# Texas Trout and Bass



## Permit Rat (May 13, 2014)

I have seen on here where many of you are talking fresh water trout fishing and I presume that there is a fishery here in Texas, probably in the hill country, west of San Antonio. Whereas most here associate me with the tropical flats and offshore, my roots are with trout and I fished them in New England as well as the Ozarks, along with smallmouth bass.

I am thinking that towns like Leakey, Vanderpool and Concan are pretty much in the area, so just what are the trout possibilities in Texas, or do y'all travel to places further north and west? Hotels/lodge names would also be welcome. I don't think I need a guide, but favorite fly patterns might be beneficial. In the Ozarks, we used blue winged olives, prince nymphs, tricos, and a black elk hair caddis. In the larger tailwaters, woolly buggers were king. Obviously, time of year/water temp will be a factor in choice.

If you have favorite rivers for floating/fishing smallies, that would be welcomed info as well.


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## Finn Maccumhail (Feb 16, 2009)

Guadalupe River below Canyon Lake is the only real trout fishery in Texas.

They started stocking it many years ago and discovered that the cold, clean water coming out of Canyon Lake allowed for holdover populations to grow and spawn. It's heavily regulated and really only exists for a few miles downstream before the water gets too warm to sustain trout year round but from what I understand it can be a very, very good fishery.

Not a trout guy at all so I can't really help with patterns or tactics.

I also know lots of people go up to Oklahoma to Beavers Bend and do really well.

RonMc, flyfishingmike, and probably BrandonFox on here are the go-to gurus for Hill Country fishing whether it's trout or bass & panfish.


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## Worm Drowner (Sep 9, 2010)

The main trout river in Texas is the Guadalupe. The best source for info is GRTU. You will find very little public access on the river. Most of us join GRTU and sign up for their Lease Access Program, which opens up much more of the river for fishing. Reel Fly, Action Angler and Gruene Outfitters are some of the local shops and good sources of information.

I stay at Maricopa Riverside Lodge in Sattler on my trout trips. Rio Guadalupe Resort is another decent option.

For smallies, the Guad, San Marcos, Llano, & Colorado are all top choices.

Tricos, Hares Ears, Zebra Midges, Miss Pinkys and Woolly Buggers are all worth a try.


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## Permit Rat (May 13, 2014)

Thanks guys....now at least I have a head start.


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## BrandonFox (Jan 8, 2013)

As others have mentioned, The Guad right below Canyon dam just outside of New Braunfels (just northeast of SA) is where the rainbows and soon to be brown trout are. While it sometimes doesn't fish like a "real" trout stream, it's still a fantastic resource here in our backyards.

Easiest way to fish the best water would be to spend the $150 and join GRTU for lease access locations.

As far as bass, the Colorado River east of Austin has the largest fish, but any hill country stream will have a good variety of fish to keep you going. Guadalupe bass, largemouth, smallmouth, panfish, and my favorite - carp.


Brandon


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## netboy (Dec 12, 2006)

We used to fish the Guad regularly before we bought our place in north Arkansas. Can't say enough good things about the river and GRTU's efforts.
I understand they are holding off on their first stocking until Thanksgiving.

The state also stocks smaller trout and they usually arrange for a couple of free access points. You can also pay a day fee (used to be $5) to access many of the campgrounds. A kayak or canoe is a great way to float and then wade the better runs.

After reading this thread, we may have to make a trip back up there this winter for old times sake.


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## Permit Rat (May 13, 2014)

Thank you Brandon....would you say that this river is a good float stream? And while we're on that subject, what kind of a stream is it? Freestone? Are there gravel bars at various points? I also wonder if people might camp out along the way, during a 2-3 day float. This was one of my favorite things to do in Missouri. The Buffalo River in Arkansas was a 3-day float to where it joined with the White River, just below the dam. I also did 2-day floats on the Niangua, Eleven Point and another stream that I do not remember the name.

Ohhhhhh....netboy.....you posted while I was writing. YES! I'd give my left nut to float the Eleven Point again!! What a magnificent piece of water.


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## Permit Rat (May 13, 2014)

Edit: (tried to, but got kicked off again) Anyway, I just did the Google tour of the Colorado, from Lake Travis, on down. I guess that from the dam, all the way to 45, just east of Austin, is pretty much picked clean, what with all the housing developments in that area. I noticed several sandbars and islands in the river, even further down. I wonder if one could camp anywhere in there.

Here's another question....Are there any spring-fed rivers in Texas?


