EDITOR’S NOTES by Chester Moore

DOGGETT AT LARGE by Joe Doggett
April 24, 2023
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
April 24, 2023

Has the Age of Super Trout Passed?

 

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MASSIVE SPECKLED TROUT are truly rare, elusive fish.

And when you consider the immense amount of angling pressure, predation and damage to their environment by everything from erosion to pollution, it makes you appreciate them even more.

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department biologists tell us a six-year-old fish will be between 23-27 inches. Fish in the 30-inch class are most likely 9-10 years old and have survived many trials during their lifetime.  Fish that would beat Bud Rowland’s massive 15.6-pound state record would likely not only be older than that but also have superior genetics.

My last column pondered the question of will we ever see Texas state record fish again, particularly in the category of trout, flounder, redfish, largemouth bass and crappie. The response to that column inspired me to do some digging and I crossed paths with a story I did early in my career called “Age of the Super Trout”.

This was when genetic tinkering became a real thing for largemouth bass and research in private labs and in other states showed similar potential for speckled trout. I wondered if we might see a time when catching trout in the 13 plus pound category might be as common as Sharelunker-sized bass are in our state.

Of course that did not happen as TPWD Coastal Fisheries went the direction of a very natural approach to hatcheries product of trout, redfish and flounder. They have even gone to the extent of only stocking fish from the bay in which their broodstock was caught. So, it has been Galveston trout from Galveston Bay, Corpus fish from that area, etc. But I discovered there was an era of “super trout” that has been all but forgotten. And it included a 20 pound plus fish.

From 1984-86 TPWD stocked speckled trout/orangemouth corvina hybrids in Lake Calaveras.

Corvina are very close cousins of specks and from first glance they can look virtually the same although some tend to look more like a sand trout, depending on catch location in their native Pacific range.

In 1984, 12,050 juveniles were stocked along with 2,518 adults.  In 1985, they put in 25, 589 juveniles and 36, 485 in 1986. On top of that they stocked 3,150 pure juvenile corvina in Lake Braunig in 1985.

In 1986 they released 766,825 juveniles in Lake Calaveras along with six adults. And in 1987, 13 adults were released there.

What happened over the next few years was fascinating. The fish thrived and some impressive records were caught including Earl Tenpenny’s state record orangemouth corvina catch of 16.31 pounds on Calaveras.

Richard Alejandre caught Braunig’s water body record corvina in 1990 and it weighed 14.50 pounds.

The speckled trout/corvina catches were even more impressive. The lake record for Calaveras weighed 14.60 pounds and was caught by Harold Sinclair. The lake record for Braunig is also the state record and it weighed 20.80 pounds and it was caught in 1992 by Harold Sinclair.

Records show concern by scientists that the corvina stockings could cause issues in the genetic integrity of our native speckled trout populations if these fish somehow end up in our bay systems. 

On a personal level, the conclusion I arrived at showed me the age of the super trout wasn’t to come but had already passed. These hybrids not only beat our state record trout but also the world record 17 pound, 7 ounce speck from Florida.

Research shows there are some pretty serious differences between Florida bass and native northern largemouth. 

How wide a gap is this compared to corvina and speckled trout? That’s something I will dig into on an upcoming episode of the Higher Calling Wildlife podcast so make sure and subscribe wherever you find podcasts (Itunes, Spotify, etc.)

On an additional note, TPWD once stocked pure speckled trout in freshwater. The first trout stockings occurred in 1984 and saw 42,609 fish stocked in Matagorda Bay and 4,438 in Upper Laguna Madre. That same year they released 72,000 in Lake Braunig.

TPWD does an incredible jobbb with our hatcheries both on the inland and saltwater side of things. Their philosophies seem to be different from the past but you have to give them credit for attempting new things to boost angler opportunity.

After all, there were even a few tarpon and Nile perch stocked in lakes in the past.

It’s fun to look back at the past and see a unique history of stockings and also to ponder our future.

I have recently learned of a group of fly fishermen who have the specific goal of beating the Texas speckled trout record. And I have spoken with someone who has a pretty terrific past of catching big trout, and who has made a link between trout in the nearshore Gulf entering channels and bays.

In my opinion there is most likely a record-sized trout in the nearshore Gulf. 

Will anyone ever catch it or do some of these fish move between the Gulf, our channels and perhaps even into bays?

We certainly need to do our best to conserve trout, but not only by catch-and-release. We need to make sure their habitats are healthy so that means, no rape and pillage of oyster reefs, destruction of seagrass beds and degradation of habitat.

The age of the super trout has come and gone in terms of hatchery tinkering but we could see a new renaissance in trophy trout fishing if we manage our habitat and fisheries correctly and learn more about those big trout in the Gulf.

There could be a natural born super trout out there that would blow our minds.

(If you have photos of corvina or corvina/trout hybrids caught back in the day, we would love to see and publish them. Email to chester@chestermoore.com.)

 

Email Chester Moore at cmoore@fishgame.com

 

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