Winter Fly Fishing

Posted by Doug

“There are no fish in the Guadalupe River.”  That’s what my friend in San Antonio said when I told him I was going fishing there in January.  In fairness, the Lower Guadalupe River - from Canyon Lake to New Braunfels - is known locally as a summer recreational area – in the deep south that means tons of young people floating down the river in inner tubes drinking beer.  But, it turns out there is more to the story.

Canyon Lake was created by the Army Corps of Engineers to control the seasonal flooding that occurs on the Guadalupe River. It was impounded in 1964, creating a lake covering 8,240 surface acres and is 125 feet deep at the pool level of 909 feet above mean sea level. One of the useful features of the dam is that it releases water from the bottom of the lake.  That means the water released is cold. Trout are cold water fish – they thrive in temperatures in the 60s and cannot survive much above 75 degrees.

Tail water trout fishing, fishing below a dam, it quite common.  In addition to providing the cold water trout need, the dam agitates the water being released providing the high oxygen levels that trout need.  A trout’s diet primarily consists of bugs and aquatic insects.  The limestone base of the river provides a favorable environment for these critters, so the trout have plenty to eat.  In other words, the environment is perfect for trout, at least in the winter, but not something that you’d expect in Texas.

Finding this combination of conditions as far south as Texas was the big surprise for me.  And, because it is Texas, the trout fishing is mainly a winter event when all of the typical trout fisheries are in deep freeze and the tubers are on the couch. 

Rainbow trout were originally stocked in the river by Lone Star brewery. I will let your imagination run with that one. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) determined that the cold water discharges from the dam would displace the native warm water species naturally occurring in the river. TPWD began experimenting with different species of trout to determine which would be the most suitable and cost effective for their stocking program and decided that Rainbow trout best suited their purposes. 

The Guadalupe River Chapter of Trout Unlimited (GRTU) was formed in the 1960s and has been actively involved in the management of the trout fishery program.  The river is heavily stocked by both the TPWD and GRTU beginning around Thanksgiving and into December.  Like most trout streams, however, the Guadalupe has large sections of relatively unregulated fishing.  When the fish go in, the locals turn out and freshly released hatchery fish are easy pickin’s.  But, there is also a Trophy Trout Regulation Zone and GRTU maintains a section of private access water.  So, all in all, the Lower Guadaulpe River seemed to hold promise for some winter trout fishing.

On January 24^th, Matt and I headed out from Austin to meet our guide for the first of two days floating sections of the lower Guadalupe.  The forecast was not good and it was accurate.  The water was cold and so was the rain.  We were in the boat and on the water around 9:00 am and that’s pretty much when the rain started.  We put in at Rio Rafting Company, about five miles below the dam. This is actually a decent wade fishing spot and we caught several fish before moving down stream.  The action was all on the bottom with tiny nymphs – and I mean tiny. 

The drought has taken a heavy toll on Texas this year,  The river flow is very low and the water less than ideal.  As a result, these trout also don’t behave like normal trout.  They don’t hold in the fast current and feeding lanes waiting for food.  Indeed, they don’t seem to hold much at all, but seem to move around.  And, they bunch up – if you catch one, you will probably catch another in the same spot with the same cast.  It was really disconcerting to find water that looked very “trouty” only to have the guide move on through.  We covered about 5 miles of water, coming out at the Mountain Breeze Facility around mile 11.5.  This took us through the GRTU area and the Trophy Regulation area.  We both caught fish – not great in number or size, but fishing is good and catching is better.  And, it was still raining when we got out.

Two days later, we returned to the river and once again met our guide.  The weather had improved greatly.  The sun was shining and the air was cool - it was a gorgeous winter day in the south.  Kyle, our guide, was not looking very happy to see us and did his best to talk us out of fishing.  The rain had been heavy for two days and the water was a mess.  Although the current was not any faster, the water was dirty.  He was there at Rio River Rafting with another guide who was similarly discouraging his client.  But, the day was so nice we figured it was better to be in a boat on the water with a fly rod than just about anywhere else. 

To change things up, we went upriver to the Maricopa Riverside Lodge around mile 2.5 and fished back down to Rio River Rafting.  I have to say that this is a much prettier section of the river than below Rio River.  But, it is also the put and take area of the river and does not hold many fish a month after stocking.  We worked it pretty hard for a while with both nymphs and streamers to no avail.  I finally dropped my fly on a very nice rainbow that was worth a picture.  After lunch, we waded a stretch and while I goofed off, Matt hit a pod of fish and got three hits on three casts.  Then it was over as quickly as it started.

Like everything in Texas, fly fishing for trout turns out to be a little different – and being close to Austin, I suppose a little weird.  The trout act funny and guides will actually try to talk you into keeping your money.  But it was a nice break from the work routine and a good warm up for Spring trout on a mountain stream.  Matt and I are considering the Provo River in March.  I hear there are big, native brown, rainbows, cutthroat and even brookies in the upper regions.