Steve Knight

Lake Tyler's bass fishing has its moments.

Every few years the lake has had a run-up that catches the attention of bass fishermen everywhere. One of the first was in the 1990s when a 10-pound bass wasn't guaranteed to be a tournament's big fish and a 9-pound average over five fish became the norm.

"In the '90s, those were some awesome years, but when the hydrilla went away the average weights went from the mid-20s to 14 pounds. When there is no grass there is nothing for them to hide in on that lake. There are no cypress timbers or submerged timber," said Eric Pottkotter, a longtime fisherman on the lake.

Since then fishermen have seen some peaks and valleys when it comes to quality fishing on the lakes. Right now it seems to have reached another peak.

Fishing last fall, Pottkotter and Larry Jones won a tournament with more than 25 pounds.

On Feb. 23 the fishing team of Jason James of Bullard and Clay Martin of Whitehouse won an East Texas Christian Bass Anglers tournament with a five-fish, 36.14 pounds, and a stringer that was anchored by an 8.79-pound big bass.

Two weeks ago Pottkotter and fishing partner Frank Burkett won an ETCBA open tournament with 17-plus-pounds. They followed that up by capturing the Media Bass tournament last weekend with 24.87.

The Bullard duo's stringer was one of nine weighing 20 pounds or more in the tournament, weights that best same-day events on Cedar Creek, Bob Sandlin and Sam Rayburn.

"At the East Texas Christian Bass open we caught some on spinners, a couple on Brush Hogs and some on jigs. Last weekend we caught them on Carolina-rigged Brush Hogs, Texas-rigged Brush Hogs and jigs. We caught nothing on spinners because of the cold water," Pottkotter said.

While some anglers have already moved to the shore in search of early spawning fish, Pottkotter and Burkett concentrated on fish in 18 to 22 feet. Their shallowest catch came from about nine feet of water.

"We are basically hitting brush piles, ridges, and points. The thicker the brush the better. While most are going to the grass, we caught some on spinners, but they were all over 22 feet of water," he explained.

The team has been working on the theory that the bass are going to move up in waves instead of all at one time and that the biggest movement may not come until the new moon at the end of the month.

While the quality of fishing has been steady for the past year or two, Pottkotter is concerned that a big drop-off is coming. Like other anglers, he cites the disappearance of hydrilla from Lake Tyler East as the culprit.

Over the last two weeks Pottkotter and Burkett have been sharing time between the two lakes, however, Pottkotter said seven of every 10 boats have been making the run through the cut to the East Lake, which last year had about 1,300 acres of hydrilla.

"We had grass in 15 to 18 feet of water last year. It is all gone," Pottkotter said.

With the grass, Pottkotter said the fish had a place to hide and fishermen had structure to fish. While he expects quality fishing to continue this spring, the angler is not as certain about the future.

"We had several good years of spawning in eight to 10 feet of water where no one could get to them. It is not like that now. It is bare. I don't know what the future holds, but that is a real shame," said Pottkotter.

If the fishing does drop off, however, Richard Ott, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department fisheries biologist, said it might not be for the reason fishermen fear.

"How old are the fish that they are catching and how long was the hydrilla there?" Ott asked. "Bass that weigh five, six, seven pounds were spawned before there were real problems with hydrilla. The hydrilla didn't really start appearing until 2005."

The biologist said good spawns on the lake are more often the result of high water years that follow drought periods. In that situation the brood fish are able to move into the protective grasses that have grown on the water's edge to spawn.

Ott explained that largemouth bass are actually a river or swamp fish that have been stocked in reservoirs. By nature they adapt well to spawning in flood zones, something that is best duplicated in high water years on lakes.

"It looks like we are again in a cycle of high water, so I would expect more fish to survive. I think fishermen overlook the importance of terrestrial grasses," he said.

As for the loss of hydrilla, Ott said that could be a key factor in the big stringers that are showing up now.

"A lot of fishermen are fishing points and places where the fish are stacked. They are not spread out as much as when the hydrilla was there," Ott said.

To clear up misconceptions, Ott said the city of Tyler only treated about half of the hydrilla last year.

The remainder was washed out of the lake by heavy rains.

"The city sprayed about two weeks before the flood. The flood came in and purged everything else. It would have whether they sprayed or not. It is a little like spot treating your grass then having a big fire come through and kill everything else," Ott noted.

He said there is a possibility the hydrilla will return, but that it will be a gradual build up like it was the last three or four years.

What he would rather do is with city approval begin a vegetation program using native species.

While fishermen think hydrilla is a cure-all for bass fishermen, Ott has evidence that may not be the case.

"I was just looking at growth records for Lake Tyler. On Lake Tyler East it took bass two years to reach 14 inches. On the West Lake it was a year and a quarter. In part it is the same as it was on Bellwood. It was too thick. It was much harder for the fish to find prey. They were having to use more energy to search for and catch prey," Ott said.

He said if the plant was controllable and could be maintained on 20 to 30 percent of a lake it could be beneficial.

In the case of Lake Tyler East, it had spread to about 65 percent of the lake.

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Contact Outdoor Editor Steve Knight at 903-596-6277 or by e-mail at outdoor@tylerpaper.com

Steve Knight
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