+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | TPWD News Release 20050912c | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | This page contains only plain text, no HTML formatting codes. | | It is not designed for display in a browser but for copying | | and editing in whatever software you use to lay out pages. | | To copy the text into an editing program: | | --Display this page in your browser. | | --Select all. | | --Copy. | | --Paste in a document in your editing program. | | If you have any suggestions for improving these pages, send | | an e-mail to webtech@tpwd.state.tx.us and mention Plain Text Pages. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [ Note: This item is more than seven years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references. ] [ Media Contact: Larry Hodge, 903-676-2277, larry.hodge@tpwd.texas.gov ] [LH] Sept. 12, 2005 Big Country Gets Big Rains ATHENS, Texas -- Every time there are widespread rains of half an inch or more across West Texas, the San Angelo Standard-Times puts a drawing of a crowing red rooster, General Rainz, on the front page. Following flooding rains in mid-August, General Rainz is probably hoarse and looking for high ground. "The rains were good news for fish and wildlife," says Bobby Farquhar of San Angelo, regional director for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Inland Fisheries Division. "We got about 10 inches above our average rainfall last year, and so far this year we are running about four inches ahead. This puts us in really good shape for rains we may get this fall, which is normally our rainy season." After nearly a decade of drought, rain began returning to the Big Country last year. In the fall of 2004 E.V. Spence Reservoir caught about six feet of water, and O.C. Fisher Lake rose 12 feet. The August 2005 rains augmented the levels of those lakes and caused catastrophic flooding around Lake Stamford, which rose 14 feet in less than three days. Up to 10 inches of rain fell from Big Spring to Temple, causing several deaths from highway flooding. Many lakes within a 100-mile radius of San Angelo caught at least a foot or two of water. Others saw much bigger rises: Champion Creek, 3.5 feet; J.B. Thomas, six feet; E.V. Spence, eight feet; Oak Creek, seven feet; and O.C. Fisher, 12 feet. "We will put the lakes that caught water on the priority list for stocking," Farquhar says. "Some that caught water last November were stocked this past spring. If a lake has new flooded habitat, we will put it on the list to be stocked again next spring. While those fish won't be catchable size for a year or two, people are already seeing improved fishing in the lakes that caught water last November. We're hearing that anglers on E.V. Spence are catching limits of white bass and lots of small stripers for the first time in four or five years. That's really good news for them." Farquhar tempers his optimism with a bit of West Texas humor -- "Like the old-timers say, the next drought starts the day it stops raining"-but the effects the rains have had on the Big Country are apparent even to the casual observer. Normally dried and brown in August, roadsides and pastures are verdant, and stock ponds are brimming. Timing of the rains may be particularly important, says Mandy Scott, assistant fisheries biologist. "When we have heavy rains in the winter, we sometimes have an outbreak of golden alga," she says. "The fact these rains came in the summer may mean that won't happen." Fisheries biologist Craig Bonds says monitoring of fish populations and golden alga status will be stepped up to enable TPWD to make the most of the situation. "We will be doing more than routine monitoring to determine where the greatest need is and use that information to prioritize our stocking requests and to keep anglers informed on where the best fishing is," he says. Scott added that anglers can help in the rebuilding of the fishery on O.C. Fisher by practicing catch-and-release. "We have stocked 9-inch channel catfish and adult largemouth bass, and we encourage anglers to release them so they can spawn," she says. Rising water levels have also improved access at O.C. Fisher, where the three-lane boat ramp is now usable, and Oak Creek, where the ramp near the dam again reaches the lake. Lakes receiving stocked fish in the last three years are shown as follows. Lake Nearest Town Year Species Stocked Number Stocked Size Abilene Buffalo Gap 2004 Blue catfish 59,893 Fingerling 2004 Channel catfish 53,981 Fingerling Clyde Clyde 2004 Channel catfish 21,957 Fingerling 2004 Florida largemouth bass 45,277 Fingerling Coleman City Coleman 2003 Channel catfish 33,584 Fingerling 2004 Hybrid striped bass 9,998 Fingerling Colorado City Colorado City 2003 Bluegill 162,739 Fingerling 2003 Channel catfish 79,983 Fingerling 2003 Channel catfish 151 Adult 2003 Red drum 177,093 Fingerling 2004 Bluegill 83,251 Fingerling 2004 Channel catfish 149,628 Fingerling 2004 Florida largemouth bass 143,915 Fingerling 2005 Channel catfish 165,719 Fingerling 2005 Channel catfish 359,729 Fry 2005 Florida largemouth 162,134 Fingerling E.V. Spence Robert Lee 2003 Channel catfish 132,861 Fingerling 2003 Florida largemouth bass 148,516 Fingerling 2004 Blue catfish 125,000 Fingerling 2004 Channel catfish 85,471 Fingerling 2004 Florida largemouth bass 124,706 Fingerling 2004 Striped bass 27,041 Fingerling 2005 Striped bass 37,243 Fingerling 2005 White crappie 146 Adult 2005 Largemouth bass 100,885 Fingerling 2005 Channel catfish 187,342 Fingerling Fort Phantom Hill Abilene 2003 Hybrid striped bass 63,209 Fingerling 2004 Hybrid striped bass 64,777 Fingerling 2005 Hybrid striped bass 63,400 Fingerling Graham Graham 2004 Hybrid striped bass 16,816 Fingerling 2005 Hybrid striped bass 12,867 Fingerling Kirby Abilene 2003 Flathead catfish 44 Adult 2003 Largemouth bass 8,775 Fingerling 2004 Channel catfish 1,621 Fingerling 2004 Largemouth bass 76,790 Fingerling 2004 Saugeye 37,425 Fingerling Nasworthy San Angelo 2003 Hybrid striped bass 19,410 Fingerling 2004 Hybrid striped bass 19,386 Fingerling 2005 Hybrid striped bass 6,933 Fingerling New Ballinger Ballinger 2005 Gizzard shad 196 Adult 2005 Largemouth bass 68 Adult 2005 White crappie 327 Adult 2005 Bluegill 386 adult 2005 Florida largemouth 31,161 Fingerling 2005 Walleye 15,000 Fingerling Oak Creek Blackwell 2003 Blue catfish 77,124 Fingerling 2003 Florida largemouth bass 71,789 Fingerling 2004 Channel catfish 42,399 Fingerling 2004 Florida largemouth bass 62,048 Fingerling O.C. Fisher San Angelo 2003 Florida largemouth bass 71,426 Fingerling 2005 Bluegill 35,025 Fingerling 2005 Channel catfish 20,018 Advanced fingerling 2005 Channel catfish 75,072 Fingerling 2005 Florida largemouth bass 239 Adult 2005 Gizzard shad 160 Adult 2005 White crappie 394 Adult 2005 Florida largemouth 75,052 Fingerling Proctor Proctor 2004 Hybrid striped bass 67,985 Fingerling 2005 Hybrid striped bass 67,524 Fingerling Twin Buttes San Angelo 2004 Channel catfish 41,950 Fingerling 2005 Channel catfish 154,733 Fingerling 2005 Florida largemouth 150,017 Fingerling 2005 Florida largemouth 135 Adult 2005 Largemouth bass 295 Adult Valley Creek Ballinger 2005 Bluegill 97 Adult -30-