I was thinking of going here tomorrow for the first time. Like to try a new lake every so often. My neighbor was there about four years ago and said it was a nice small lake. Can anyone tell me a little about it? I understand they only allow 50 boats. Is it hard to get on? Is it safe to run? Is there vegetation? Has the fishing been decent?

Would appreciate any info you may have!
Thanks

I use to work there bout ten years ago when I was in high school. It was never hard to get on, we never had 50 boats back then. It is catch and release only on all bass, but you should find some really nice fish. It should be safe to run on, I think the whole lake is pretty much idle speed only.

it is a idle only lake. You should be fine I have never heard of it being full of 50 boats.

The lake is like the dead sea since they eradicated all the aquatic vegetation. Mill creek, Athens, even Cedar Creek are where I'd go before wasting even $4 on the park fee at Purtis.

Wow my bad on my info then. That sucks, use to be a great place

Is there truly no vegetation? Is anyone catching fish?

Thanks to all who have posted!

It used to be an awesome lake

I've also heard that the bite is terrible since the eradication of the vegetation. I would also go somewhere else if it was me.

The fish are there. Just gotta fish different.

Yeah, like with hand grenades. I've fished the lake since 1990 and could still go out there and manage a few, but is it worth it when most of the lakes within 1/2 hour will almost guarantee a better day? Not to me. They over stocked the grass carp, which they have now admitted by having recent grass carp tournaments to remove some of them. When there was grass, we regularly had 50 plus fish days now it's just depressing. If anyone is able to go out there now and see numbers like that, you sir are a far better angler than I. Then again, that ain't saying much these days!

It really saddens me that a lake that is strictly for catch and release bass fishing, established with our tax payer dollars, (with zero land owners complaining about too much grass in the water) was destroyed by TPWD mismanagement.

I would rather catch 3 that weigh 8lbs each than catching 50 fish between 1-6lbs.

I am less into numbers so not catching 50 doesn't bother me.

Are you implying that catching 3 8lbers is possible in this quantum reality at Purtis??

The lake has neither quantity nor quality any longer.

You Sir, need to put down the crack pipe.

You sir need to realize the fish are still there. Grass carp don't eat bass!

You're avoiding the question of whether or not you actually think 3 8lbers is possible at Purtis.

Further, how do we know the fish are still there? The TPWD reported surveys from Fall of 2008 found a reduction in the total number of bass over the previous time period. The carp were introduced in 2007, by 2008 almost all submergent aquatic vegetation was reduced to nearly nothing. 2009 fish survey found a reduction in bass populations too. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/lake_survey/pwd_rp_t3200_1364_2008.pdf

You are correct that grass carp do not eat bass, but juvenile grass carp are omnivores and may eat fish eggs, so it is possible that they eat bass eggs. If TPWD stocked older carp then it is true that they should only eat vegetation. But at the very least, grass carp destroy the habitat, and that can be just as deadly to the bass population as if they did eat them.

They published survey results on Purtis in 2004, and 2008...I'm very interested to see if they'll be posting survey results for 2012 anytime soon. Only when they release that data can you truly say the fish are still there in the same or greater numbers prior to the loss of vegetation.

Lastly, the quote in your signature line was not from Freud, how do I know? My worthless degree in Psychology.

as the former "Mayor of Purtis Creek" as I was once labeled I'll chime in on this one..

2007 thru early 2010 were still very good years for fishing on PC, for me anyway. Huge schools of 2 to 5 lb fish were setting up on key spots and catching 20 of them in an hour or so wasn't that hard. Catching big fish was pretty good too as I caught my 11, a 9 and several 7's during that period.

But starting in late 2010 and the few trips I took there in 2011, I started to see a trend of fewer and fewer fish, not just what I was catching, but what I wasn't seeing on the graph anymore. Structure spots where in prior times I'd be able to see numerous bass and bait schools were void. Moving out or in along the structure didn't help either. Also, the water color was always a nasty dirty brown, not muddy like from recent rains, but not clean - tannic color like the past. I began to believe that the population of fish had seriously been depleted.

I took a trip there in late April this year on a perfect, stormy, pre-frontal day and we caught several fish from 14" to 6lbs and I began to think that maybe I'd been wrong. Then two weeks ago I took the G-man out there for a night trip and we didn't do well. I caught some fish in key spots, but again places where I could always count on at least seeing the fish that might not bite were void.

So is the lake dead? No - but it's time to call in hospice.

Are there 3 - 8lb'ers in there still? Yes.

Can someone go and catch a 24lb - 3 fish stringer on one day? Maybe - and I'll give that person $100 to document it legitimately. Offer is good from today through the end of this year.