Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center Celebrates 100 Years

Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center Celebrates 100 Years

Oct. 9, 2025

Media Contact: TPWD News, Business Hours, 512-389-8030

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MOUNTAIN HOME - In May 1925, the Heart of the Hills State Fish Hatchery, now known as Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's (TPWD) Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center, was born in the Texas Hill Country. One hundred years later, the hatchery continues to play an important role in ensuring the science-based management and conservation of freshwater fisheries in Texas.

"As we reflect on 100 years of impact, we are filled with gratitude for the lasting legacy made possible by the visionaries, leaders, donors, and supporters who made this facility and its later renovation a reality," said Tim Birdsong, Director of TPWD's Inland Fisheries Division. "Heart of the Hills has sustained an incredibly high level of productivity for generations. We are truly humbled and inspired by the commitment, passion, and professionalism of current and former staff whose impactful careers offered figurative road maps for subsequent generations. Their steady, collective contributions to the TPWD mission can be experienced by anglers in public waters across the state."

In a 1925 report, the Game, Fish and Oyster Commission said: "It is our intention to make of this the largest bass hatchery in the United States, the output of which will be used in restocking the streams and lakes of the Hill Country where it is estimated that upwards of half a million citizens of Texas seek the out-of-doors annually."

The citizens of Kerrville, Junction and Fredericksburg helped raise support to have the hatchery placed in the area. Construction of the facility began when the State of Texas obtained the water rights to local watering hole Stockman's Springs and received 36.4 acres of land donated by C.R. and Maud Eddins. Stockman's Springs is known in the area as a historic water source for Native Americans during the Archaic period (400-3,000 years ago) and is believed to have provided for the Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca and his men as they passed through the area in 1534.

The state later purchased an additional 19.4 acres in 1929 from the Schreiner family, and in fiscal year 1928-29 the hatchery delivered its first production of 184,095 fish. Included in those numbers were 98,690 largemouth bass, 81,800 bream (sunfish) and 3,695 crappie. The hatchery also held 200,000 largemouth bass in rearing ponds at the time for later distribution, the most of any hatchery.

In 1935, the Works Project Administration built the present-day concrete canal system which brings the water from the springs into the hatchery.

The facility's sole purpose up until 1969 was fish production, but in 1970 it transitioned to focusing primarily on applied fisheries research. The Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center was completed in 1970 with partial support from the Sport Fisheries Restoration Program and funding from federal taxes on sportfishing gear administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The renovation included 25 new ponds for outdoor fisheries research, and a research team was hired. The Science Center's integral research projects continue to this day.

"For over a century, Heart of the Hills has been absolutely critical to building and maintaining world-class sport fisheries here in Texas, initially as a regional sport fish hatchery and for the past 55 years as our flagship fisheries research facility," said Dr. Dan Daugherty, Inland Fisheries Division Science Program Director and Director of the Science Center. "From developing and refining techniques for fish sampling, identification, tracking, age and growth, and population estimates to refining and validating procedures and strategies for fish hatchery production, fish stockings, water management, and fish habitat enhancements, Heart of the Hills continues to be on the leading edge of fisheries science in Texas and nationally."

Notable Research Projects

• Guadalupe Bass Conservation- Launched in the late 1980s, and continued today, Heart of the Hills conduct applied research needed to conserve the official state fish, Guadalupe Bass, within its namesake Guadalupe River and throughout rivers of the Texas Hill Country. Studies of Guadalupe Bass biology, life history, movement, habitat requirements, production techniques, stocking rates, and conservation genetics have aided in the restoration and conservation of the species across 28 rivers, ensuring current and future generations of anglers can catch this native Texan found nowhere else in the world.
• Non-lethal Age-identification Techniques for Bass- Researchers are working on a collaborative project with scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Knoxville, Tennessee to determine the age of individual largemouth bass from genetic material (fin clips). Traditionally, the fish would be euthanized so scientists could harvest the otoliths (ear bones) to age the fish. The new method would enable scientists to determine age non-lethally and help to monitor growth and reproduction of bass in Texas reservoirs. The Toyota ShareLunker program would also benefit with the ability to determine the ages of fish submitted to the program by anglers.
  
  
• Stocking Source Research for Redear Sunfish - Heart of the Hills is evaluating Redear Sunfish from Lake Havasu, Arizona, for potential stocking in Texas waters. Lake Havasu holds the current International Game Fish Association (IGFA) all-tackle world record set in 2021 with a 17-inch, 6.3-pound fish. In addition, the previous two IGFA record fish were also caught in Lake Havasu in 2014 (5.78 pounds) and 2011 (5.55 pounds). By comparison, these records far exceed Texas' state record Redear - a 14-inch, 2.99-pound fish caught in 1997 from Lady Bird Lake. Lake Havasu has become a destination fishery for the species, attracting panfish enthusiasts from across the country, which could help enhance the population of this species in Texas.
• Blue Sucker Tagging Project with Texas Tech, Texas A&M University- Heart of the Hills has worked collaboratively with Texas Tech and Texas A&M on a long-term tagging project assessing the Blue Sucker - a species of greatest conservation need - in the Colorado River. More than 10 years of data have shown that the population is small and that there is infrequent rate of successful reproduction. These results have led to the initiation of new efforts for 2026 aimed at supplementing populations through a stocking program.
• Conservation of Protected Mussels, Crayfish- Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center staff are also actively engaged in conservation efforts surrounding at-risk, as well as state and federally protected, mussels and crayfishes. Efforts primarily center around understanding the biology, ecology, population status, distribution and habitat needs, as well as the development of propagation techniques for supplemental stocking.
• Alligator Gar Research- On the alligator gar front, Heart of the Hills has been working on various aspects of their biology and ecology to fill historic knowledge gaps that have prevented science-based management of fisheries. Researchers have learned much about them, but most importantly how tightly successful reproduction is tied to late spring and summer flooding (which occurs relatively infrequently), that they have sex-specific growth (females comprise over 95% of the larger-sized fish in populations) and that they are one of few freshwater fishes that can live to be centenarians (100+ years old).

The Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center's website includes information on additional research projects and a list of previously published studies. In total, the Science Center has contributed more than 180 peer-reviewed scientific publications.