Fishing has returned to Bedford Boys Ranch Lake in Generations Park, where city officials say restoration efforts are paying off a year after a chlorine contamination killed thousands of fish. For Cody Hicks and his family, the lake has once again become a favorite place to spend time together. “Seems like it’s always stocked and they keep it clean. That’s what I like about it the most,” Hicks said. The family has already had success on the water. “We’ve got a bunch of sunfish. My sons, and wife and I probably got about six sunfish and one bass,” Hicks said. The lake looked much different in July of 2025, when high levels of chlorine entered the water. According to Bedford Communications Director Molly Fox, the contamination had a devastating impact on the lake’s fish population. “Unfortunately, it only got worse from there and we had the majority of our fish population Pass away within the lake,” Fox said. The city estimates more than 4,000 fish died. Officials never determined where the chlorine came from, and the investigation has since ended. Restoration work, however, has continued. Last fall, the city stocked the lake with sunfish and bluegill to rebuild the food chain before introducing larger fish. “So what we did last fall was we put sunfish in there. And bluegill sun fat fish are the prey species of our future bass residents of our lake,” Fox said. In April, the city added fingerling bass, bringing the total number of bass stocked to more than 600. Officials have also planted hundreds of aquatic plants throughout the lake to improve habitat and water quality. “We also planted about three to four hundred plants in different parts of the lake to give the fish places to hide, to help with the oxygen levels, to help what the algae, to contribute to the lake’s health,” Fox said. The restoration effort extends beyond the lake itself. The city has also planted vegetation upstream to help filter runoff before it reaches the water. “So we have the plants upstream and one of the good things about the plants is that it will filter any pollutants that may harm the fish in the lake,” Fox said. Fox said the city is also conducting regular water testing as part of its efforts to help prevent a similar incident from happening again. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication. ...read more read less