Texas Tea Leaves – Hybrid Bass Stocking
Previous Reading on TPWD Stocking North Central Texas
- INTRODUCTION – AI tells us what IT thinks the TPWD’s mandate for stocking Texas waters is
- TPWD Stocking in North Central Texas a Recent History Snapshot
- TPWD Fish Stocking by the Numbers
PART 4 – Reading Between TPWD Stocking Report Lines: My Wonky Hobby
As I began to dive into the TPWD fresh water stocking numbers for the two regions of North Central Texas, I first noticed the obvious ongoing disparity of green bass stocking in these two regions. But I also noticed an interesting investment of resources, in lakes that have been abandoned in terms of typical green bass stocking, and instead have been beefed up with the awesome Palmetto or Sunshine bass.
Palmetto and Sunshine Bass – The Magical Hybrids of Texas
The difference between a sunshine and a palmetto is parenting, and this water tiger’s stripes – that seems to be about it. But did you know TPWD is extremely active in stocking these fish in lakes close to the DFW area? I didn’t know that either! Then I started digging deeper into lake stocking records for these fish in North Central Texas. The numbers are impressive, and they need to be; a hybrid is a sterile fish. If one is caught and taken? it’s gone. There is no regeneration I know of, just restocking.
What Do the Numbers Say?
I decided to whip out my TI calculator, put a new battery in, and run the numbers for the last ten years in a handful of near/in DFW Texas lakes stocked and not stocked with hybrids by TPWD. I chose TEN YEARS because a wider sample takes more yearly stocking variables into consideration.
- Lake Bridgeport – 2,102,103
- Cedar Creek – 3,678,583
- Grapevine – 0
- Fork – 0
- Lewisville – 6,966,160
- Ray Roberts – 0
- Tawakoni – 7,584,640
- Ray Hubbard – 5,728,265
Does this paint a picture for you? The TPWD stocking program is roughly divided into two factions (in North Central Texas) – increasing population of largemouth bass and their strains EVERYWHERE except Lake Ray Roberts, on a pretty disciplined schedule. And if they don’t stock largemouth? TPWD stocks hybrids on an impressive scale EVERYWHERE else, except that is, Lake Ray Roberts. This is a SNAPSHOT, and what I do not show are lakes with emphasis on stocking Striped Bass, OR smallmouth bass. We know those numbers are less, but you would see (if you looked) lakes, like Whitney and Texoma have consistently been stocked with striper and even smallmouth bass over the past ten years.
Obvious questions now arise. If TPWD is stocking lakes close-in to DFW’s 7-million people with hybrids? Why would TPWD not stock Ray Roberts with palmetto and sunshine bass?
SERENITY NOW – TPWD Responds
Get ready! A whole lot of clarity is coming from the good people at TPWD in the next two posts. I have to break them down into multiple, because the responses are so thorough and extensive. AND, in the end I wrap this entire saga up with a story about the “Magnet Lakes” of North Central Texas. We will also pose the big questions to the great people at TPWD: How do I get my voice heard? What is the best way to get TPWD to stock my local lake?
Category: Body-Mind-Soul, Life Observed, Science and Environmental, TECHNICAL
