Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

For more than a decade, researchers at the Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center in Kerrville have battled the hybrid progeny of Guadalupe bass—the state fish of Texas—and the introduced Smallmouth bass.

We’re raising thousands of pure Guadalupe bass here at the research station. And every year we stock them back into nature. Basically, what we’re doing is replacing the hybrids that are out there with these pure Guadalupe bass. And we’ll let nature take its course form there.

That’s Gary Garrett, who initiated the Guadalupe bass recovery program. The fish exists only in the Texas Hill Country—in the headwaters of streams that drain the Edward’s Plateau.

Shortly after non-native smallmouth bass were introduced to Texas waters, they bred with native bass, resulting in an explosion of hybrids. But using a technique called “saturation stocking,” Garrett and his crew have made exceptional progress.

So far we’re seeing here in Johnson Creek, where we began eh study, we started where 30 percent of the fish were hybrids. And that wasn’t stable—it was still increasing when we started. It is now down to around three percent. Which is excellent! Top go from thirty to three is great. Now we want to go from three to zero.

And Garrett expects to reach zero in the next four to five years.

That’s our show… we receive support from the SF Restoration program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

Some ideas seem good when you first have them. Then after some time passes—not so much. Take smallmouth bass, for example, and their effect on the Guadalupe bass population.

Small mouth bass, of course, are not native to Texas, but were brought in as an additional sport fish. The problem is they can’t tell each other apart. Even though they look very different, but evidently, they act similar enough behaviorally that they’ll reproduce—and they have hybrids.

That’s Gary Garrett, Director of the Watershed Conservation Program. So, what’s wrong with hybrids, anyway?

Hybrids, by definition, are halfway between the parents. So, they’re not as well adapted for their environment; they may do well in the short run, but in the long haul, they’re really not going to be as good a species.

Besides, they’re the state fish of Texas, occurring only in the Hill Country. And, well, you just don’t mess with Texas.

The other thing we’re now seeing a little bit is that these hybrids are now also crossing with our largemouth bass…which is yet another problem we want to avoid.

And you definitely don’t mess with largemouth bass. But, we’ve started to turn the tide on these hybrids with saturation stocking.

And we’re confident that in the next four or five years we’re going to be able to solve this problem.

That’s our show… we receive support from the SF Restoration program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

For an inexpensive, entry-level fishing experience the entire family can enjoy, it doesn’t get much easier than winter rainbow trout fishing in Texas.

In fact that’s one of the fish we use at the Expo each year to allow kids to catch their first fish.

Carl Kittle oversees the TPW trout-stocking program. The agency will distribute up to 275-thousand fish to 120 sites—including additional urban locations—between December and March.

We’re excited about having a number of new ponds online for our neighborhood fishing program. We actually stock slightly larger trout and we stock frequently—every other week—at specific sites that are set up near urban centers to provide opportunities for urban anglers.

If you prefer to get away from the city for your rainbow connection, then state parks provide the perfect escape.

A number of our state park ponds will get stocked with trout. For those ponds and lakes that are located completely within a state park, the license will not be required. The limits will still apply: five fish per day, and there is no size limit on trout.

Anglers fishing in locations other than state parks must have a valid license.

Find the trout-stocking schedule at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program… helping to fund fish hatchery management and operations in Texas.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Texas is known for its bass angling, but chief of inland fisheries management and research, Dave Terre, says catfish angling is gaining popularity.

Today in Texas, about 50 percent of our anglers say they prefer largemouth bass. But, about 20 percent of anglers prefer fishing catfish in Texas.

Parks and Wildlife is meeting the challenge.

We’re trying to launch an initiative that will help us understand what our anglers needs and desires are for catfish angling in the state. And then study catfish more intensively to determine how we can make fishing for catfish even better.

September first, new regulations governing the harvest of blue catfish went into effect at Richland Chambers Reservoir, Lake Waco and Lake Lewisville—water bodies offering trophy potential for catfish. Find the regulations on the Parks and Wildlife website.

Meanwhile, Terre says as our climate changes, and extended droughts continue to plague our state, catfish will have an important role to play.

Catfish are able to deal with fluctuating water levels better than largemouth bass which have been, and will continue to be, a popular sport fish in Texas. So, managing catfish more intensively will mean that we may be able to provide more fishing opportunities for Texans in the future years.

Our show receives support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…supporting fisheries research in Texas. For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

Anglers have rediscovered catfish; and with new pressure on the fishery, new management practices are in effect.

We’re going to have some new fishing regulations for blue catfish in three lakes that have great potential for producing trophy fisheries.

Dave Terre is chief of Inland Fisheries research and management. New regulations have been in place for blue cats at Richland Chambers Reservoir, Lake Lewisville, and Lake Waco, since September first.

On those reservoirs, we will have a 30 to 45 inch slot length limit. What the length limit does is it protects fish between 30 inches and 45 inches from harvest. Which gives opportunity for those fish to become very, very large. Under these limits, anglers can harvest fish less than 30 inches, and those above 45 inches.

The total daily bag limit is 25 fish per day under 30 inches and only one per day over 45 inches.

Texas has a reputation for growing huge cats. With the new regulations in place, Terre says trophy potential can reach a new level, and he seeks angler input to make it happen.

We want to survey the anglers of Texas and understand what they would like to see in their catfish fishing for the future, then use the tools that we have as fisheries managers to try to make catfish fishing better.

Including length limits and stocking.

Our show receives support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…supporting fisheries research in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Rethinking Catfish: A New Old Favorite Play Now | Play in Popup | Download