Texas rivers offer countless options, fish
Texas rivers move much more than water; they transport and enrich the human spirit, a truth long understood by anglers who immerse themselves, literally and figuratively, in the current of living, breathing waterways.
“Every river is its own world. They’re all different. They’re all beautiful. You see things on rivers you’d never see anywhere else. They just grab hold of you,” Marcus Rodriguez said when asked what has pulled him, rod and reel in one hand, canoe paddle in the other, to dozens of Texas rivers and streams over the past two-plus decades.
And there’s another, very important thing, he adds.
“The fishing can be spectacular.”
Rodriguez would know. He grew up fishing rivers in Central Texas, and since 1998 he and partner Johnny Quiroz have run Guides of Texas, a business built around taking anglers on float-fishing trips on some of the state’s many, varied and wonderfully fish-filled waterways. And business is good; increasing numbers of Texas anglers who not so long ago ignored rivers and streams and bayous, thinking the artificial fisheries in man-made reservoirs were the only worthwhile destinations, are finding their way to rivers.
“There’s no question, (float-fishing rivers) is more popular,” Rodriguez said. “The explosion of kayaks — they are everywhere now — has been a reason; they’ve opened up the water for a lot of people. But access is getting better, too. And people are discovering there are so many options in Texas.”
Rodriguez was just back from a multi-day trip on the Devils River, a crystalline, spring-fed stream that flows through the rocky, parched edge of the Chihuahuan Desert and has a deserved reputation as Texas’ most pristine, isolated, physically challenging waterway and one heck of a light-tackle fishery.
“We had a great trip,” Rodriguez gushed. “Every spot in the river you thought would hold a fish had fish.”
But the smallmouth bass and huge redbreast sunfish and the occasional healthy largemouth bass weren’t the only things the river yielded. There was the wildlife — deer and turkey, feral hogs and aoudad sheep and a kaleidoscope of birds — decorating the landscape of riverine forest and adjacent mesquite and creosote sprinkled hills. And the solitude.
“That’s why I go,” Rodriguez said. “It’s not just for the fishing; it’s the total experience.”
Opportunity abounds
This week, he’ll be on another river — the San Marcos — where he expects to see more people but also looks forward to enjoying a riverine forest of cypress and cottonwood and pecans, a parade of wildlife that includes pairs of nesting bald eagles, and some killer fishing.
“There are some humongous Rio Grande perch in the San Marcos, and we catch a lot of smallmouth hybrids,” he said. “It’s just a great river to fish.”
There are others. Lots of others. Texas is veined by 15 major rivers and more than 3,700 named streams, most of them holding at least modest and sometimes stunningly robust fisheries for the entire spectrum of freshwater sport fish.
Increasingly, access to those rivers is improving as state fisheries managers and local businesses see the untapped recreational and economic possibilities of river-based recreation, especially recreational fishing. The explosion of Texas Paddling Trails, a cooperative effort between Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, river authorities, local governments and businesses, over the past few years has greatly expanded access to prime paddling/fishing waters; more than 40 Texas Paddling Trails are sprinkled across the state, offering easy access and egress to river segments.
Options for float-fishing rivers in Texas are so rich, it would be possible to spend a lifetime bouncing from one to the next and never hit them all. But it certainly would be incredibly rewarding to try.
Too, picking the best Texas streams for floatfishing is a daunting chal- lenge; there are so many. The rugged, remote Pecos and Devils rivers in southwest Texas. The springfed, rocky riffles and runs of the Nueces, San Saba, Sabinal, Frio, Guadalupe and Blanco rivers in the Edwards Plateau. The tannin-stained Sabine and Neches in the jungle-like forest of East Texas. And dozens of others.
Best bets
But for anyone looking to sample the rich diversity of opportunities, fisheries and settings available on Texas rivers, these four would be good places to start:
1 San Marcos River: The 40-mile or so stretch of the San Marcos River between San Marcos and Luling offers a variety of options, from short floats of just a couple of miles to several-mile sections that could be stretched into an overnight trip.
Born from the secondlargest natural cluster of springs in Texas and fed by the Blanco River, the San Marcos River holds a healthy population of largemouth bass (some weighing 6 pounds or more), smallmouth/ Guadalupe hybrids, Rio Grande perch and a variety of sunfish, including hand-size and larger redbreasts.
The river, which sports scattered, mild rapids, snakes through a riverine forest dominated by pecans, cottonwoods and, in its upper reaches, Texas cypress.
1 Upper Brazos
River: Segments of the Brazos River from Possum Kingdom Reservoir to Waco hold some of the best float-fishing opportunities in the state. Excellent fishing for largemouth bass and, in some sections, striped bass weighing 20 pounds or more awaits. The reach downstream from Lake Whitney is especially productive. The section below Possum Kingdom Reservoir is great for those looking for multi-day trips or for camping overnight on islands or sandbars. Water quality and clarity is usually good during summer, when water-muddying rainfall runoff is rare.
1 Llano River: The Llano has it all. Great scenery. Beautiful water. Worlds of fish. Wildlife. Great access and egress in many sections. The South Llano River upstream from Junction is one of the most user-friendly rivers in the state, with a state park situated along its banks and its rocky, clear water filled with aggressive Guadalupe bass, some hefty largemouths and a world of chunky redbreast sunfish.
The Llano between Mason and the town of Llano is just as good, if not better, for fishing, and winds through classic Hill County scenery. Expect to see deer, turkey, maybe a bobcat and, if you pay attention to riverside trees, a rainbow of bird life, including painted buntings and vermilion flycatchers.
1 Village Creek: Village Creek, which flows into the Neches River upstream from Beaumont, is a classic East Texas stream, born from seeping springs and stained the color of dark tea by tannin leeched from the thick southern forest bracketing and shading it.
Bends in the slow-moving stream sport spectacular white sand bars, and bell-bottomed cypresses stand along its banks.
Fishing can be good; largemouth bass and a mix off sunfish are the main species, but don’t be surprised to connect with a fierce bowfin or a tasty crappie. And anglers fishing around those pretty sandbars often connect with spotted bass.
Access/egress for paddlers is excellent, with Village Creek State Park on the waterway’s banks and most of the stream included in a Texas Paddling Trail.
Summer is a great season to sample what Texas rivers have to offer. And this summer looks particularly good, as spring rains have most waterways in better conditions than they’ve been during recent drought-plagued summers. It’s an opportunity too good to pass up.