Fishing in Texas???

[Benford]

I recently graduated college and it looks like I'll be moving from South Carolina to Houston, TX very soon to start a career.

I hear redfish are really fun to fish for off the coast, but does anyone know if there are trout waters anywhere in East Texas??? If not I'm sure gonna miss the mountain streams of the Blue Ridge mountains around here and suppose I'll have to get used to warmwater fishing.... :icon_cry:

 

[Ard]

I would guess east TX. is a no trout zone but I would say you have a chance in the panhandle up around the Mescalero Apache Indian reservation. I was there in 1981 and remember some good looking brooks.

That is just a guess, I did not fish there but it looked like the best spot in TX. I've ever seen.

 

[MikeyBob365]

ha, i'd kill to live near the coast, all i got is warm water!
Texas FlyFishers of Houston
this club is based in houston, i'm sure they will have trips and tournaments you'll get into which will hopefully get you excited to go after those reds! and there is always trout somewhere along the coast, and you can actually eat these without feeling bad for not releasing it!

Rainbow Trout Stocking Schedule
this is a trout release schedule for all of texas, they usually release once the weather gets stays below seventy degrees for your area. you can find streams close to ya there

hope ya love texas, and if you ever go to a college football game here, make the right choice and make a good olde' aggie game! we never lose! we just run out of time!

 

[txbevo]

The only real trout fishery in Texas is the Guadalupe. It is listed as one of the top 100 trout streams in the US and it is approximately 3 hours drive from Houston. It has a managed trophy trout zone for 11 miles below Canyon Dam near New Braunfels. It has some quality stocked fish. There are some holdovers and some can be caught year round. The average size Rainbow caught this year was 16"-18" with a couple caught ranging 28"-30". Mostly, it is a put and take fishery with the prime fishing from late November - April. From May through September you have the rubber hatch as the river is a very popular tubing and rafting recreation area. Fishing can be difficult during that time. I would suggest you check out Guadalupe River TU, which is the largest TU chapter in the US with over 4,000 members. They do a great job of making sure there is some quality trout fishing in Texas.

There is some quality warm water fishing in the rivers and streams of the Texas Hill Country. You might want to get yourself a copy of Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country by Kevin Hutchison. He just came out with a completely new and revised edition. It would be a great introduction to fishing in Texas and it includes a large section on the Guadalupe. You can contact Kevin directly at 512.589.3474 or fishhead32002@yahoo.com to get a copy. You might also want to check out texasflyreport.com.

The Guadalupe Bass is a native Texas fish and only native to a few streams in the Hill Country. It is often referred to as the Texas Trout. It is definitely a bass, but behaves in a lot of ways like a trout. It is a ball to catch.

Don't despare. You may not get the trout fishing you are accustomed to, but there is plenty of quality fresh water fishing to be had in Texas. Welcome to Texas and if you ever have any questions or need any info let me know.

 

[mcnerney]

TU did a show on the Guadalupe a couple weeks ago. Looks to be everything that txbevo says. Definitely worth checking out. The show was made in conjunction with Guadalupe River TU and they mentioned that the chapter has a section of the river that is set aside for members who pay to fish, I don't know the details but check with Guadalupe River TU.

Larry

 

[txbevo]

Yes, the GRTU has a lease access program. In Texas the vast majority of access points to rivers are private. GRTU works out leases with businesses and private land owners to provide access points to the river. It costs $95 per year. Some of the money goes to paying for the leases and a lot of it goes to paying for fish that GRTU stocks at those lease locations. This stocking is above and beyond what the state stocks. It is the main reason you get bigger fish in the river. Several of the leases are exclusive to GRTU and it gives you the opportunity to access and fish spots away from the very crowded public access sites. This has been my first year to participate and it has been worth it in my opinion.

 

[Benford]

Thank you all for the information; very helpful!

So if I'm going to fish rivers I'm going to have a pay a fee pretty much? There's not a lot of public access is what it's sounding like...and I'm guessing if there is it's probably un-Godly crowded.

I'm very happy to hear that there's a trout stream not too far, and that coastal fishing should be a blast, but now I'm worried about finding a place I can just go to and fish without worrying about paying fees and such...


