All of the flooding kicked our butts down on Lake Livingston but the influx of hybrids from upstream have been a welcomed blessing! there must have been quite a few that washed out of the lakes upstream to find them ganged up like this on a 90,000 acre lake. We would have a fishery that rivaled lake Tawakoni if the TPWD would stock them in Lake Livingston. I understand their reasoning for not doing it but it sure would be nice if they could collect their brood fish from behind Whitney or Texoma and fill Lake Livingston with these bad boys! Oh well, we'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Michael's trip this morning was epic topwater action. Michael sent me these at 8:00!

HINT>>>> if you will catch and release the hybrids the fun will last a lot longer. Glad you are enjoying some of the spoils that us near Tawakoni often take for granted.

Maybe one day I will achieve your level of enlightenment wise giver of hints

I guess I will just never be able to understand why someone would kill off of a finite resource such as the hybrid when the bountiful and naturally spawning sandbass, which taste just the same as hybrids, are caught in greater quantities. Even guides I have been on trips with have rules about what they keep and what they wont. I would put HSB on that list, especially if they were a rare gift from upstream neighbors. Just my 2 cents.

Most clients don't want to release hybrids. If up front with them before or during booking the trip, some are ok with it. They may agree to release them if told after they book the trip but doubt if you get a referral or 2nd trip from them. All species can become finite if not managed properly by ruling authorities.

Very nice hybrids Chris!

This is exactly the point. The authorities manage the use of resources. If the authorities say I can catch something, I have to trust they are managing it properly and do not feel guilty about doing it.

If someone feels the authorities are being too lax, let them take it up with the authorities instead of giving fisherman trouble about their legal catch.

If someone feels the authorities are being too lax, let them take it up with the authorities instead of giving fisherman trouble about their legal catch.[/quote]


Our money, spent by fishermen/women hire many biologists that work for Parks and Wildlife. If they say it's ok, I'll trust them to decide what the limits are. We as individuals, get to choose to keep less, or none, if we want. Hybrids, rainbow trout and such are all" put and take" fisheries, they can't reproduce, so additional stockings have to take place as they will all die off, even if never caught and kept. If my freezer has plenty, most will go back. Sometimes I just don't feel like cleaning them, and they all go back, my home lake is just one big livewell!

Nice work Michael Richardson, you put your clients on great fish(just doing your job)
kept within the limits, and made some lifetime memories for those guys.

Now this is something worth responding to. I would not have responded in such a sarcastic manor had your original response not been laced with sarcasm as well. I too enjoy a little trash talk every now and then lol.

I will write a detailed post next week explaining my thoughts on keeping hybrids. It is an interesting debate with passionate players on both sides. I just wont have time before then, I'm working until noon, guiding on Whitney this evening and Saturday morning, then guiding on Richland Chambers Sunday. Have boat will travel


Thanks for the support guys. Michael works his butt off to stay ahead of what was the standard on Lake Livingston and the results show it.

I get tired of people looking down on someone for keeping fish they caught legally. You run your own business and let others do the same. Goes for all species.

keep bustin em down boys!

So you dont appreciate the sarcastic approach to getting my point across, ok fine lets be direct. I dont usually react to these posts, but get a lot of pleasure out of watching others do it. But when I read your title it sounds to me...."thank you fishing gods for bestowing upon Lake Livingston a bounty of Hybrids" then go on to describe how thankful you are because the TPWD wont do it for you. Then you show the slaughter of this gift with a picture of what looks like about 30 or so Hybrids. Tawakoni, Hubbard, PK, any of the lakes that are refreshed with new stock, fine take all you want or the law will allow. But I cant believe my ears (or eyes) in the heart of Texas when someone says let the government tell we what I should or shouldnt do. We are ALL responsible for protecting the Texas natural resources. If Livingston was given a gift of hybrids then protect them. I dont need to hear your thoughts on keeping hybrids in other lakes. Guides on Livingston can tell their clients up front, this is not a stocked Hybrid lake so throw back any you catch so they can be caught again. I could say look at how the LMB fisherman protect their species, but that would just launch your other discussion in keeping hybrids in general, and I really dont care about that. No sarcasm there. But realize that the TPWD (government) doesnt give a flip about Lake Livingston Hybrid striper protection because they arent supposed to be there. WE MUST CARE. If Walleye somehow made it into our Texas lakes and you caught one, I would hope you would throw it back to protect it and allow it to thrive and hopefully reproduce. My guess, reading these responses, is you would slice it up and brag with stories about your great walleye fishing adventures. Best of luck catching the big ones down there on Lake Livingston (that was sarcsasm). Happy Friday everyone!

CapnKirk, I do that all of the time with Black Crappie that I catch on lakes that don't have them. No matter if it is a keeper or not I always throw them back because I want them to take off (love how they fight).

You guys can do whatever you want, but don't tell me what I should be doing. As long as I am legal, you have no right to give me grief about anything I am doing.