# TPWD fish cull



## saved (Feb 1, 2014)

This morning I was at the LLdam and TPWD showed up to take fish. This is the second time I have witnessed it being done. Several years ago I watched them come out and the fish went crazy jumping and them taking them. In about 20 minutes they were done.

This time not so. They had three boats in the water and three fish haulers on shore waiting to be filled. The thing is this time they had a hard time finding the fish. The fish were not jumping like the first time I watched and netting was slow. 

They really struggled and was all aver the front in those three boats getting their tanks full. I was there between 1 and 2 hours and they were still there when I left.

As I went down river I did notice some fish kill floating from what they were doing.


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## Ken.Huynh (May 30, 2014)

Would be cool to see that done. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## saved (Feb 1, 2014)

Yes it is something to see when the fish are being caught at a fast pace and jumping all around the boats.

However today that was not the case. It was so slow that I have actually hauled in fish by myself with a pole faster than the were with a net and two or more people on the front of their boats.

I was really surprised at what seemed like the lack of fish.


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## Momma's Worry (Aug 3, 2009)

saved said:


> Yes it is something to see when the fish are being caught at a fast pace and jumping all around the boats.
> 
> However today that was not the case. It was so slow that I have actually hauled in fish by myself with a pole faster than the were with a net and two or more people on the front of their boats.
> 
> I was really surprised at what seemed like the lack of fish.


TRA board member Pres David Leonard(Liberty) told me yesterday,who was there watching, said all went well and quick on the striped bass brood stock capture operation ....said a couple were very large whatever that means with his hands...LOL ..
he only had photos of some 50lb cats that were captured .....

david lawrence 
liberty,tx


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

At 12 gates fish will not float to the surface. More like stun roll around in the deep currents. I had a feeling it was gonna be tuff gathering fish with too much water released.


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## saved (Feb 1, 2014)

Momma's Worry said:


> TRA board member Pres David Leonard(Liberty) told me yesterday,who was there watching, said all went well and quick on the striped bass brood stock capture operation ....said a couple were very large whatever that means with his hands...LOL ..
> he only had photos of some 50lb cats that were captured .....
> 
> david lawrence
> liberty,tx


 Well he lied to you if he said it went quick. I was there also. I have watched it before and I know quick. More likely he was giving a standard political speech and most politicians have no problem lying.


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## saved (Feb 1, 2014)

brucevannguyen said:


> At 12 gates fish will not float to the surface. More like stun roll around in the deep currents. I had a feeling it was gonna be tuff gathering fish with too much water released.


 It was difficult, but also the fish were just not there to scoop up. I was up front at the cable and nothing of any consequence was coming past even when they were close by.

Down river I did see a few dead ones, but nothing of any size.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

I bet they did get a couple of whoppers, there should be some pushing 25 lbs now.
Last summer when the water was clear and the discharge first started dropping trapperjon saw a monster underneath a school of finger mullet and the same day a fellow in a pontoon boat commented he saw one as well.

Those fish were well past the cable lurking under the mullet schools and the discharge was 26000. After it dropped lower the rafts of finger mullet disappeared and we did not see anymore monster stripers .They retreated to the trench up by the rocks.
The striped bass that went through the gates two years ago were ranged from 22" to 25" on the average, a lot smaller and a some bigger. Maybe a lot bigger as we were really looking forward to catching some big ones in the lake before the flood sent them downstream.
Those who can sling a jig up to the rocks last year caught them up to 18 pounds+ those fish in the same age class will be rod busters now.


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

At this point, I just hope the TP&WD accomplished their mission.
The last 12 months of rain has pushed us all to our limits.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

I guess TRA ain't doing nobody a favor closing gates. Even for TPWD. I would of thought they twik it down a bit making it easier for TPWD to gather their brood.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

brucevannguyen said:


> I guess TRA ain't doing nobody a favor closing gates. Even for TPWD. I would of thought they twik it down a bit making it easier for TPWD to gather their brood.


They sure didn't cut them any slack, at least by checking riverdata.com which charts the discharge over days.
It sounds like a successful mission, so plenty of striped bass to send to the HPL spillway again!
:rotfl:


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## Momma's Worry (Aug 3, 2009)

Momma's Worry said:


> TRA board member Pres David Leonard(Liberty) told me yesterday,who was there watching, said all went well and quick on the striped bass brood stock capture operation ....said a couple were very large whatever that means with his hands...LOL ..
> he only had photos of some 50lb cats that were captured .....
> 
> david lawrence
> liberty,tx


just repeating what i was told by my high school bud at happy hour....he is not a boater or fisherman or up to speed on what TP&W was doing either... the weight of a captured 28lb-er was mentioned also but I like photo's to back it up....if so that is huge...a red drum that heavy would be 38-42" ..caught plenty of those


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Momma ain't no doubt there some monsters stripers down there. With all this water can't tell what swam up the river or came down the dam. Them stripers were feeding good since the last flood. Who knows how big they've gotten. Well find out soons water stabilize a bit.


