Brent J. Bellinger

City of Austin, Watershed Protection Department, 505 Barton Springs Road, Austin, TX 78704

Hydrilla Management Impacts on a Largemouth Bass Fishery: A Case for a Balanced Management Approach

SEAFWA Journal Volume 11, March 2024

Lake Austin, in central Texas, supported a popular trophy largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) fishery concomitant with conservative hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) management during the period 2002–2011. However, a change from this conservative approach to an aggressive stocking rate of triploid grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) in response to excessive hydrilla growth between 2011–2013 subsequently resulted in the eradication of all submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). The loss of SAV quickly changed the angling dynamics of the reservoir, resulting in a...