Hah, just noticed they banned grass carp fishing to, they must be released. Wow

I guess you just have to make the best of it! There are still some super fish in that lake and hopefully they will still reproduce and keep a good fishery. Lake Dunlap is just about the same. No major grass beds and it is still producing some good fish.

Just my $0.02..How can Lake Austin be a fishermans lake ? Its all private property, very expensive property, and I bet anyone thats owns a place on that Lake doesn't go out on the lake to just fish. I'm sure their tax dollars (party donations) carry a little more weight than ours does. By the way, I can't fish there, don't own a boat. Maybe some homeowner on the Lake couldn't use his private boat dock because the growth was solid all around it (couldn't swim or fire-up his jet boat).
I also heard rumores/news that some swimmers drowned because of the growth in the water.
Not defending whats happening there.

The Hydrilla seems to be doing well still, in fact, some parts are so packed its like you can walk on the water. The carp the state released are all sterile so there won't be a carp explosion, to be honest after going out a few times i think you would need a few billion carp to make a dent in the aquatic plant life there.

As for lake Austin being a fishermans lake, welcome to Texas, everything is private property. Just get a kayak and enjoy the water.

Good points made by both "Barneypoo69" and "Supernovae". "Supernovae" I wished we could have seen some of those grass beds. Myself,"Rionator", and Manuel fished Lake Austin several times this past summer and did not see any. Of course we were fishing the upper half of the lake closest to the Mansfield Dam. I am glad to here that there still some nice grass beds present.



Side Note: Lake Austin just like a lot of lakes in Texas, unless you have a boat or know a property owner you are not going to do much fishing.

Report from survey conducted on sept. 2013 from FOLA ie Friends of lake austin the very same that gave us 27 thousand grass carp...
The survey shows 0% hydrilla from dam to dam. I know of 1 patch still existing as of last tuesday that is roughly the size of a school bus. The vegatation along a few of the banks around Quinlin are milifoil NOT HYDRILA!

lake austin survey

Trust me when I say this the carp exported there has really harmed both the bass and panfish species we once had there. No one I know has caught any of the 12" redear or big red breast that were so prevelent in the past.It does not matter if the carps reproduce or not the damage caused by them is done.

RIP: Lake Austin 2013

LOL who would have ever guessed that Hydrila would be the new cannabis sativa L in the eyes of politicians here in Texas

The milifoil is thick as molasses by Selma and i have no problems landing bass from that stuff. Is there research that shows on habitat better than the other?

Hydrilla is a perennial, it will probably be back in full force come spring.

The only thing that gives me problems with fishing on that lake are the drunk boaters, jet skiers and wake boarders.. They're not looking for a yak trying to catch some fish in the deeper channels so i usually give up and play with the bass hiding in the weeds

Supernovae, its just not the lack of cover that we lost when the hydrila was removed, it was also the water clarity, wave action from wake boats, erosion from banks during the releases. In my observations I would point to loss of water clarity being the number 1 issue. That alone will make it difficult for the vegatation to make a come back, let alone the 27,000 hungry grass carps. Further more the loss of vegatation holding sediments that have been flushed away due to extensive releases from Satan's favorite group the LCRA.
I strongly prefer hydrila over milifoil as a whole. It fishes much better for me and was able to flourish in much deeper water than the current milifoil. My wife was on some huge perch last year at this time in the 18' to 22' grass. My bass fishing has gone from consistantly being on over 8's to DD to now skunks. Now I know most of this is going to be me learning new tricks and re-learning my old lake. I still plan on finding a SAL sized fish this winter but I will add my odds have gone way down due to lack of grass...Let me just say Im not refering to normal fishing I fish specifically for over 8's so Im sure you are finding lots of fish in the 6' to 12' milifoil. I however have lost 100% of my holes due to lack of deep grass.

To me water bodies with good grass beds have a much better quality of fish. Water bodies that have a lot of recreational use such as ski boats,wake boats,jet skis,etc seem to have way fewer grass beds than bodies of water that are strictly fishing bodies of water. Lake Austin is a recreational lake and the recreational boaters will play a major part in the condition of that lake. I think that wake boats should be outlawed(just my two cents). The waves they make defiantly erode bank space. They could also be possibly causing other environmental problems as well. Again just my opinion.


Side Note: Wake boats belong out in oceans. At least their wakes would not cause any damage out there.

I agree, i don't think the wake boats - the ones that sink down into the water and bow up to make a 3 foot wake should be allowed on Lake Austin but they're just a part of the problem..

TO be honest though, 3 times out on a kayak and the bass boaters don't apparently give a hoot either if we're picking on people with boats.

The lake needs some love but i'm willing to bet the fish are also stressed for many reasons including probably more people fishing them because any constant level water is probably fished more during the drought than ever.

They should make sections of it people powered only and let the vegetation grow free.

just my 2 cents though, i'm no pro at this and i want to see the fishery flourish there as it is a beautiful body of water! It's too bad its really become an elitist playground for Austin's wealthiest to do as they wish.

At least Lake Austin has a couple of public ramps. The home owners on Lake Mcqueeney had made that lake their own private lake by not having any public access on that lake. A public lake funded by tax payers which is controlled by a select few. Go figure.

Don't get me started on this one! Good example of the powers of a strong HOA! (Home owners association).

WAKE SKATING is the devil! (LOL) That surfboard-like BS. I can not stand seeing those rollers come at me! As if wakeboarders are not bad enough, the wake skate wake is absolutely brutal!

Wake Boats are way to big for most lakes. I am really surprised that the governing bodies for some of these water bodies have not taken any action on em. Just my opinion.

Can't stand em!