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Lake Houston 2022 Survey Report

If you have difficulty accessing the information in this document, contact the TPWD Inland Fisheries Division for assistance.

 

Lake Houston - 2022 Survey Report

Prepared by Dylan Kwak, and Niki Ragan-Harbison
Inland Fisheries Division - College Station/Houston District

This is the authors' summary from a 38-page report. For a copy of the complete report, use the download link in the sidebar.

Fish populations in Lake Houston were surveyed in 2022 using electrofishing and trap netting and in 2023 using gill netting. Anglers were surveyed from March 2023 through May 2023 with a creel survey. Historical data are presented with the 2022-2023 data for comparison. This report summarizes the results of the surveys and contains a management plan for the reservoir based on those findings.

Reservoir Description

Lake Houston is a 10,160-acre reservoir constructed on the San Jacinto River by the City of Houston in 1954 to provide water for municipal and industrial purposes. Its location within the Houston metropolitan area results in heavy recreational use. Habitat features consisted of standing timber, rocks, native and invasive submerged aquatic plants.

Management History

All sport fishes at Lake Houston are regulated under statewide length and bag limits. Important sport fish include White Bass, Largemouth Bass, White Crappie, Black Crappie, Blue Catfish, and Channel Catfish. Primary productivity and habitat have been limited and impacted by silt loading. Efforts to mitigate the sedimentation include solar water circulators, native vegetation restoration, legislative action to better regulate sand and gravel mining, and dredging to mitigate the effects of Hurricane Harvey. Aside from efforts to increase habitat the management plan from the 2018 survey report included stocking Florida Largemouth Bass to continuously increase the Florida genetics within the reservoir. Florida Largemouth Bass were stocked in 2018 and 2020, and Lone Star Bass in 2022 and 2023.

Fish Community

Management Strategies

Sport Fish Restoration Logo

Performance Report as required by Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act Texas Federal Aid Project F-221-M-5 Inland Fisheries Division Monitoring and Management Program



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