And by the way MikeyBob: the majority of my family either goes to or graduated from A&M so if I cheer for a team in Texas it'll definitely be the Ags (went to a hockey game when I came to texas to interview and was very impressed with Aggie team spirit! Ags killed in the hockey game too!)

 

[txbevo]

Didn't mean to scare you about the river access. Yes, it can sometimes mean certain spots are crowded. That is mostly true during the trout stocking times. Those dates are publicly posted and can draw crowds at certain access points. However, one one of the best Hill Country rivers (and my favorite) I have accessed via public access points several times and never seen another angler. There are plenty of public access points for free and plenty of water to fish that is not crowded.

 

[Bob Lang]

You betcha! I was in SE Oklahoma about a month ago on the Lower Mountain Fork River. My son-in-law took an entomology class there with Robert Woodruff (www.flyfishingfork.com) as our teacher. We have the state record rainbow I believe from this river. While in class I found out we had several members of the Houston Fly Fishing CLub. Get with Rob and he'll fill you in. Great fishing! Beautiful scenary! Grat people. Go to the Three Rivers Fly Shop (www.threeriversflyshop.com). Linda and Jesse King and crew will give great directions and have a pretty good selection of flies and equipment. Tell them I sent you. They won't hang up on you.

 

[wtex50]

our friend in Alaska got the wrong state...the Mescalero Reservation is outside of Riodoso NM. The Guadalupe is good, but as many have said, can get crowded. I like the LLano and Perdanales. and you are not that far from some good fishing in Arkansas on the White River. Lots of folks fly fish for bass and bluegill.... You'll lovefishing the cost if you try it. Welcome to the Republic...Get you some boots and a pair of Wranglers and you'll fit right in.

 

[FlySouth]

I have suspicion that soon after moving to Houston trout may end up being the last thing on your mind.

The only native trout in the state are in the Guadalupe Mtns. (way out West) and they are still protected as I understand it. The Guadalupe River is a hot spot as others have already indicated.

In Houston though, you will be less than one hour from Trinity Bay and Galveston Bay that offer plenty of public access to the bay systems. The upper coast is typically more windy and muddy, but there is plenty of fly fishing oppurtunity....even sight casting on foot.

An hour and a half away will get you to Matagorda Bay which you will find is already much more clear than Trinity / Galveston. 2.5 hours away will put you in Rockport on Aransas Bay and 3 hours will put you in Corpus on the upper Laguna Madre.

As for freshwater, most any pond will likely hold blue gill and largemouth bass and the oppurtunities are limitless.

There are also plenty of fly shops in the city to get you started. There are wo Orvis shops, two Fishing Tackle Unlimited shops, two Bass Pro's, and two I-Fly Angler's Edge shops.

 

[dickensheets]

I actually used to live in Magnolia, 50 miles north by the Woodlands. I started fly fishing there. You can catch bluegills, bass and even a catfish in the various ponds and streams. AND carp are numerous!! They are a challenge but once you hook your first Carp you will also be hooked so to speak. Extremely strong fish. Most get broken off or cut off cuz my arms got tired or the sun was setting.

Now be careful of snakes. Don't sneak around the bushes in shorts and sandals stalking a carp. Most will run away but snakes are numerous in the "swamps".

Have fun.

ps - my avatar in on the San Jacinto "river" adjacent to I45 and FM 1488. Bass live there along with alligator gar and alligators!

 

[Benford]

Well again great information and I thank all of you for contributing!

I'm getting really excited now! I made a lists of things I have to buy when I get down there and #2 is an 8 wt rod (suppose large reel goes hand in hand with that but maybe I should make that #2.5, haha) so I can fish the coast and get on the redfish I keep hearing about.

Now I'm looking forward to some carp, ocean trout and maybe some of those ponds...never really tried fly fishing a popper or something on still-water.

I'm definitely going to hit up those shops that several of you have kindly recommended.

Thanks again for everything! I'm headed West on Tuesday, so hopefully in the next few months I'll have time to a make a fishing trip and post some pictures of my successes!

-Ben

 

[BigCliff]

Alright, I'm back. PC was off to the head shed for a high colonic.

