I heard the sharp decline in Amistad's bass population is attributed to Mexico Copper mines. They have tanks of water and when they flooded last summer and poured into Amistad, it immediately killed a large portion of the perch, crawfish, and smaller life in the water. Also heard lot of the parks and wildlife down there know what happened and nothing anyone can do about it being as is happening in Mexico.

This story makes good sense. Guys were catching big sacks up fish up until last summer and then someone flipped the switch. Pollution makes more sense than many other explanations. And I think the damage carried on down to Falcon.

Anybody else heard this?

Sounds false to me but I'm not saying it couldn't be true. Where did you hear this from???
I'd say that most of us know why Falcon's fish population tanked but I couldn't say what happened to the fish on Amistad all I know for sure is there aren't nowheres near the amount of fish in the lake as there were few years ago.

Heard from a local down there at Del Rio. May or may not be true but makes sense to me.

All I know is its tough. There is some fish still to be caught tho.. ready to see the weights tomorrow but I'm expecting low weight and not much for big bass.. we caught 5 between two of us today. Missed and lost several more tho. Less than 8 hrs till tourney time so I'm gonna go to bed and dream of big bass. Maybe 3 or 4 lbs and 6 lb stringers.. lots of boats out there tomorrow.. good luck to all pbobi fishermen, hope yall catch a lot, hope they're all small tho...

You mentioned most know why on Falcon. The gar argument is compelling but pollution also a prime suspect I'd say. No gar on Amistad to speak of. And yet the declines happened at the same time. We could all name a hundred reasons why the declines. Fishing pressure, bass eating yankees, gill nets, gars, low water, cold weather, but pollution that wipes out either the bass or something significant in the food chain makes a lot of sense.

I think most of us have heard the rumor of the copper mine pollution. But there's no real evidence, as with most rumors. People seem to overlook the fact that we're in the worst drought since the dustbowl years. I would imagine that has a LOT to do with it. Hot summers, cold winters, low water, fluctuating water, fishing pressure, no rain, then big floods that wash EVERYTHING into the lake - in my mind those are more likely factors than the rumored stuff. But pollution is still believable, I'd just like to see some evidence.

My cousin is a game warden there in Del Rio and patrols Amistad, she has not mentioned a pollution problem. What she has mentioned is the severe drought.

I remember the last couple years down at Amistad probably about 90% of the fish I caught has small black leeches inside their mouths and now since the decline in fishing I have yet to catch one with one in their mouth� do yall think these could have made their way into these fish and killed them? They defiantly looked like they did some damage inside their mouths� Just a thought?

The gar arguement is funny they were there just as long as the bass im sure they eat some. Its the drought its awful no relief anytime soon

I had several people tell me about the copper mine issue. Many of them locals. Hard to say, but I wouldn't discount it.

Saw the biggest Gar I've ever seen in my life breach next to the boat sitting out in 40' water up around mile marker 24 some years ago on Amistad. Never did see any of the monsters living in Choke!

I'm not a biologist or anything like that, but I am gonna say that it surely cannot be leaches causing problems...

Firstly because Bass eat leaches and you can use them as live bait, and secondly because in some of the best fisheries I have fished, I have caught a significant amount of fish with leaches in their mouth. I think if anything, that is a sign of a good healthy ecosystem when there is an abundance of different creatures in the water,to the point that fish have leaches in their mouth. But again, I am not a biologist, so I could be completely wrong about the effects leaches may have on a fish population.

My partner and I won a club tourney at Amistad in April. All the fish we caught were healthy and mean. The water is polluted and I don't recommend eating them, but we boated 20 plus fish and no signs of disease was present. I also did not see any skinny fish. I would say the excessive drawing of water from Mexico, the gill netting from Mexico, and the severe drought have the biggest impact on the fishery. In my humble opinion that of course could be wrong.

It is tough! You take 60 plus feet of water and put 100's of fisherman on the same body of water every weekend for how many years now, every since BASS came the first time. Granted we got 30 feet back but drought and pressure has taken a toll on numerous lakes in the south. It's that evil cycle! And to add to the problem we're losing 4 inches a day for at least the next 30 days! Not good!

I think the gar nonsense is funny too. Definitely NOT the issue.