Texas
Fly fishing in Texas
Short answer
Texas fly fishing for trout means the Guadalupe River below Canyon Dam, the southernmost year-round trout fishery in the United States, stocked with rainbow and brown trout. Elsewhere the fly rod is for Guadalupe bass, largemouth and coastal redfish. A licence is required from age 17, and the trout season runs from late autumn into spring.
What makes Texas different
There should be no trout in Texas, and there is one river's worth. Canyon Dam releases cold water from the bottom of Canyon Lake, and the Guadalupe below it stays cool enough that trout survive the summer in central Texas — the southernmost year-round trout fishery in the United States. It exists because anglers paid for it: Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited, the largest TU chapter in the country, raises the money that stocks the river with larger fish than the state programme would, and negotiates for the dam releases that keep them alive. It is a fishery built by a conservation organisation rather than a wildlife agency, which makes it unusual anywhere. The rest of the state's fly fishing is a different sport entirely — Guadalupe bass in the Hill Country rivers, and redfish on the flats down the coast.
What trout and other fish are in Texas?
- Rainbow trout
- Stocked into the Guadalupe tailwater, and the bulk of what you will catch.
- Brown trout
- Stocked in smaller numbers, and the fish that holds over and grows.
- Guadalupe bass
- The state fish, native to the Hill Country rivers and nowhere else in the world.
- Largemouth bass
- Everywhere, and the fish most Texans actually fish for.
- Redfish
- The coastal flats. A different trip, and arguably the best fly fishing in the state.
Where to fly fish in Texas
- Guadalupe River below Canyon Dam
- The only real trout water in Texas. Cold releases, winter stocking, and special regulation stretches.
- Llano River
- Hill Country granite and clear water. Guadalupe bass, and wadeable most of the year.
- Colorado River below Austin
- Tailwater holding bass and the occasional very large one.
- South Llano
- Spring-fed, clear and pretty, with good Guadalupe bass fishing.
- Laguna Madre
- Coastal flats for redfish. Shallow, enormous and sight-fished.
- Devils River
- Remote, difficult to access, and the clearest water in Texas.
When to fly fish in Texas
| When | What is happening |
|---|---|
| November – December | Stocking begins on the Guadalupe. The trout season starts as the rest of the state cools off. |
| January – March | Peak trout months. Cold releases, stocked fish settled in, and comfortable weather to stand in a river. |
| April – May | The last good trout weeks before the heat. Hill Country bass fishing comes into its own. |
| June – August | Too hot for trout fishing to be pleasant and often too hot for the fish. Bass at dawn, redfish on the coast. |
| September – October | Water cools, bass fishing is at its best, and the coast fishes well before the first fronts. |
Do you need a license to fly fish in Texas?
Yes. Licenses are issued by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
| License | Price |
|---|---|
| Resident, annual | $30 |
| Non-resident, annual | $58 |
Figures are TPWD's rates for the freshwater fishing package, which bundles the licence with the required freshwater endorsement. The licence is valid from the date of sale to 31 August. Prices change — check with the agency before you buy.
Rules worth knowing before you go
- A fishing licence is required from age 17. Everyone under 17 fishes without one, resident or not.
- A freshwater endorsement is required alongside the licence, and the resident and non-resident freshwater packages already include it.
- The licence year runs from the date of sale to 31 August, rather than a year from purchase.
- The Guadalupe has special regulation stretches below Canyon Dam with their own slot limits and tackle rules.
- No licence is needed to fish from the bank inside a Texas state park, for anyone of any age.
Regulations change every year and vary water by water. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department rule book is the only authority — this page is a starting point, not a legal reference.
Flies that matter in Texas
Each of these is a card in the deck, and each has a full page in Our Fly-brary.
Keep reading
- Do I need a fishing license? — how licensing works across states
- How to read water — where trout hold, anywhere
- Best time of day to fly fish — the seasonal logic behind the table above
- Our Fly-brary — every fly in the deck, explained
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The deck
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A 54-card fly-fishing deck of original hand-drawn flies, each explaining what it imitates. Made by a father-and-daughter team in Eagle, Idaho.
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