I hope you like Houston better than I do. (No worries, its quite common)

The Guadalupe trout fishery is the nearest worth talking about. There's a few lakes and ponds closer to Houston where they stock rainbows, but powerbait and boredom generally rule the day there.

You'll have more fun and drive less by focusing on the redfish and specks at the coast, or the LARGE bass in Lake Livingston and Sam Rayburn nearby. Either way, I think you'll be spending more time swinging an 8wt than a 5wt.

I was visiting a buddy in Sealy last week, and the Colorado river near I-10 looked pretty fishy to me. You'd likely need a 14+' spey rod to cover it well, but that sounds like fun to me too.

Oh and folks, there's nothing native about the trout in the Guadalupe. They're put in the river via a tube hanging out of a truck. In good years, some of them survive the summer and exist in the river for two winters, but evidence of trout reproduction within the river has been both quite sparse, and quite recent.

 

[Benford]

I definitely plan on fishing an 8 wt more than anything.

I noticed on Texas' natural resources website that there are numerous species of fish in the bay areas around the coast, including rainbow trout apparently, but more notably jack crevalle, tarpon and redfish!

So trout fishing rivers definitely won't be visited much at all, but that coast is going to see me as often as I can make it!

 

[FlySouth]

I think you mean speckled trout (specs) rather than bows. The vast majority of coastal fly fishing in Texas is for Redfish and speckled trout.
The other species are pretty rare on the fly.

I highly suggest you read "Fly Fishing the Texas Coast" if you can find it. I'm sure a local library has it. You could also check out "Saltwater Strategies" published by Texas Fish and Game or any other book on wadefishing the Texas Coast. These books will familiarize you with the species, the times of year to fish for them, and where to find them. You can apply the casting and spinning techniques to fly fishing rather easily.

 

[BigCliff]

Trout (specks) and Reds can be caught year round, but they are definitely simpler to catch when its warmer.

Spend some time with the folks at Cut Rate on Katy Freeway and Angler's Image on Westheimer and they'll clue you in to where to fish.

Also, you'll want your tongue to sample: Rudy Lechner's at Westheimer and Gessner, Goode Co BBQ, the Pappas places, and Bucee's SW of town.

 

[flyguy66]

fly fishing in east texas comes in 3 forms. in houston, the saltwater guys have you clued in as to what is your best stuff close by. but pan fishing with 3-5wt rods on the east texas ponds and lakes can also provide great fun yearround. get a pontoon, kickboat, or kayak and you're in business. many a trout fisherman has been easily converted to a bream fisherman by casting hoppers, dries, and beetles to the weedline or near overhanging trees almost yearround in east texas. viscious strikes on every cast and fish that fight like the dickens pound for pound. and tx pan fish get big. bass are caught much in the same fashion with 6-8wt rods on poppers and shallow streamers along banks, structures, and standing timber. and you have tons of fisheries yearround to choose from and pretty cheap licenses.

the guad is nothing special. put-n-take winter trout fishery full of farm-raised trout that die in the summer. membership + lease fees make it fairly expensive, so it's mostly a bmw/mercedes-benz club sort of deal for folks from austin-san antonio.

many texas fly anglers make their way to southeastern oklahoma, northern arkansas, and new mexico and colorado for their trout fixes. you will find that se ok (lower mtn fork) is about a 6 hr drive...same as the guad and FAR superior...from houston. you will find that northern ark is about an 8-9 hour drive and home of north america's finest trophy brown trout river. trip costs there are lower than most destination fisheries, too. and new mexico and colorado offer as fine of rocky mountain and high desert trout fishing opportunities as you can find anywhere.

so look at this as a great opportunity to expand your fly fishing experiences and worldview. you can have all sorts of fun and fish tons of new water for different fish species using different tactics.

 

[Benford]

yea i was definitely confused on the rainbow trout. stopped by Orvis and Anglers Edge my first day in Houston and asked about fishing in the area and learned about spotted seatrout and specks.

might have a part-time job with Anglers Edge (iFly) so that would be a great opportunity!

definitely going to check out those restaurants you recommended Cliff and also gonna make my way around the southern mid west here and fish a few other states sooner or later.

thanks again everyone!s