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Fishing News Latest Fishing News Largemouth Bass Virus found at Amistad
Fishing News Latest Fishing News Largemouth Bass Virus found at Amistad | Largemouth Bass Virus found at Amistad |
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| Written by Hal Brown | |
| Friday, 27 June 2008 | |
 It’s a mystery: Anglers at Amistad Reservoir, including the pros, are finding it tougher to find big fish after several amazing seasons, and the reasons why bring many theories. Largemouth Bass Virus was found at the lake in 2007, but no fish kills have resulted. Photo by David J. Sams. When the pros practiced at Amistad Reservoir in February and March, many of them noticed that while the fishing was still good, it wasn’t the same as last year. And rumors of the Largemouth Bass Virus (LMBV) have been circulating around the lake, with anglers wondering about its effect on the fishery. Two-time Bassmaster champion Kevin VanDam and other anglers told BASS they were surprised at the change in a year’s time. There’s a million little ones, but it’s just amazing there are not more decent fish,” VanDam said. “A lot of them spawn in 25 to 30 feet of water here. So they probably go to 80 or 100 feet of water when they’re done. I just think they are way deeper than what we’re fishing.” Byron Velvick and Ish Monroe, both of whom own property on the lake, believe Amistad has become a victim of its success. “I think, unfortunately, meat hunters have hurt this lake,” said Velvick, a part-owner of a resort and restaurant on Amistad. “I think people don’t understand the concept of catch-and-release here, at least as indicated by the fish-cleaning stations. “This is a valuable resource, and some people don’t seem to care.” Monroe agreed. “The difference is that all the fish have been eaten out of this lake,” he said. “There are no big ones out there right now. The ones that are supposed to be on the beds, there are no giants out there. There are 1 1/2- and 2-pounders everywhere. I just think the big ones are gone. Alabama pro Steve Kennedy thinks Amistad is simply going through a cycle that all lakes go through, after a high-water spring spawns a big year-class of bass. “We had a huge year-class of fish, and they just exploded,” Kennedy said. “When you’ve got that big year-class, they eat everything behind them, so there’s a gap. It forces that cycle to start.” It turns out that LBMV, which caused large fish kills on East Texas lakes in the late 1990s, did indeed show up at Amistad in 2007. Texas Parks and Wildlife officials, though, say the news isn’t that bad. There haven’t been any LMBV fish kills at Amistad, and fish may in fact have developed antibodies to the disease. “There’s been a lot of research done and LMBV doesn’t seem to be as bad a pathogen as first thought,” said TPW Fish Health Inspector Greg Southard. “Most if not all of the places where we’ve had a fish kill we haven’t had a repeat kill occur. You had the native populations and the virus would come in and some of the fish would get sick and die from it, but those that lived and were exposed to it pass on some sort of immunity. “The last (LMBV) fish kill we saw was at Lake Bastrop in 2004.” The mysterious virus tracked westward across the nation after its discovery in Lake Weir, Fla., in 1991. The first big fish kill was in 1995 in Santee-Cooper Reservoir in South Carolina. In 1998 and 1999, Texas had fish kills at Lake Fork, Sam Rayburn, Toledo Bend and Lake Conroe. And all of Texas state hatcheries have LMBV present in their water, Southard said. That means, hypothetically, that the virus is present in all state-stocked lakes. “There’s always the chance of mutation where it could mutate to a more virulent form,” Southard said. “But with research and additional information, LMBV isn’t as scary as we first thought. Honestly, since golden algae showed up that’s a whole lot bigger concern for us.” Golden Alga has killed close to 30 million fish, primarily in West Texas lakes, since 2000, he said. Central and West Texas waters have been devastated by the alga, among them Possum Kingdom, Granbury, Whitney, E.V. Spence, Colorado City, Moss Creek, and Texoma, and many community fishing lakes around Lubbock-Midland area, Southard said. “I would be much more concerned (about golden algae), it’s much more indiscriminate. It kills anything with gills,” Southard said. “Possum Kingdom used to be a great striper lake, it hasn’t rebounded. Whitney, Granbury, same thing.” As to why Amistad didn’t match last year’s numbers of huge bass, the mystery still remains. |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 27 June 2008 ) |
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