The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologists believe they are making progress in restoring critical fish habitat on Toledo Bend. LDWF Biologist Manager Villis Dowden says over the past two weeks crews have stocked 110 containers of native eelgrass which can provide critical habitat for juvenile fish.
“Even if a little bit works, it’s very beneficial not only for fisheries, but also for wildlife, waterfowl and other wildlife species,” Dowden said.
Dowden says some early attempts to plant eelgrass in past years did not succeed, because of several challenges, including strong wave action, so they are using more sheltered planting areas.
“Some of these sheltered coves and creeks, where you don’t have a lot of turbulent dirty water; and you also don’t have a lot of wind and wave action, which could disrupt our planting,” Dowden explained.
Toledo Bend along the Texas-Louisiana border in Sabine Parish is known as one of the best fishing spots in the country. From 2015 to 2017, Bassmaster Magazine ranked Toledo Bend as the best bass lake in the nation.
But high, muddy water in 2016 and 2017 led to a significant, sustained decline in native aquatic vegetation. Dowden says the habitat restoration methods they are doing now, have worked in reservoirs in other southern states.
“And hopefully, with enough plantings, even if it’s just a little; if it’s a small area, these small areas will start increasing into larger and larger areas with more plantings as time goes on,” Dowden noted.
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