Next time you come to Texas make sure and fish Purtis Creek and Lake Austin and then get back with us. These lakes were producing 40 pound bags before the grass was killed. Be lucky to catch 12 pounds now.

It's not just TPWD that Texas anglers are up against. On Lake Austin, it was the land developers and real estate agents with deep, deep pockets and well-established connections. They organized what appeared to be a concerned citizens group to privately pay for and stock Lake Austin with triploid grass carp, with TPWD and LCRA's blessing. The TPWD's chief biologist was constantly being pressured to put more carp in, more carp, more carp... until *all* the vegetation on the lake had disappeared, not just the hydrilla that the grass carp were supposed to munch on, to the exclusion of native vegetation. There's an infamous quote from one of the TPWD biologists that the carp would jump over the Tom Miller dam rather than eat milfoil or other native grass species. Well, with the flooding we had here in Central Texas a few years back, they didn't need to jump over - they were released into Ladybird Lake, and further down the Lower Colorado River, with devastating results. So, rather than ruin one of, if not THE best trophy bass lake at the time in Texas, the grass carp stocking destroyed bass fishing on three waterways. Great job, guys. I don't entirely lay the blame at TPWD's feet, either. I'll save that vitriol for Eric Moreland, the land mogul with the deep pockets and a vested interest in selling mansions to the well-heeled Austinites with wakeboats and no love of bass fishermen or their boats. Guess who's on the LCRA board of directors, as well? If you guessed Eric Moreland, you'd be correct.

Guys, the one thing that money does is that it organizes and pays for influence. That's one commodity that bass anglers lack - organizational skills, plus political will. I'm just as guilty as anyone as I write this post, since it's easier to bitch than it is to get a disparate bunch of rugged individualists to get together to make their voice heard by those with political power. But maybe that'll change. I'm not holding my breath, though.

I was living in Houston and fished Conroe quite a bit when the discussion started about introducing triploid (sterile) grass carp into the equation to "control" hydrilla. The Asian carp introduced not only controlled the hydrilla but found other means of survival after their preferred food source was depleted and contine to thrive.

Not to mention that some where along the evolution of this program a decision maker was convinced that establishing a 'few' diploid Asian carp would not be a bad idea. Now there is an exotic species in an environment with a preferred food source that can grow 12 months out of the year AND can now reproduce. Jurassic Park is a great analogy.

Purtis Creek is a campground... not much fun to camp at a lake you can’t even bank fish on because the first 20 yards of shore is matted hydrilla. I loved fishing it too, but it’s not all about just you and I.