TPWD survey shows healthy 
fish population in Lake Buchanan

BUCHANAN DAM — The fish population of Lake Buchanan is healthy and productive, according to the annual State-of-the-Lake survey done by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Guest speaker Marcos De Jesus, district fisheries biologist with TPWD, gave the report at the Lake Buchanan Conservation Corp. meeting Aug. 16. The survey was conducted in February.

The survey uses gill nets to catch sport fish, which are counted, aged, weighed and measured, according to an LBCC news release.

According to the survey, all populations increased in number and size compared to 2010. The population of hybrid striped bass, or sunshine bass, which have been stocked into the lake since 2006 by the LBCC, nearly tripled the 2010 catch rate. The number of legal-sized — 18 inches or longer — fish was more than two times that of the 2010 catch rate. Also, the study showed large numbers of the hybrids were reaching 18 inches in their third year.