Texas Walleye and Freshwater Tarpon

Walleye In Texas

In the past the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) has stocked some species that (unfortunately) did not take off and below are a list of some of those stockings.

Tarpon: 34 total stocked in Braunig Lake 1984-85.

Walleye: In 2016 alone more than 3,244,428 walleye fry have been stocked in Fryer, Meredith and Wheeler Branch Reservoir. Another 1,331,375 were stocked in Palo Duro Reservoir, Theo at Caprock Canyon, Wheeler Branch and White Reservoir in 2015. Look for a story on the walleye-stocking program in upcoming Texas Outdoor Nation news.

Tiger Musky: (Hybrid Northern Pike and Muskellunge) These toothy fish were stocked in 1976-77 in Copper Breaks State Park, Leon, Meridian State Park, Mill Creek Lake, Alcoa, Nocona and Raven.

Muskellunge: (Musky) There was a total of 2,785 stocked in Amsted, Copper Breaks State Park and Inks Lake.

Nile Perch: Between 1978-84 there were about 80,000 nile perch stocked between Braunig and Coleto Creek with the lion’s share going to Coleto Creek.

Corvina: Around 750,000 orangemouth corvina were stocked in Braunig Lake between 1985-86. These Pacific Coast fish look like a giant speckled or sand trout.

Peacock Bass: Between 1978-98 around 19,000 peacock bass were stocked in Bastrop, Coleto Creek, Tradinghouse and Alcoa.

Some of these species have taken off in other parts of the country. For example peacock bass are doing well in the canal systems in extreme southern Florida. Reports of anglers catching peacock bass, redfish and largemouth bass in the same areas are common. Several guides offer charter trips to target them.

A fair number of corvina grew to harvestable sizes and existed in Braunig into the early 90s. When conducting this statewide fishing report for TPWD from 94-97 I would get some reports of these interesting fish.

Have you caught any of the fish on this list in Texas waters?

If so we would love to see photos and hear your stories. Email to cmoore@fishgame.com.

Chester Moore, Jr.