If you're debating the "pound for pound fight", that's a different subject, but I'm guessing most anglers would rather tangle with an Alligator Gar over a Red Drum, if they had to make that choice, once they were educated on Alligator Gar and the potential they have for sport fishing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy the Reds aren't flourishing at Fairfield. The algae blooms have taken their toll on the bull bluegills there as well. But I do think the Alligator Gar is a worth while experiment to see if it works.

btw....Wouldn't Sqaw Creek be a good home for Red Drum????

IMHO, this fella "Bernie" really thought through and exercised his rights as a citizen and sportsman of this great state. In response, the state biologist actually did as a public servant ought to and gave Bernie a straight and detailed answer. These two things in tandem must be a rarity in this day and time and to be applauded.

Now, a looong time ago in another life....30 years or so in the past, I did a lot of work out at Fairfield/Big Brown. Working with then retired (now deceased) TPWD phenom, Ed Bonn, I caught a lot of fish out of that lake with my fish shocker. As the manager/biologist for long defunct D&B Fish Farm in Crockett, I spent a lot of time working as a contractor for the state, catching fish, sometimes I still do.

Anyhow, we always got to go and work in the restricted areas and were at a place where water was coming into the lake from a big concrete ditch. The water was stinky, almost black, and the stream it made into the lake was devoid of fish. I later learned this was water filling the lake from a pumping station on the Trinity River. Now this was before the time of redfish, but after the construction of Big Brown coal generating station. Especially if hot and dry, filling with funky water followed by continuous evaporation along with elevated temperatures can surely be a formula for widespread oxygen depletion. A thing which does not bother an alligator gar one whit as they are not only capable of, but are obligatory air breathers.

30 plus years of that and for the last dozen or so years they done had problems. Go figure....

There may be ways to mitigate this issue, all of which are expensive. Aeration, circulation, less power plant use in summer, ???

In the meantime, that lake makes some super duper 'gator gar habitat.

"Gar, Alligator 2015 146 Adult "

I had no idea they already stocked them in 2015. And they were classified as "adult" as well. I wonder how they're doing???

Why cant the fish kill wipe out all the bass in Fairfield.....that would be a blessing.

I actually had a conversation about the out of control tilapia problem on Fairfield saturday night while over at a fishing buddies house. Apparently, tilapia produce new young every 28 days (100 to 300 fry) which the mothers protect in her mouth till fry mortality is virtually nil. Conversely, bass/crappie/catfish have millions of fry, but very low survivability. Accordingly, the tilapia will take over the ecosystem if left unchecked, either by chemical, predatory, and/or other means...which basically harms the sport fishing in the lake, that anglers cherish, such as you (bass) and I (crappie.) Effectively, introducing the gator gar (they eat live fish) into the ecosystem will eventually help the sport fish industry, if done correctly. Personally, I would like to see them intro yellow cats, as well for the same reason. They are pretty good at surviving as well. To me, it looks like the TPW is doing a good thing for the long term health of the sport fishery. Hope this info helps.

TP&W has stocked yellow cats in Fairfield. Back in the early 70's I caught yellow cats up to 20 pounds.