To everyone that participated in this conversation, thanks. I appreciate it.

 

I obviously have really strong feelings about this matter and I’ve probably vented enough.   

 

Part of my frustration comes from the memory of what it was like dealing with the biologists responsible for the grass carp stockings in Lake Austin.

 

They actually told us stuff like, “The carp will only eat the hydrilla and not the milfoil.” 

 

The best way to describe the experience of fishing Lake Austin.... I guess I can only compare it to the way some people would spend thousands of dollars to fly to Mexico for a once in life time fishing trip at Baccarac or one of those other lakes and then they’d come back and post reports of catching a handful of 6 to 9 pound fish. 

 

And I would just think those people should’ve come to Lake Austin. Because the fishing was absolutely incomparable to anything else during its prime. For both big fish and numbers. And the lake was only fifteen minutes away from me! 

 

Well, I’d like to wish all of you a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!!! 

 

One last thing, swbass15, oh boy, giant salvinia is an entirely different mess, one that may require the introduction of yet another invasive species to counter the spread of that plant. But that’s an entirely different topic. 

I've fished Briery fairly often for the last two years. 

It's 800 acres of standing trees. I guess I should say it's 750 acres of trees and the other 75 or so are grass fields. There is certainly no shortage of places for a bass to hide in Briery Creek lake. 

The water level in Briery was drawn down a few years ago to help kill off the over-abundance of grass that was growing on the banks. Since then there is less vegetation, but still plenty in spring and summer, despite the enormous carp that patrol the shallows. I've seen a handful of 50+ pound monsters swimming feet from the boat, and have seen plenty of other carp floating dead on the surface as well. 

Prior to that I don't have much knowledge of vegetation growth there except for a seeing few pictures of piles of hydrilla so thick you could stand on them near the boat ramp at the south end of the lake. 

 

Every bass I've caught there in the last two years has been very healthy and well fed. 

On 1/25/2018 at 9:15 PM, Fairtax4me said:

 

The water level in Briery was drawn down a few years ago to help kill off the over-abundance of grass that was growing on the banks.

Umm..... not exactly, actually the water was drawn down to promote shoreline growth that would hopefully make up for the absence of grass.