Anglers at Canyon Lake will have new areas to fish after the addition of more than two dozen structures designed to improve the habitat of sport fish.
With its steep, rocky banks, Canyon Lake provides little natural cover for fish. The habitat structures, made of plastic and brush, will draw predator fish species to the sites. As a result, more preferred sport fish — such as largemouth bass, crappie and sunfish — will be attracted to particular locations, benefiting boat and shoreline anglers, according to a TPWD press release. The 25 structures were added to four locations at the lake.
The project is a result of an ongoing collaboration launched in 2005 by TPWD; the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, which controls the lake formed by the Guadalupe River; the Canyon Bass Club of San Marcos and the Water Oriented Recreation District of Comal County (WORD). In total, the collaboration has already established 44 fish habitat sites on Canyon Lake.
“This project is a fantastic value for the public and anglers,” said TPWD District Supervisor Patrick Ireland. “It gives you a targeted area to fish.”
Grants from WORD and other funding from the Friends of Reservoirs Foundation paid for the habitat structures. Members of the Canyon Bass Club of San Marcos and members of a Bass Anglers Sportsman Society-affiliated club provided most of the labor, assembling habitat structures, with support from USACE, TPWD and more volunteers.
Travis Franke, a professional fishing guide in San Antonio, said TPWD’s addition of fish habitat structures will promote better fishing ecology.
“Without those structures and without that habitat that the fish need to survive and to take cover in, [sport fish] are not going to be as prolific,” he said.
“Texas is a model state for their fish and game management, and if it wasn’t for Texas Parks and Wildlife doing their job, we wouldn’t have any fish or game to be able to take part in as sportsmen.”
