Medina Lake stocked with 204,000 largemouth bass fingerlings

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PIPE CREEK — The largemouth bass population at Medina Lake, which experienced a 70-foot increase in its level from recent rainfall runoff, was pumped up by 204,000 fingerlings on Tuesday.

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department biologists delivered the Florida hybrid largemouth bass from the department’s San Marcos Hatchery in a tank truck and took eight boat trips around the lake to distribute the fingerlings.

“I called it a baby shower — we showered the lake with little baby bass and in about two or three years we should be catching some really nice fish,” said Debra Hengst, a veteran bass angler and guide who assisted with the stocking.

“Before this recent inflow, the lake was about 94 feet low and was basically a big mud hole. There was no way to get to whatever fish were left there and there was no oxygen in the water because we hadn’t had any rain. With all the green trees and brush that have been flooded, these fingerlings will have a place to hide and grow so they will be fat and sassy in about two or three years.”

Jimmy Cordova of Texas Parks & Wildlife transfers largemouth bass fingerlings into a boat on Medina Lake. Jimmy Cordova of Texas Parks & Wildlife transfers largemouth bass fingerlings into a boat on Medina Lake. Photo: John Davenport / San Antonio Express-News Photo: John Davenport / San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 50 Caption Close Medina Lake stocked with 204,000 largemouth bass fingerlings 1 / 50 Back to Gallery

Medina Lake, which was impounded in 1913 as a source for irrigation water, has a reputation as a high-quality largemouth bass fishery and produced a 13½-pound bass in 1943 that was the state record for more than 20 years.

In March, the lake level had dropped to about 3.2 percent of capacity from a lack of rainfall runoff during the drought. The downpours in May kicked up the lake level by 70 feet to 60.2 percent capacity.

Randy Myers, a wildlife biologist based in San Antonio, said TP&W pulled about 100,000 fingerlings from each of the 500,000 Florida hybrids designated for annual stockings at both Falcon Lake and Lake Amistad for the Medina Lake distribution.

“Normally we have to plan stockings a year and a half in advance, but we thought long and hard about it and decided the conditions at Medina are so good we would make the most of this opportunity,” Myers said. “The habitat is just incredible at Medina and the lake as a history of producing trophy bass. I expect anglers to be catching 12-inch bass by next summer from this stocking.”

If Medina Lake conditions continue to improve, additional stockings of hybrid striped bass and more Florida hybrid fingerlings will be conducted next year, Myers said.

Ralph Winingham is a freelance outdoors writer. Email rwiningham@att.net.