Fish stockings have been used for many years to develop populations in new reservoirs and supplement populations in existing reservoirs.  Texas has a long history with fish stockings, going back to the 1890s with the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries.  The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), then known as the Texas Game, Fish, and Oyster Commission, began stocking hatchery-raised largemouth bass in 1941.  Hatchery production greatly increased during the 1960s, which resulted in more widespread stockings.

Up through the 1970s, only native northern largemouth bass were stocked.  During that period, TPWD started to experiment with the Florida largemouth bass (FLMB), a largemouth bass subspecies native to Florida.  Earlier work by California indicated FLMB had superior growth rates and greater potential to reach larger sizes when compared to native northern largemouth bass.  In 1972, TPWD introduced FLMB into public reservoirs. 

The FLMB stocking program has been extremely successful in many of our reservoirs.  For example, the long-standing 1943 state record largemouth bass of 13.5 pounds was broken in 1980 by a FLMB weighing 14.1 pounds.  Since then, many fish exceeding the 1980 record have been caught and it now takes a fish over 15 pounds to be listed in the top 50 largemouth bass caught in Texas!

Objectives of this program are to increase bass fishing quality by increasing the size of fish caught and provide more large fish.  A common misconception is that FLMB are stocked in reservoirs to increase overall bass numbers.  At Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend, fish are not stocked in an attempt to increase numbers of bass, but to increase FLMB genetics in the existing populations.  The total number of young bass surviving each year is primarily limited by habitat conditions and food availability, resulting in strong year classes of bass some years and weak year classes in others.  Typically, natural bass reproduction will maximize reservoir carrying capacity each year.  Therefore, stocking FLMB does not increase total bass numbers, but increases the percentage of FLMB in the population.

Typically, reservoirs must have a history of producing high numbers of trophy bass to be eligible for FLMB stockings.  Both Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend support high-profile bass fisheries, produce trophy-size fish, and are highly prioritized when compared to other reservoirs in the state.  As a result, FLMB stockings have been stocked annually on both Sam Rayburn (since 1994) and Toledo Bend (since 1990, except for 2006).

Beginning in 2000, we started concentrating our first 500,000 FLMB each year in a 5,000-acre area of each reservoir (Sam Rayburn – Sandy Creek to Caney Creek; Toledo Bend – Housen Bayou) to increase stocking effectiveness, with a target goal of 70% FLMB influence in each embayment.  These embayment stockings have been successful at both reservoirs.  At Sam Rayburn, we achieved 69% FLMB influence in the original embayment (compared to 51% in the entire reservoir).  In 2003, we moved the stockings to the Ayish Bayou arm (Needmore Point to San Augustine Park, Miller Creek to Lane Creek).  Currently, the Ayish Bayou embayment has 72% FLMB influence.  A third embayment will be selected for stocking during the summer of 2009.  At Toledo Bend we have increased FLMB influence to 52% in 2007 (compared to 29% in Texas portion of reservoir), but are still short of our goal of 70%.  This year Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend both received 500,000 FLMB fingerlings.  

If you have questions concerning the fisheries of our area lakes, stop by the Inland Fisheries office at the Jasper State Fish Hatchery or contact us by phone (409-384-9572) or email ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).  Good luck and good fishing!

Todd Driscoll is a district fisheries management biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department where he has worked for 10 years.  He received a B.S. in Fisheries Biology from Kansas State University and a M.S. in Fisheries Management from Mississippi State University.  His primary responsibilities include fisheries management of Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend reservoirs in Southeast Texas.  Todd is an avid bass angler and participates in approximately 25-30 local and regional bass tournaments per year.  He also represents Lowrance Electronics as a Technical Pro Staffer, working tournament support and service at BASS, FLW, and owner’s tournaments across the country.