder, just two trees down.

The bass would have qualified as a ShareLunker, but the season had ended a week earlier.

To make the grade as a ShareLunker bass, a fish must weigh in excess of 13 pounds, and be legally caught from Texas waters from Oct.1 to April 30.

Falcon recorded six last season, and Lake Austin posted a surprising three. Fork only had one entry.

Mitchell, who owns and operates Bud’s Boat Service in Chalk Bluff, also caught a 9.5- and an 8-pound largemouth, and says if he and Griffin had netted all the big fish they had hooked, their total would have been well over 45 pounds.

The O.H. Ivie record largemouth weighed 16.08 and was caught just over a year ago.

The lake’s bass population struggled through its early years as the drought of the 1990s kept the water level low and kept the fishery unbalanced, but thanks to substantial rainfall, it came to life in 2005.

Oak, mesquite and cedar trees were left in place when O.H. Ivie was impounded, so there are thousands of acres of flooded timber to fish. Saltcedar, a wiry tree with wispy foliage that is an invasive species in Texas, also makes up a large portion of the lake’s fish habitat.

Shad all the attraction

It’s the season of love for shad, and while the little fish go about the business of making more shad, it’s also an excellent time of year to catch the bass, crappie, catfish and other fish that feed on them.

As shad move into shallow waters to spawn in late spring, predator species gang up to crash the party, producing reliable, fast-paced action for anglers who get the right place at the right time.

These little fish are plankton-feeders that serve as the main food source for bass, stripers and other game fish. They prefer to lay their eggs in shallow water near hard surfaces like rocks, timber and even vegetation, on which the released eggs will attach.

Spinnerbaits and floating crankbaits are among my top choices for bass fishing the shad spawn. Spinning willow blades imitate shad, and casting to the water’s edge followed by an immediate retrieve will sometimes net a strike as soon as the bait enters the water.

Watching for bass swirling at schools of shad can give alert anglers a good target to aim for, too.

Floating crankbaits and poppers give fishermen the option of keeping their baits in the hot zone for longer periods of time. Popping or twitching the bait across and just below the surface can be too much for a bass to pass up.

The best time to catch the spawning and feeding frenzy action is at and after daybreak. The spawn fishing pattern typically lasts a few weeks or more.

2-pounders at Navarro

Navarro Mills Lake Marina owner Brenda Wallen (578-1131) reports that Rodney Campbell of Midlothian notched the lake’s 19th 2-plus-pound crappie of the year at the marina’s fishing dock.

The string of days of consistent limits of crappie snapped due to the recent cold front, but normalizing weather should bring back the bite, Wallen said.

New marina store hours for the summer season are 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and hours extend to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The store is closed Tuesdays.

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