Back in the early days of invasive weeds(70's ?) TVA learned that timing is everything.
They figured out that if they timed their spring "bring up" of lake levels, they could do a pretty good job of weed control.
Wheeler Lake for example had a good stand of Millfoil that was gradually being replace by Hydrilla.
TVA draws that lake down about 5' each fall in anticipation of winter rains.
In the spring, with warming temps and increasing daylight hours, the weeds start to emerge.
If TVA timed it correctly by putting an additional 5' of water over the new sprigs . . most would die out and not re-emerge.

Guntersville fluctuates very little from season to season and therefore has a good stand of weeds.

Hydrilla WAS awesome in Roberts until they started treating it around the same time they started treating it in Fork and Sam Rayburn in the 90s and there were fish kills in all three lakes. There was a major push by the state to eradicate all invasive species from the state back in the 90s. Hydrilla was high on the list. They showed pictures of the Rio Grand full of grass south of Flacon and claimed the hydrilla was sucking up all the water, clogging pumps, and such...... At Roberts the grass use to go from the south end of Wolfe Island all the way up into lick and north into Wolfe, Indian, buck and other creeks. When the lake dropped it still grew and when it came back up it still grew.... The lake filled like two or three years sooner than they expected but the hydrilla took off once it did. It has always fluctuated and the grass always grew at different levels and in different areas. So I have never bought the whole drought water fluctuation argument Then all of sudden around 95-98 it just disappeared and has never really came back like it was. Also the lake was young compared to Fork and Sam Rayburn so I also discount the age argument especially since the state was pushing to eradicate at the time. Also feel LMBV was a fake disease to cover up impacts by chemicals. To coincidental and too much politics and $$$ at play. Milfoil and hydrilla came back a little around 2003-2005 and we caught some giants but the lake went though another down period in 2007 ish time frame and the fish looked sick and were all covered in sores and supper skinny. I have not fished it since then. I fished it from canoe before it opened and loved that lake over Fork actually until it got all jacked up. You had to see the number of big fish that came from that giant grass flat west of Wolfe Island it was outrageously good and fun.

Disagree and have seen myself Milfoil doesn’t hold fish like hydrilla does. With the way the grass is being treated at lakes like fork it will never take hold cause everytime it gets going on main lake areas it is getting sprayed. I have finally accepted it will never be like it was but man if you young guys would have fished it and lived it you would understand why us old dudes get a bit bent about it. 😊

I guess it is interesting that Tennessee can manage it, but Texas can't. Guess that's why Texas is Tennessee's first colony.

Alot of this stuff is outside the control of TPWD. They have made mistakes in the past for sure and I think they would be the first to admit that. However, lots of spraying gets done that is not approved by TPWD. I know for a fact that there was a big herbicide application made on Richland Chambers that TPWD knows nothing about. The reality is that Tarrant Regional or any other water control board isn't going to ask permission from TPWD to spray in their own lake. They are going to hire a licensed applicator and go to work. Especially if it is blocking the dock of a VIP that needs to get his wake boat out.

The other issue, and maybe the larger one, is the fact that many of the companies doing the herbicide applications are not following the law. They have applicators out on the water that are spraying everything they see. Many don't even know their target species. Targeted applications of herbicide can be done successfully, but it takes an applicator that knows what he is doing and cares. Any time you see these guys spraying and it looks to be an applicator that doesn't know what he is doing, take a video. TPWD simply does not have the knowledge or employees to enforce this stuff. However, I have it on good authority from some high ups in the Texas Department of Agriculture that they will prosecute improper applications on public water. It does fall under their jurisdiction. All they need is some evidence to investigate.

At least they haven't ruined Hubbard Creek yet. I'm sure it will come.

Every time the grass at Pool starts to come back it floods and it dies again.

But it's okay to stock fish using "tax payer funds" ? Slippery slope

So what's the scoop on Southern Naiad grass ? Is it as good as hydrilla for supporting a healthy bass population ? Advantages & disadvantages ? My understanding is that naiad grass is what is growing in Fayette county lake now...

That's good info. I will definitely video next time I see it. You would think a good law suit could atleast get them forced to stop spraying until it went thru the courts. That could take a while. Water test after applications, videos of poor spraying, dead fish, etc you would think the EPA would be all over this issue

Need to come up with a list of all the issues we are facing. Besides the hydrilla.
1. Texas needs many more game wardens to police our lands and waters.
Raise license fees, raise violation fees, raise registration fees. Create lake permits that boaters need to purchase for each lake that they operate on. Nobody knows that data or where to focus resources.
2. Herbicides. Spraying aerosolizes and gets into the lungs. No long term studies but we all know we drink it and eat the fish that are saturated with it. We need fish samples from various years to show chemical levels. I can get access to a mass spec and an attorney for a class action suit.

These agencies need to be run like a business unit. Need to revamp many things across the board.

They need to figure out how to manage it.

So tax the hell out of the fishermen? Purchase Lake permits for each lake?

Unless it’s recently changed the license money all goes into the general fund, it doesn’t stay with TPWD. Many of us may fish 10 or more lakes per year..
TPWD is the class of the entire nation, armchair quarterback it all you want, we are blessed to have them managing our fisheries. I love fishing grass as much as anyone, and I’ll also sneak in here in my post so it’s not super obvious unless you read it all, Ray Bob has hydrilla. Not like it once did but it’s there in multiple places, it’s thick, and healthy as can be.

its politics and if Biden gets his way you want be able to aford gasoline to go fishing ! it will be trolling motor only like many of the california lakes because of polution

The only part of this I agree with is that the agencies need to be run like a business. They have plenty of money if used correctly. More bureaucracy is never the answer. You very quickly get to a situation like the State of Maine where it is near impossible to even interact with the natural resources in a legal way because the laws are so convoluted and contradictory. By the way TCEQ and the control authority of any lake that supplies water already have to do water samples. That data is available. You can put your mass spec back in the box.

By the way WLB Dallas. Hubbard Creek has been and will be sprayed again. The powers that be have areas there that they simply are not going to allow hydrilla. There are some really good guys from the private pond management industry working really hard to make sure that the spraying there is done in a way to prevent a mass kill. The initial sprays have been very precise and have worked as planned from what I understand. Hopefully the attention to details will continue on that lake, but it will be a constant battle.