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## Northern fisherman (Sep 16, 2014)

shadslinger said:


> I bet they did get a couple of whoppers, there should be some pushing 25 lbs now.
> Last summer when the water was clear and the discharge first started dropping trapperjon saw a monster underneath a school of finger mullet and the same day a fellow in a pontoon boat commented he saw one as well.
> 
> Those fish were well past the cable lurking under the mullet schools and the discharge was 26000. After it dropped lower the rafts of finger mullet disappeared and we did not see anymore monster stripers .They retreated to the trench up by the rocks.
> ...


Being fairly new to the tail race and have very little salt water exposure I didn't realize Sunday when I was below the dam that I had a mullet in my cast net. My son and took a look at it and just threw it back kinda wishing I would have kept it now for cut bait, anyhow it was very close in size to a small keeper wb so they are certainly still there!


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## WilliamH (May 21, 2004)

A short video of collections.




__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1320147528002511


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## SeaOx 230C (Aug 12, 2005)

Cool video, looks like plenty of fish were there. You have to be quick they don't stay up long, it only stuns them for a moment the they come to.


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

Several items of interest.
I have been watching this first hand since 2000. The last two years I have been in OK so only follow the harvest by speaking to acquaintance at the hatcheries or our lake biologist.
Since activating the striper operation at Jasper they need more fish the last few years.
In 2014 and 2015 they made a second trip about four days after the major catch to top up their requirements. If they did not harvest enough om 04/06 they will be back.
Note they harvested on April 6th. They have done the same for the last 16 years. It might be the 5th or 7th due to a Sunday but you can plan to be there on the 6th and will normally find TP&W there. If anyone ask you when is the peak of the Trinity striper spawn you can answer the 6th of April. You will be correct +/- 24 hours.
A biologist named Kitchens at the Wichita Falls hatchery told me last year they normally cull out the large sow fish since they are too difficult to handle. They prefer a female about 23/24 inches and a male about 20 inches. 
Nate Smith, lead biologist at Heart of the Hills research lab told me two years ago that in the many years they have been harvesting LLD they had never captured a striper over six years of age. And very few over 30 inches. It will be interesting to hear what happened this year.
I will call Kitchens next week and see how it went. They should be complete the roe extraction by then.


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## SeaOx 230C (Aug 12, 2005)

Please do find out for us, Sunbeam. I find it very interesting,, it gives you an idea what's really down there.


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## Momma's Worry (Aug 3, 2009)

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Outdoors 
*Odd freshwater jetty fish caught*

April 08, 2016 
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   CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Mark Martinez caught this 34-inch striped bass while fishing at the end of the south jetty at Port Aransas. His catch could be the first of its species in the Coastal Bend.

   CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Mark Martinez decided to release his rare striper caught at the Port Aransas jetties. He said the fish appeared to be healthy and swam away in the gulf. Where it came from is a mystery, but biologists suspect it may have escaped Canyon Lake about 200 miles inland during last year's floods.

By David Sikes of the Caller-Times
If this story was reported last Friday nobody would have believed it.
But it's true. Angler Mark Martinez caught and released a striped bass Wednesday while fishing off the south jetty at Port Aransas. Area biologists say this could be a first for the Coastal Bend, though a handful of stripers have been caught in other areas of the Texas coast.
The fish, which measured 34 inches long, most likely was swept from an inland reservoir during last year's epic floods that ravaged the Hill Country. Throughout much of North America, stripers live in saltwater most of their lives, but spawn in freshwater rivers.
Texas Parks & Wildlife began stocking stripers in the 1960s in East Texas, but now stock them in about a dozen lakes. Most likely this one traveled about 160 miles from Canyon Lake, through the Guadalupe River and into San Antonio Bay, which is another 60-70 miles north of Port Aransas.
Martinez caught the fish at about 6:45 p.m. after working a shift at OxyChem in Ingleside. He and his brother Jose Martinez were casting Rapala X-Rap lures with a Breakaway rod at jack crevalle they spotted feeding on baitfish at the surface.
"I'd just lost a big jack and threw my lure back out when I saw something following my bait," Martinez said. "It just looked like a dark shadow behind the lure. Then it hit. Pretty hard."
Martinez said he thought he'd hooked a ling-cobia or maybe a snook. Both would have been unusual catches for the jetty, but not nearly as rare as a striper. It took a while to land on the rocks.
Retired Coastal Fisheries biologist Kyle Spiller, who directed TPW's Upper Laguna Madre team from 1980 to 2010, said he believes this is a first for our area.
"I don't remember any down here and I'm sure I would have remembered a striper," Spiller said. "It would have been a big deal. That's pretty strange."
Coastal Fisheries biologist Perry Trial, TPW regional director for the Coastal Bend, said he found records of 33 stripers caught by state crews since the department began keeping records. Most came from Galveston Bay, Sabine Lake and Matagorda Bay, while a single striper was found in the Brownsville Ship Channel. These fish most likely escaped from the reservoirs fed by the same rivers that empty into those coastal waters.
Striped bass are popular game fish in many states, but in Texas they are strictly a freshwater species for recreational anglers, said TPW's Dave Terre, chief of management and research for the department's Inland Fisheries Division. Lake Texoma near Dennison is the only freshwater reservoir where stripers reproduce because the salinity is just high enough there for eggs to hatch, Terre said.
Twitter: @DavidOutdoors.


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

Jerold, I too would appreciate hearing the information you usually get about this years take.


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