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## Finn Maccumhail (Feb 16, 2009)

Permit Rat said:


> Edit: (tried to, but got kicked off again) Anyway, I just did the Google tour of the Colorado, from Lake Travis, on down. I guess that from the dam, all the way to 45, just east of Austin, is pretty much picked clean, what with all the housing developments in that area. I noticed several sandbars and islands in the river, even further down. I wonder if one could camp anywhere in there.
> 
> Here's another question....Are there any spring-fed rivers in Texas?


Most all of the Hill Country rivers like the Comal, San Marcos, LLano, Sabinal, Frio, Medina, Devil's, and the Guad are spring-fed.


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## netboy (Dec 12, 2006)

The part of the Guadalupe where the trout are stocked is below Canyon Dam. It is a tailwater, but you don't have to worry about fluctuating water levels. There is a very small power generating plant at the dam but I think it runs continuously. The trout are stocked in approximately the first 10 -12 miles and only during the colder months. GRTU stocks some very nice size trout in what they call the trophy area where you can keep 1 trout per day with a minimum size of 18" and artificial lures only. Most people release all their trout.


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## BrandonFox (Jan 8, 2013)

Permit Rat said:


> Thank you Brandon....would you say that this river is a good float stream? And while we're on that subject, what kind of a stream is it? Freestone? Are there gravel bars at various points? I also wonder if people might camp out along the way, during a 2-3 day float. This was one of my favorite things to do in Missouri. The Buffalo River in Arkansas was a 3-day float to where it joined with the White River, just below the dam. I also did 2-day floats on the Niangua, Eleven Point and another stream that I do not remember the name.
> 
> Ohhhhhh....netboy.....you posted while I was writing. YES! I'd give my left nut to float the Eleven Point again!! What a magnificent piece of water.


There really is only one campable island on the Guad tailrace, just down from rio raft resort and can be seen on google earth... the river splits in two here for about 100 yards. There really is not enough water for a multi day float, IMO. But, it is perfect for one nighter.

The Guad does have fluctuating levels, however, depending on the lake. For example, due to the halloween flood, they have been dumping a steady 1,000 cfs for the last week or so (down from 6,000cfs right after the flood) which is no where near safe wading levels. It can be floated right now, but it'll get hairy, and the fishing isn't good until the flows settle and the fish can gather back into the runs and holes.

As far as the colorado from Travis through downtown Austin, that section is best fished by kayak or powerboat, but pumps out many double digit bass every year, as well as massive carp.

Brandon


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## 2thDr (Jan 25, 2014)

The best multi-day floats in South Texas that include great fishing are the Llano from west of I 10 to Castell, the Pecos from Pandale to Amistad, and the Devil"s from Baker's Crossing to Amistad. Camping is best on the Pecos, anywhere you want. Fishing best on the Devil's (lots of smallmouth). Limited camping. Access best on the Llano, lots of road crossings. Know that nearly all land in Texas is private, most landowners not happy about you camping on their property. Technically, islands midstream are O'K. May still get run off. I just set up late, leave no mess, get back on water early. Welcome to Texas. Sorry about the lack of Permit here. Great fish.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Permit Rat said:


> Edit: (tried to, but got kicked off again) Anyway, I just did the Google tour of the Colorado, from Lake Travis, on down. I guess that from the dam, all the way to 45, just east of Austin, is pretty much picked clean, what with all the housing developments in that area. I noticed several sandbars and islands in the river, even further down. I wonder if one could camp anywhere in there.
> 
> Here's another question....Are there any spring-fed rivers in Texas?


Most of the hill country rivers are spring fed and augmented by rainfall. The Comal is a couple miles long ( ends in the guad) and is fed by a major spring. The San Marcos is another. Of course, the river walk in San Antonio is a spring fed River. Barton springs is a famous swimming hole in Austin and is a spring fed portion of Barton creek.

Notable ones for good paddle trips are the Frio, Medina, upper Guad above Canyon lake, south Llano from telegraph to junction. All of these tend to be clear, sometimes almost gin clear when the flows are right. We always did day trips from some campground like Garner SP. Best time, IMHO, is in late winter to spring when the flows are good. All warm water fish, no trout.

My neighbor does over nighters on the Colorado in the Bastrop smithville area. Camps on gravel bars. Have to be aware of releases of water from Austin area. They have awakened to a flooded camp site. Good bass fishing. I once did the float from Wharton to above Bay City. It was this time of year but during a drought. The water was amazingly clear, 8 feet visibilty, for a coastal section with gravel bottom with sections of nice underwater vegetation, nice flow, bald eagles, 5 foot alligator gar, abundant bass, and nice scenery. There are sections of the Brazos that are real nice.

