Whats the interest level for a grass tourney at Purtis creek partnered with the TPWD?Were thinking of having one in early spring.

I would be interested. The other was too far away for me.

TPWD was asking about a Grass carp Tourney on Purtis Creek in the spring or summer and i figured id throw it out and see what everybody thinks.

Depending on date, I will be interested.

april.

what is the objective???
census or removal ??

How long have they been in there?

They show to have been stocked there in 2007. 1000 were stocked at that time..

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/action/stock_bywater.php?WB_code=0593

they could be a decent size by now

Im assuming it would be for removal.Yeah theres some nice ones in there.

Possible; it's a bit of a drive from Houston.

Ok I spoke with tpwd again yesterday and what they mentioned was doing an overnighter starting saturday morning and fishing till sunday at noon.There would be a small entry fee with a cash payout of 85% and the rest going to the preservation group called the friends of purtis creek.This will be a removal of grass carp though.

Any idea of the entry fee costs and is there camping allowed?

yeah camping is allowed and the entry would be somewhere around 20 or so bucks

Rick,
Sorry to be a pain in the [censored].......
The Triploid Grassers were stocked by the Department,according to their regs,,,,grassers when stocked in a lake must be returned,,,so now,,they want them removed???? removal means "Gutting the fish bankside"......we have a similiar situation with the ATC this year, August explained that gutting a fish especially a sizable fish, doesn't look good for us as SPORTSMAN especially if kids or the like are watching,,,,will they be willing to collect the fish,and remove them to another area to do the dastardly deed???

Purtiss creek is loaded with lilly pads, and other vegetation that grassers aren't particularly fond of,,,,so the attempt at stocking for vegetation removal kind of didn't work out all that well.......if they are there to relocated or transport to another area to do their thing,,,,,,count Carl and me in.....why chit we can clean out the place in a few hours but as a SPORTSMAN I can't bring myself to killing a fish on the bank, especially if it gave me a noble fight,,,,,let someone else do that.. have you talked to them about using the captures in a food bank of some sort??? Grassers are EXCELLENT fare, if fried right are better than Catfish.

prolly the same deal they did at Lake Conroe. Bring in your fish and they feed them to the homeless. I personally do not have a problem killing them but i also know that as fishing organizations(WCC, CAG) we need to distance ourselves from white amur, silver carp and big head carp otherwise people will associate the invasive species with our beloved common and mirror carp

I meant to post some info on this subject a while back but I forgot. I've been workin with Marcos DeJesus from TPWD in regards to this up and coming ATC and the subject of grass carp has come up multiple times. I've mentioned my aversion to killing fish on the bank and he did some asking around.

According to him the regulation in the book and site are misleading. After talking to the people who come up with the regulation he informed me that whether the fish is on the invasive species list or not it can be returned to the water it was caught from immediately. If the fish is going to be retained in anyway then it has to be killed on the spot. He is supposedly working to have the regs re-worded to make that clear.

so if i catch a silver carp with no plans to keep it i can return it to the lake? What about a snakehead?

Youre exactly right Scott.We would catch them and they would have a truck.they had such a big turnout at the Lake Conroe gathering that they would like to do it again.ive took some boys there for the weekend and they were tired of fishing by sunday.They caught so many grassers and commons that at night we would bring em in just so we can sleep.I think this would be a great thing for this lake and it would def help our relationship further with TPWD.I told Dan that most carp anglers are against killing fish bankside and he said he had no idea that we were against that.Thats how we got on the subject of them gathering them up for a shelter.

That is my understanding. I also sensed that because of the way the regs are actually written different people in TPWD will give different answers, thats why he is working on having them re-written.

i just cant see them telling people to return invasive species back to the waters to create more havoc on our ecosystem?

i couldn't imagine them forcing people to kill the fish infront of their children either. If i was fishing with my daughter and i caught an invasive species, you can bet ill return it before i ever killed it infront of her.

Cant be any worse than someone catching a carp or drum then cutting it up for cut bait in front a kid. I have three kids and we practice C&R but they also understand that if we catch a snakehead or a silver carp we are going to kill it for the sake of protecting our waters.
If you cant follow the rules then you shouldnt be fishing. It is a privilege to fish and the rules set forth need to be followed.

Apparently the rules are not laid out very clear considering recent posts. A lot of stuff happens in front of kids, but im not killing anything infront of my 5 year old(unless her safety is at risk). And you are right, it is my privilege to fish and it is her privilege to fish as well, and she shouldn't have to be subjected to the gutting and killing of a fish to "preserve" and "protect" our waters. If the body of water in question is at risk, little ol' me won't make much of a difference, and i seriously doubt all of us combined could either...

Guys we all know this is a sensitive subject. There are ways to dispose of the Grass Carp without having to gut them infront of kids or bystanders. If TPWD is going to collect them, then there would probally be no need to do the deed bankside. I am all for protecting our favorite species and helping to control the invasive population.

They didn't gut em on the bank at the Conroe tourney. They had a refrigerated truck that they were put in after every angler brought them to weigh in then they were transported to food banks. So I imagine it'd be the same for this one

I personally don't have a problem with immediately killing invasive species.
In fact it can be a good opportunity to clarify the difference between common carp, white Amur, 'asian' carp, 'and other rough fish.
I had a lady stop while I was fishing the WCC yesterday and when I mentioned what I was fishing for, made the comment about carp being an invasive species that is ruining fisheries. I had the opportunity to create for her the distinction between common carp and invasive grass carp and Asian carps.
And yes, I will kill the grass carp I catch outside of the protected stocked waters.
I don't believe it is damaging to children to witness such a thing if the context is created for them.

i have no problem doing it or explaining it to someone who can understand and distinguish the difference.

Like lunker said there will be a refrigerated truck to take them from the anglers.

I'm all good with that,,,,,,
Sorry Brian, can't bring myself to do that,,,,


count me in !