I'll be at nueces tomorrow morning if anyone wants to join. Haven't seen any reports in 3 weeks so not sure what to expect.

I've heard that they're moving back to the lake, so it has been very slow to non-existent upstream in the shallows. But they were catching good numbers downstream of 59. But this is only hearsay... Please report back - I'm curious about this as well. FWIW, I've caught whites in the shallows well into the later part of March in the past, but I think it started earlier than usual on the Nueces this year.

This has been a great year, and the most consistent for limits day in and day out in years.
The river and lake had been at it's lowest the last few years and then last year it almost came up within just a couple feet of being full and the whites had a good run.
We have now seen the results of what a full lake can do.
I know that the amount of fish taken out of that river would blow your mind away.
Limits were easy, and that went on day after day for at least two and a half months.
It will be interesting to see what all that pressure did when next year comes around.

What would really blow your mind away is the amount of fish that are NOT harvested from that river. White bass are an extremely hardy and prolific species. And I can already tell you that this year's fishing pressure will have no affect on next year's run. The environmental factors (i.e., water level and flow) dominate their success as a species. Check out the section "Fisheries Management and Fishing Regulations" of white bass here.

I went 3 weeks ago with a buddy on a boat and we trolled 3 miles south of 59 and had 7 fish between 4 guys in 6 hours. There were lots of fish on the finder, but also lots of bait balls. Sure they were headed down to the lake. the same day the wardens had said people were still catching limits at the rapids. Again, 3 weeks ago. that and rains make a big difference. Im sure I won't be the only out there tomorrow.

looking forward to the report tony...

since we're talking about Nueces and whites and heading back to the lake, has anyone fished the new floating pier at the Lake CC State Park yet? we used to do ok on whites around the lights at night on the old pier...haven't been there in years though...
snookered

The new pier is pretty nice. Caught a lot of fish there last fall, but I don't know how it would be this time of year.

So basically the article you posted doesn't actually say the pressure will or will not have an effect (per the disclaimer paragraph) at the end of the article, but that other factors may have more of an impact which is true.
I have no idea either, but just saying there were tons of fish caught and it will be interesting to see what happens next year, and pretty much the jury is still out.
I don't know, and nobody else knows exactly how many fish are in the river, and can only go by witnessing and hearing of multitudes of limits taken over days, weeks, and months this past spawn.....Again, we shall see if it did or not.

Quote from the article......"TPWD will continue to monitor white bass populations and angler harvest rates to determine what length limit is best suited for these fisheries. If fishing pressure significantly increases in the future and harvest levels reach a critical point, TPWD will consider alternative regulations. Currently, alternative regulations are not warranted."

Sorry jimbo. I guess I'm having difficulty understanding your original comment. Are you implying that the Nueces had significantly more pressure with significantly more fish harvested than any other run in the past out there?

FWIW, I've fished for white bass all over this great state. There are other places, such as the Neches, San Gabriel, and Yegua just to name a few, that have more fishing pressure and larger overall harvest numbers than the Nueces. Yet still, these places keep producing huge numbers of fish year in and year out.

Medina, on the other hand, has had very little fishing pressure for white bass. But we both know the white bass population is relatively small there. And, to come full circle, this is because the environmental conditions (i.e., drought and irrigation use of the lake water) are dominating the reproductive success of these fish. Otherwise, Medina would be chock-full of white bass from the lack of fishing pressure/harvest.

It makes sense to me anyway... You quoted the article I linked, and I'll do the same. I don't know how clearer it can be than "Currently, alternative regulations are not warranted."