Although nicknamed The Natural State, Arkansas isn’t exactly known as a natural for big bass, but that could be changing.
Several publicized double-digit bass have been caught there recently, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has taken a big step to grow more bigs.
Early this month, Lance Freeman landed a fish of a lifetime, a 14-pounder that will be the third-largest on Arkansas’ record books.
“It’s special,” Freeman said. “It’s a work of God’s grace. It’s almost a spiritual feeling between me and Mother Nature that’s just hard to put into words.
“A 14-pound largemouth is a storybook ending to my year. It’s taken a couple days to really set in what had happened.”
On Dec. 6, Freeman, 30, convinced friend Clint Bryant to join him in a Rusty Hooks Bass Club tournament on DeGray Lake in central Arkansas. At takeoff, an ethereal scene of patchy, low-lying fog across the water had Freeman stoked for the day, whether they caught anything or not.
Within minutes, it became a great day.
“We pulled up, and on forward-facing sonar, I see her swimming on the bottom,” Freeman said. “It’s a monster. Only other thing it could be is a buffalo. I flip over to it, and I lean into it, and I say, ‘Whatever it is, I got it and she’s big.’”
Bryant let out a laugh, asking if he should man the net. Caught in 11 feet of water, the largemouth immediately rose to the surface for a head shake.
“I see her, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my goodness,’” said Freeman, adding the bull ride lasted eight seconds. “It was short, quick. She comes up, slides right in the net. We go to hugging and high fiving and carrying on.
“Clint looks at me, ‘How big you think it is?’ I said, ‘I don’t even know. I don’t want to know till we weigh in.’”
The team bopped around, filling their limit with four that couldn’t equal the kicker. They won the one-day derby with just over 25 pounds, and the big gal tipped the scales at 14.08. The state record is the 16-4 largemouth caught from Mallard Lake in 1976.
“There was one other bigger than mine caught on a nightcrawler, so mine is the second largest on artificial and third largest in the state,” said Freeman, who used a Jenko The Don.
Freeman also attempted to enter his fish in the AGFC’s new breeding program, but he was told he’s about three weeks early.
Arkansas follows Texas’ lead
“It’s called the Legacy Lunker Program, and it starts Jan. 1,” said biologist Jeremy Risley, Arkansas’ black bass coordinator. “That’s why we could not accept it.”
Risley and his team, which spent a lot of time learning from Texas’ successful ShareLunker Program that’s entering its 40th year, are excited to begin their venture that hopefully spreads bigger bass genetics.
“From Jan. 1 through March 31, if an angler catches a 10-plus pounder, they are welcome to donate it to us for a breeding program,” Risley said. “We’ve been spending a lot of time in Texas, trying to glean as much information as we can from them.
“Our anglers have been asking for Legacy Lunker forever, and we finally have the ability to provide it.”
The AGFC, which built breeding tanks inside their Lonoke hatchery, had a soft opening last spring, receiving five 10-plus pounders solely by word of mouth. They spawned several and released them where they were caught.
Recent catches show the state has some bigs worthy of reproduction efforts. In the 2024 Bassmaster Open on Lake Ouachita, Zach Goutremout took big bass with a 10-14, a day after Evan Kung thought his 9-14 would take it.
In March of 2025, Bassmaster High School All-American Griffin Ralph weighed a 13.43-pound largemouth during an Arkansas Youth B.A.S.S. Nation event on Millwood Lake. It was among the five the state spawned and released.
A fish that would have eclipsed the state record by an ounce was caught in 2012, Risley said, but it was disqualified as the angler didn’t have a fishing license. Freeman’s fish remains the largest Risley has seen.
“I’ve lived here all my life and that’s the biggest fish that I’ve heard of,” he said. “We don’t keep lake records, but now that we’re starting the program, we’ll be able to.”
Risley estimated Freeman’s bass was probably 12 to 13 years old and nearing the end of its life cycle. While the AGFC couldn’t take the fish, it gathered fin clips, which will provide valuable genetic information.
Spreading the word about the program is Risley’s mission. He said the state has to gain anglers’ confidence that their fish will be competently cared for and released. Risley said he hopes at least 15 Legacy Lunkers are entered each year, and to jump start the program, there is an exciting incentive.
“Somebody is going to walk away with an $80,000 boat this fall for donating a 10-plus pound bass to this program,” Risley said. “We’re going to have a banquet in the fall, just like Texas does, and out of the people who donate a fish, we are drawing one angler to win a fully rigged Xpress bass boat.”
Bass Pro Shops does bass
Freeman sure would have liked that chance. While a few weeks early, he stands 100% behind the state’s efforts. Knowing his old gal was nearing life’s end, Freeman thought it could still benefit the fishing world, so he contacted a friend at Bass Pro Shops.
“They’re a big sponsor of the new program,” he said. “I called them to see if that fish could live a life of luxury. So she’s in quarantine at Bass Pro’s headquarters in Springfield (Mo.) for 30 days.”
“She went from fighting for her life out there to not having to worry about a thing. Hopefully, they will work with Arkansas Game and Fish — maybe spawn the fish out and put her babies back in here, keep that legacy alive.”
Freeman, who works in real estate, said the 14 was by far the biggest of his five double-digit bass he landed in the state this year. He’s hopeful the program will help Arkansas show out.
“I give major kudos to what Arkansas has done for the black bass fisheries,” he said. “The strides they’ve taken the last couple of years, it’s nothing short of incredible.”
The new lunker program should shine a light on the state’s largemouth and places to fish, like Lake Millwood near the Texas border.
“If you had to draw a picture of where a Jurassic Park, T-Rex style bass will live, it is like Millwood,” he said. “That place has historically pumped out some monster bass.”
Yes, like Ralph’s 13.43. While it will take some years for the Lunker Program offspring to reach double digits, Freeman said he expects the incentive should bring 10-pounders out of the woodwork.
“I think we’re fixing to see a lot more big fish come out of the state of Arkansas,” he said. “I caught a special fish. It was very, very fortunate.”
After his 14-pounder is spawned, Freeman’s hopes its next move is to the huge display tank at Bass Pro Shops in Little Rock.
“That’s the goal,” he said. “I think I could probably pick her out. She might even wink at me when I look at her.”