Hydrilla lakes

Can anyone fill me in on what lakes still have a fair amount of hydrilla? I live in DFW so I’d assume most if not all are in East TX…and I’m aware of the obvious ones like Rayburn, Toledo, etc. but I was hoping to get filled in on others if it’s not too much to ask. Thanks guys!

Here are some of the lesser-known ones that I am aware of with fishable hydrilla.
Bridgeport, Martin Creek, PK (SOMEWHERE, or so we are told), Brownwood, Ray Hubbard, Athens

Obvious Ones:
Welsh
Davy Crockett
Monticello (good luck getting to it)

Possible hit-or-miss:
Ray Hubbard (yeah, on two lists - it's all about LOCATION)
Fork
Bob Sandlin


AND SO ON...

Shhhhh, TPW lurks here!

Ray Hubbard is slap full of it, from one end to the other

Ray Hubbard? Lol I think alot of people get coontail and milfoil confused with hydrilla

Lost creek
Hubbard creek
Fairfield

Not in Hubbard Creek TPW took care of that.

is there still some in hubbard creek.. You just have to find it.

Never seen It in Bridgeport or PK. If someone knows where it’s at and wants to help a poor soul out please pm me.

Fairfield probably has more fishable hydrilla than any lake in Texas right now. It's chock full of it. Some out as deep as 12-14ft. Some really good frog fishing in the pads to. It's fishing really good right now, both numbers and quality. Normally I wouldn't promote it, but it will be gone soon. Better enjoy it while you can. Sounds like it's gone come first of the year.

We paid for Fairfield’s hydrilla. I understand it’s illegal to transport it from one lake to another, so I would never recommend or suggest that.

Stillhouse is absolutely full of it. In most places it is out to about 25 feet deep. The lake is extremely low right now so be cautious running the western half of it.

Thats good to hear.
I have talked to a couple who are normally good at finding grass who said "it's gone"
When I was there this spring, I only found two areas that had any.

“Some”. A year ago you didn’t have to “find it” you just had to open your eyes and it was everywhere. Sad……..

TPWD can stock all the SAL Jr's they want too but they will never optimize our lakes potential without hydrilla. Until TPWD makes it a point to keep hydrilla in lakes it will keep getting sprayed by other entities.

The irony is that the TPWD private Lake X and their main hatchery lake Athens are full of it.
They know it’s good for water quality and the ecosystem.

Yep but the fat checks from HOA's to spray everything in sight are more gooder.

It was above (or is that below) the bridge. Some in the south marina at one point too. It has, however, been a few years since I fished above/below the bridge, so it could be gone. But it was pretty down there and in those artificial cuts!

I'm not that educated on matters like this...but I don't understand how an HOA can legally spray grass - or touch anything really - that is in a public body of water. Or pay for this to be done. We say all the time to dock owners that harass us fishing around their dock "you don't own the water" - so how is it they can do this and not face serious legal consequences?

when you spend a ton of money on a lakefront home an spend more money on a nice dock you would not want it to be covered up water weeds the folks wit the investment win this battle.

Oh yeah, I actually do remember It in the Marina at runaway bay. It’s long gone.

I believe they first have to acquire a permit from TPWD to do so.

TPWD’s own literature and resources repeatedly discuss a healthy balance and consistently point to a 30-35% water coverage of hydrilla as ideal in most lakes.

However, the underestimation of grass carp appetite and carpet bombing by outsourced third parties often results in not just near complete loss of hydrilla, but near complete loss of native vegetation (pond weed, Texas wild rice, stargrass, etc). When a lake loses its vegetation, the shoreline soil erosion and degradation of water quality are devastating. What happened to Conroe in the 80s, Purtis Creek in the 90s, and Murvaul in the 2000s were environmental tragedies.

I hear what you're saying...but by that logic the fishing community could make the argument that the investments we have made in our equipment - as well as the natural resources that our funds go towards managing - are no different. I realize the price of a lakefront home vs a boat/tackle is drastically different - but if we are talking about rights here, I don't understand how homeowners' rights take priority.

But I get what you're saying - money talks. And that's the problem...

If the TPWD is handing out permits for the express purpose of removing native vegetation from our lakes...I can't think of a more antithetical action an organization could do. It's like a prison handing out permits to allow crimes to be committed. The irony...

They cut it instead of poisoning it up north on the Mississippi... saw this guy cutting a swath to main boat channel. Seems like the way to make everyone happy unless the cost is prohibitive. Does anyone do that around here? Cost? Downside?

They're not "handing out permits for the express purpose of removing native vegetation" . The extinguishment of native vegetation is a by-product of the eradication of the invasive, non-native hydrilla. It is collateral damage from a bad educated guess on grass carp stocking and/or spraying. Sucks, but that is the way it works.

I believe it...

That is what they used to use quite a few years ago on Bastrop. Piled up the cut stuff on shore. Stunk.
Now, they spray.

Thankfully, Austin looks like it may have some grass growing in places.

Yes they do. Some call all submerged veg Hydrilla as well. There was some mixed in, but you're right most of the submerged is coontail up the river!

Not sure the last time you were there. It is still disappearing and the places that had quite a bit in July now have very little.
The spot that had the most on the lake then about all gone. I guess whatever they sprayed keeps working for a long time.

That's what I've been hearing.
I told a good friend where I found some pretty good hydrilla in April, he said in two months it was gone.

Last time I was on Holbrook; which was early summer, it had a fair amount of weeds but it was that black stringy stuff mainly and hard to fish with almost anything. I know folks were hitting pockets in it and catching fish but fishing it was going to be something along the lines of throw your favorite weed bed lure and work it in the openings you found, reel it back clean your lure and go again. If you can figure out how to fish it, it would be lke fishing hydrilla mats. I couldn't even keep a frog or a weightless worm from tangling up but if you could come up with something that would work, it could get good in a hurry.
I also come across this a while back as well. Something TP&W has been doing for a little while. Looks like just native species.
https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/management/habitat/native-aquatic-plants.phtml

Big weight, line, rod and punch it

Here is a link to the current TPWD aquatic vegetation control plan:

Looks like a whole lot of attention on Lake Athens.

TPWD Vegetation Plan

Link no workey.

Had a buddy there last week. We found 4 or 5 spots with good hydrilla in May and June. He said it was all gone.

That's not good to hear