Ethel was born without a name!

She was the princess of Lake Fork in Texas but became the queen of Bass Pro Shops!

In November 1986 she became the first to enter the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's ShareLunker Program. She became a mega star and fostered the idea of catch and release fishing. She put lake fork in Texas on the map as a mecca for Big Bass!

Ethel wouldn't have a story to tell if it wasn't for Mark Stevenson, a licensed guide who fished B.A.S.S. Top 100 Tournaments and is a member of the Texas Fishing Hall of Fame.

Mark and Ethel met on November 26th 1986.

Mark was fishing Lake Fork and Ethel was minding her own business until she took the bait. A jig and craw worm combo. And the rest as they say is history. Mark caught her after a cold front pushed through Texas leaving bright blue skies. Ethel weighed nearly 18 lb. and became the poster fish for catching and releasing and lived out the rest of her days in a 125,000 gallon tank at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield Missouri.

An estimated 20 million people visited Ethel at Bass pro shops. She was 27 and 1/2 in Long when she was caught. By the end of her life she weighed over 20 lbs with a 32 inch girth and measured 28 in Long. She died of natural causes at the age of 19 on August 5th 1994.

Probably the most famous fish that ever lived. 1500 people attended her memorial service that made national news. Founder Johnny Morris said, "Ethel was the best thing that ever happened to Bass Pro Shops".

She was a Texas State Record Largemouth and still the biggest Texas bass to be caught on an artificial lure!

⏯ The Ethel And Mark Stevenson Story