Approximately 300,000 Florida largemouth bass fingerlings were stocked Tuesday into Lake Bridgeport by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in an effort to increase the genetic influence of Florida bass in the reservoir.
Today’s stocking is part of a fisheries management plan that called for stockings of 300,000 Florida bass into Bridgeport in 2007 and 2008, said Bruce Hysmith, fisheries management supervisor of the department’s Lake Texoma office.The management plan was developed after a 2005 routine fisheries survey indicated the lake has an above average population of largemouth bass but that there is a scarcity of bass larger than 18 inches, Hysmith said.Lake Bridgeport has a 14-to-18-inch slot limit for largemouth bass, which means all largemouth bass between 14 and 18 inches in length must be returned to the lake. Harvest regulations for two other subspecies of bass in the lake include a 14-inch minimum size limit for smallmouth bass and no minimum length limit on Kentucky spotted bass. The daily bag limit is five fish of all three species combined.Hysmith said 28.2 percent of anglers his crews interviewed in recent creel surveys said they were fishing for bass.More information on Lake Bridgeport’s fishery is available at bruce.hysmith@tpwd.state.tx.us or by calling him at 903-786-2389.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
