On the hunt for the state fish of Texas – the Guadalupe bass!
Funded by MAFWA Multistate Conservation Grant #F25AP00104-00
The Guadalupe bass is a beautiful fish that can only be found in the streams of central Texas. They’re so unique in fact, they have been named the state fish of Texas! As a species, Guadalupe bass are relatively small (especially when you look at their relatives like largemouth bass) – The record for a Guadalupe bass was caught in 2014 at 3.71 pounds according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife website. They live in rivers and streams that don’t allow them to grow the way their other black bass relatives do, but they are just as mighty. Because they live in powerful and fast flowing water, they are incredibly strong fish. And if all that wasn’t enough to be enamored by these little fish, they have a beautiful pattern to boot!
I heard of Guadalupe bass when I first moved to Texas, but because of their limited habitat I hadn’t had the opportunity to go try to find one even though I’ve lived in Texas for nearly 10 years. This past weekend I made a special trip to the hill country just to find one of these special fish. Let me tell you all about it!
To add an extra challenge, I decided to hit the San Marcos river with a fly rod. I’ve only fly fished a couple times in my life before this trip and both times was for trout outside of the state of Texas. I’ve never tried fly fishing for bass, so I figured why not make it a 2 for 1 kind of fishing trip. I had two goals in mind for this trip when I hit the water:
1. Catch a Guadalupe bass
2. Catch any bass on the fly
Off the bat, I caught a couple blue gill. It gave me some confidence I was doing the right thing and helped me practice getting a fish in the net before the real deal. There’s nothing more jarring than catching a big ol’ fish on your first cast with no practice, so I’m grateful for the warm-up opportunity.
Throughout the day, I used flies that resembled insects (like grasshoppers and dragonflies), small crawfish, and small baitfish. There’s a lot of water to cover in these rivers and I only had a few hours to try to accomplish my goal, so I was being deliberate with my casts. I was mostly aiming my casts at shade spots, deep pockets of fast-moving water, and lily pads. My casts were anything but pretty, but I was determined to find some bass.
I tried some topwater early without any takers, so I switched to a streamer imitating a minnow. That’s when I got my first bass! And wouldn’t you guess? It was a Guadalupe bass!! I was beyond excited. It had such a beautiful pattern and put up an incredible fight. Two hours into the trip and I could check off both boxes of my two goals!
The San Marcos was a beautiful river to explore. Its spring-fed water was crystal-clear when it was shallow and a beautiful blue in deeper pools. Because it’s spring fed, the water stays relatively cool year-round. As I kept pushing down the river I saw so many fish in the crystal clear water – buffalo carp, gar, catfish, and even common carp! Rumor has it there are even cichlids in this river! It felt like I was in a jungle with all the deep green foliage surrounding the crystal blue water. Texas has a true oasis hiding in these hills.
I caught my fair share of trees and logs throughout the morning. I’d like to blame my lack of skill with a fly rod for all the snags but I feel like it could’ve happened with a conventional set up also. Fishing rivers is tough with all the over hanging trees and submerged structure – getting hung up happens to everyone at some point or another.
About an hour later after making several fly changes I hooked into a much bigger bass – this time a large mouth! On a fly rod, the fight of this largemouth was unreal!
To end the day, I tied on a popper to see if I could get any topwater bites since it was a bust that morning. I caught 4 more bass and one more blue gill on the popper who were all pretty tiny (but a lot of fun none the less).
I really look forward to exploring it again in the future! The fishing was incredible, but the other nature was in full display in the few hours I got to explore the river. Woodpeckers, deer, bald eagles just to name a few of the animals I saw! I think there’s incredible opportunities to both wade and kayak this awesome river again sometime really soon!
The good news in Texas is that your standard fresh water fishing license will cover you in these river systems – no extra licensing required! If you’re ready to tackle the world of fly fishing, remember to grab your Texas fishing license, muster up some patience, and go explore the wonderful rivers in this beautiful state! You won’t regret it!