We took a side trip today, not on my official 50-fish plan, but it was cold so we drove from Houston to fish the Guadalupe River near New Braunfels, below Canyon Lake Dam. Set your GPS for Sattler. The Guadalupe is a tailwater, but not enough of a tailwater to keep a sizable resident population of fish through the Texas summer. Texas Parks & Wildlife and Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited stock the river through the winter months, and everyone wants the fish to thrive, so it’s a put and put-back fishery. Nobody remembers that Trout Fishing in America said that not even he could turn a staircase into a trout stream.
The Guadalupe is a pretty Texas Hill Country River, with clear green water lined by bald cypress. It’s a three hour drive from Houston, more or less, and Naegelin’s Bakery, the oldest bakery in Texas, is only a bit out of the way (though it was closed on Sunday). Plus if you get off the river in time there’s great barbecue in Luling and Lockhart.
It was cold, 31°, when we got there. But it was sunny and a long weekend so there was a sizable hatch of anglers.
Other than basic courtesy, there are some things worth knowing about the river:
- It’s all nymphing, all the time. Every now and then you hear about somebody who catches fish with a dry, but don’t believe it. I rigged with a 7.5′ 3X leader with 20 inches of 4X tippet tied to a black bunny leach, with something brown on the dropper. More on the dropper later.
- Use weight. It’s deep nymphing. Because of the slow current, I rigged with a size 4 shot, but most years it’s the biggest you’ve got and then some. Everyone says that if you’re not hanging on the rocks, you’re not fishing deep enough. Maybe that’s just lazy, but mostly I believe what I’m told. To get deep, that means your indicator needs to be high on the leader, about a foot from the loop connection.
- Use a wading staff. There wasn’t much current today–at Sattler the flow was less than 100 CFS–but the bottom is a weird series of limestone wagon tracks and ledges, and where it’s mossy you need felt boots or studs or both. I used to wade it without a wading staff, but I used to be stupid. Stupider. The picture below is usually underwater, and it’s what much of the rest of the riverbed looks like. Without a staff and a lot of care, at some point during the day you will slip, and fall, and get your phone and your keys and your billfold wet, and curse. I know this from experience.
- The fish are stupid. The stockers buy fish by the pound, and the bigger the fish the more of its life it’s spent in a hatchery. They hang in water that’s like what they came from, and the riffles aren’t it. The best fly might be a Purina Trout Chow imitation.
- Parking can be a pain. In the summer, the river is taken over by the college-aged in inner tubes, so most landowners have spent a lot of time protecting access to the river and their property. The GRTU lease program is great, but expensive for one-time use. If you just want to try out the river, Action Angler currently charges $5 per angler for parking and access, and it’s a nice fly shop. I’d guess Rio Raft would also let you park for a fee. There’s a list of free Parks and Wildlife access points, but don’t go to Guadalupe Park. It’s the meat market.
Of course I’m talking like an expert. I’ve fished the Guadalupe off and on for 20-odd years, but I’ve never caught many fish. Someday I should hire a guide and fish the river seriously, but it’s just hard for me to take it seriously. I like it in the winter if the weather is cold.
Today I hooked one nice rainbow, maybe 20 inches or so, on the dropper. I saw it follow my fly and take it, and then stocker or no it didn’t want to be caught. I had it to the net when it broke the tippet. Thing is, I have no idea what it took. It was something brown that had been rattling around my nymph box. I don’t know where it came from or when, and that’s what I tied on when I rigged. I didn’t have another, and never will again. I should give it a posthumous identity: a copper bead-head breakaway?
