Passport to Texas

Todd Driscoll doing field work.

Texas' Top Bass Lakes Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

District fisheries biologists like Todd Driscoll monitor fish populations in public bodies of water.

There are 15 other people like me in the state of Texas. And we primarily monitor the fish populations in public reservoirs, recommend fish stockings, habitat improvements, set length limits and bag limits relative to harvest…

Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend are two east Texas reservoirs under Driscoll’s care. Both are nationally recognized bass lakes.

It’s all about the habitat. You know, over here in East Texas, we’re blessed with fairly ample rainfall during a normal year, and that means we have fairly normal water levels in both of those manmade reservoirs. And normal water levels equal pretty good habitat. And good habitat leads to very consistent fish reproduction and consistent numbers of adult fish for anglers to catch.

Twice now, Toledo Bend Reservoir claimed the number one spot on Bassmaster’s list of 100 best bass lakes in the nation. And it’s no accident.

Inland fisheries at Texas Parks and Wildlife—we hire good people. And we tend to be on the cutting edge of the science. Our Heart of the Hills Research Center in Kerrville helps a lot with that. And, no doubt, that along with good productive watersheds and reservoirs in Texas all lead to good fishing.

Discover Texas’ diverse fishing opportunities across the state when you log onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.