There is a navigable stream law in texas. It's lengthy and can be found in TPAndW. Basically, no one can prevent you from paddling, floating, portageing around obstacles, or camping on stream islands, using banks is dicey, but there are some rights there too. There have been many court cases. Ranchers try to fence across a navigable stream and that is not within their rights as land owners even if they own both banks.


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## Permit Rat (May 13, 2014)

Holy good God, what a boatload of great information! It's going to take me days...WEEKS to put it all together and cross reference it with Google or some kind of map that shows all these waterways.

Thanks for the info on the spring fed rivers. That means there's a source and headwaters can make for great wilderness-type wading

Special thanks for the tips on camping on sandbar islands, and not on the banks themselves, although it makes perfect sense, as the laws are essentially the same as in Missouri/Arkansas. Don't think I have ever seen where a landowner had fenced across a stream, but it's been 20 years, so.....

Netboy would be one to agree or refute this, but garbage on the streams in the Ozarks is not a real problem. All the canoe outfitters give a mesh bag to each canoe for their garbage and drunk as some might get, they still seem to use them. I glommed a few of these bags to take with us on our overnights and we always brought out more than we took in but really....Ozarks streams are trash free. The exception would be a rare flash flood that took out several campsites, before the campers had a chance to clean up. Anyway, I would hope that Texas streams would be the same.

I'm really looking forward to the prospect of being able to float again and I'm kicking myself for selling my 17' Old Town squareback cargo canoe. I bought it for the NMZ's in Florida but never got a chance to trick it out and use it.


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## Permit Rat (May 13, 2014)

Here's another question.....Do y'all eat the bass you catch in these rivers? Missouri has a 12 inch limit on river-caught bass but the practice of killing smallmouth is pretty much frowned upon by stream afficionados. In Missouri we also find a few largemouth but the majority are Kentucky bass. Either one of those would be fair game for the table/campsite meal; it's just the smallies that are favored. 

Then there's the panfish. No crappie to speak of, but we do have goggle-eyes (rock bass) except they rarely get big enough to mess with. What about Texas panfish in these rivers? Ozarks streams have flatheads, but they're a pain because they prefer live bait and I hate taking time out of my real fishing, to fish for bait for catfish for dinner.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

http://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/fishing/freshwater-fishing/bag-length-limits

I think Largemouth and Smallmouth are 5 per day and 14 inch minimum. Guadalupe and Spotted are no minimum length, but don't quote me on that.

There are Rio Grande Cichlids in some of the water sheds. They get to be large panfish and are pretty to look at.

flyfishingmike posts a lot about central/hill country flyfishing. Check out his posts for some insider info.

Some rivers have special regs to be aware of. TP&W has the nitty gritty.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=1670954

the above is one of flyfishingmikes posts with a Rio Grande Cichlid


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## Permit Rat (May 13, 2014)

I wonder if those cichlids are good to eat. I know that I am not a big fan of the tilapia that I have eaten in the US and Mexico, but they are all farm-raised. Perhaps a wild fish from cleaner water would be different.

I'm going to save this thread and all the great information in it. When it finally gets down to the nitty gritty, I might be PM-ing some of you with hopefully some more intelligent questions on specific areas.


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## skinnywaterfishin (Jul 1, 2015)

Permit Rat said:


> I wonder if those cichlids are good to eat. I know that I am not a big fan of the tilapia that I have eaten in the US and Mexico, but they are all farm-raised. Perhaps a wild fish from cleaner water would be different.
> 
> I'm going to save this thread and all the great information in it. When it finally gets down to the nitty gritty, I might be PM-ing some of you with hopefully some more intelligent questions on specific areas.


PR, I would HIGHLY recommend this gem of a book, "Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country". I have Bud Priddy's older book but it was updated back in '08 after he passed. Tons of great info, put ins, take outs, access points, float mileage, mile markers, eateries, hotels, etc. It will be invaluable to you in your travels & pursuits throughout the hill country!

http://www.sportsmansfinest.com/fly-fishing-the-texas-hill-country/

You'll absolutely want to float the Llano...be sure to take both floating and sink tip lines. There are 1 day and overnight floats. You'll find all the info in the book I linked. You'll also want to watch water flows before heading out on a trip. Austin Canoe and Kayak is a great spot in Central Texas you could rent a kayak.

flyfishingmike here on the board will also be a great resource for you, he seems to have all these centex rivers dialed in on floating/kayaking on the fly.


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