Big bass are coming to the Valley.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced it will stock three Valley community fishing lakes with “retired” Florida largemouth bass that were used at a state fish hatchery.
The fish — TPWD officials didn’t say how many — will be stocked sometime this month in Dean Porter Park Resaca in Brownsville, Town Lake at Fireman’s Park in McAllen and in the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse Channel in Hidalgo.
The broodfish bass will average more than four pounds apiece, officials say, and had been used for breeding at the A.E. Wood State Fish Hatchery in San Marcos.
“We are excited to bring these extraordinary fish to these local communities and are committed to improving freshwater fishing in the Rio Grande Valley,” said Greg Binion, Inland Fisheries Division Corpus Christi district supervisor.
The Old Hidalgo Pumphouse Channel will also receive 3,000 bluegill this fall. Bluegill are a prey species for largemouth bass and also offer additional fishing opportunities for anglers.
The City of Hidalgo received a Habitat and Angler Access Program grant to enhance fish habitat and improve shoreline angling access at the historic Old Hidalgo Pumphouse Channel site. The grant funding will enable the construction of a T-head fishing pier and an additional fishing dock, plus fish habitat structures and a pond aeration system.
The HAAP program was launched a year ago and is primarily funded by the purchase of freshwater fishing licenses.
