I went to the feed store in town to meet the fish truck. They outfit is out of Arkansas and said they could not transport grass carp into Texas even though they advertised them. I want a few for my pond. Does anyone know where I can get some, order or pick up? Thanks.

check with the state as you have to permit in introduction in any body of water.

did not know that...

Yep and you have to provide a picture of a fish excluder, hog wire fence covering run out area, before the permit is issued.

You must first pay an unconstitutional tax to the state just to apply for the permit. Then you will receive a list of legal suppliers, if your permit application is approved. '

You must purchase your fish from a supplier that aquires them from out of state as there is no mechanism by which a Texas fish farmer is allowed to compete in this (and most) lucrative fish market.

Just like almost every fish stocked into private ponds is also illegal to produce here (including largemouth bass) except under dictatorial, and untenable conditions. In fact, even out of state largemouth bass much be approved as "raised on a vegetable based diet," or not legal to sell in Texas. Period. Not even for stocking lakes and ponds. Almost any bass produced here, any grass carp produced here, and almost any tilapia produced here is out of compliance and subject to prosecution under state law.

In practice, especially if you are stocking a lake or pond in the rich people neighborhood, TPWD will give the permit without a lot of rigamarole. A problem arises if you are not buying enough grass carp at one time to make shipping from out of state a reasonable proposition. Some suppliers may have grass carp in inventory and you are now allowed (thanks to the Texas Aquaculture Association lobbying efforts) to pick up and carry your grass carp home from the supplier with the proper paperwork (permit and invoice) in hand.

Now, in my part of the state you gotta be careful with things like grass carp as you may get more than you bargained for. We got two kinds of lakes around here, weedy or muddy. You can fish a weedy lake for bass, a proposition which becomes nearly impossible and not worth the effort in a muddy one. Too many grass carp (or too much herbicide) and you can turn your clear weedy lake into a mud hole with less then two inches of visibility. Mud holes do not make as good a bass lakes a weed infested holes.

Weeds can be managed, a few carp, a tad of weed killer, but once the lake is muddy its dang hard to fix.

Yes, permit required and then its easy. Actually getting the permit is even easy, IMO.

Grass carp are a highly useful tool to the pond manager...plus can provide some outstanding entertainment such as this 20 plus pounder on a 3 wt fly rod.

It is critical to stock with caution...don't over do it. Much easier to add fish than remove them. For me, I find 1 to 2 per acre leaves me with some weeds but not many and everyone is happy. They work extremely well in concert with Tilapia...just go slow with the stocking.

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