Two million fry released into Lake Livingston as part of hybrid bass stocking program

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s (TPW) Inland Fisheries Jasper District Supervisor Todd Driscoll hands a box containing 50,000 fry to TPW Inland Fisheries Biologist Dan Ashe as TPW Technician Ray Lenderman waits in the wings. Two million fry are being released into Lake Livingston through a stocking program that is a joint effort of many, including Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Trinity River Authority, Lake Livingston Fishing Club aka “The Happy Hookers,” Friends of Lake Livingston and local fishing guides Michael Richardson and Jeff Friederich. Photo by Emily Banks Wooten

By Emily Banks Wooten
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A hybrid bass stocking program was launched Thursday when two million fry were released into Lake Livingston by a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department fish-stocking barge. Hybrid bass are a cross between white bass and striper bass. Fry are baby fish that have just hatched and are a quarter to a half-inch long.

The ambitious project has been about three years in the making and could potentially result in a significant economic impact on the East Texas area in about five years. It is a joint effort of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Trinity River Authority, the Lake Livingston Fishing Club aka “The Happy Hookers,” Friends of Lake Livingston and local fishing guides Michael Richardson and Jeff Friederich.

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The two million fry came from a fishery around Little Rock, Ark. and were released into the lake under a private permit issued to TRA for one million and a private permit issued to Michael Bischoff on behalf of the Hookers for an additional one million.

In June, TPW is expected to release an additional 275,000 hybrid fingerlings – baby fish that have grown to two to four inches in length – into the lake.

“Hybrid stripers grow to trophy fish size and are very appealing to fisherman. The environment of the lake, with its natural foliage, makes it an ideal habitat for these hybrid bass. Our lake will be a destination lake for anglers for trophy-sized hybrid stripers. The long-term objective is to get our lake to the level where there are 10 catchable hybrid striped bass per acre of surface area, which will probably take five to eight years,” Bischoff said.

Specific impacts a fish stocking program such as this can have on surrounding communities are increased tourism, increased jobs, increased tax revenue and improved water quality, Bischoff added.