Purtis Creek Lake?

How’s the bass fishing at Purtis Creek? Looking to try some new places!

TPWD's biggest mistake (that I'm aware of).

Abbreviated version: used to be a great lake. Grass killed. Now a bit of a mud hole. You can still stumble across a big one now and then, but numbers are down as is overall size.

Very little structure to the lake--relatively shallow with few points, humps, etc. Quite a bit of timber, which is now the primary cover.

Agreed. In the late 1990s and early 2000s when the lake was full of grass it was a phenomenal fishery. Post grass carp and it is barely a shadow of its former self.

Purtis was an awsome fishery when it had grass. Killing the grass has to be one of the all time mistakes for TP&W.

No mistake they knew grass carp would destroy the lake’s fishing.
J D

What would be their motivation to purposefully drastically reduce their visitor revenue by hindering the fishing?

They underestimated the voracity and lifespan of the grass carp. Which is ironic, that’s Biology 101
There was flooding and spillway/dam issues

Caught my personal best there in the late 90's. Last two times I've been it was horrible.

SE Kansas grass grower

I think their motivation was camping, swimming, bank fishing. you almost had to fish from a boat before the grass was killed and swimming was out of the question. It was an AWESOME fishery!!

It was my favorite lake for many years in the 90's. TP&W then killed off all the grass (by introducing grass carp)and that was the end of the fishery there. A friend of mine caught a SAL there in the mid 90's, i think it was the lake record for about a week then someone broke it. As my one friend now calls it Pitiful Creek.

Very sad what they did to that lake!

I once caught a 12.3 there one one cast and an 8 'lber on the next cast.

The last time I was on the lake, it was truly sad.

Why cant they "fix" the lake if they broke it?

Hold a bow hunting tourney and kill the grass carp since they know they added too many... take em out. Then help get the grass going again with some plantings.

That would mean admitting they were wrong. And that hydrilla is actually good for lakes and not harmful.

Yes, people have proposed bow hunting tournaments.
The grass carp are hopefully at the end of their life cycle and reportedly sterile. If this sounds like a real life Jurassic Park situation, it is.

The fenced in plantings at the lake are a sad sight to see, but glad they are trying.

I believe they held a grass tournament bow hunting one year on Conroe

I have heard they are killing the grass at Athens which to me is like a big Purtis Creek, they have not learned a thing...There are so many lakes around that people say "when the grass was healthy, the fishing was great" The hydrilla haters seem to trump the fisherman.

Hydrilla haters=ski boats, jet skis, swimmers=$$$$$$$

Probably has more to do with the info below than anything else... hard to argue with 30 years of scientific research when battling to keep an invasive species in our lakes.

"This plant forms dense mats at the surface of the water. It changes pH, removes oxygen, restricts native plant growth, block out nutrients for aquatic animals, hinders irrigation, recreation and water flow. It is extremely competitive and resilient, surviving freezing or drought because it can break off into portions and sink down to safer waters. It is easily spread through boating and fishing activities and by waterfowl.

In North Carolina and Florida, hydrilla is a suitable habitat to grow a deadly algae Aetokthonos hydrillicola. This algae produces a neuro-toxin, that has been linked to the death of several bald eagles and coots. So little is known about this new algae, researchers aren't sure what the chemical makeup of the neuro-toxin is. However, it has been found on Eurasian milfoil and Brazilian elodea; emphasizing the necessity to remove these invasive aquatic plants."

"Hydrilla is one of the most invasive weeds in the world, and it is capable of clogging waterways, and even public water supplies. It is now illegal to possess or transport this species in Texas, and is also listed as a Federal Noxious Weeds. Despite 30 years of research and intensive management efforts, hydrilla is still a major problem where it is successfully established."

http://www.tsusinvasives.org/home/database/hydrilla-verticillata

^^^^
And bass thrive and get huge when it is present! They forgot that part in their report...

Funny the lake was promoted to be the greatest catch and release lake and it was.
So they decided swimming and bank fishing was more important? It was a 50 boat a day lake now proably doesn’t see that a week.

I'm no scientist but I have also noticed the correlation!

Hydrilla equals big healthy fish. Not just bass. Big brim, catfish and crappie.

Agree with all the above. It used to be a gem of a lake and a fantastic bassery until they brought in the grass carp. Mad to this day for that stupid stunt. I used to be proud of the weigh in certificates I had on the wall for catching 11-13 pounders. I don't know if Purtis Creek will ever recover.