Tag You're It!

Dec 13

I wanted to share something with you that I'm pretty excited about. This past Friday (December 11) I took two of my favorite clients with Horizon Bank on a float trip on the Lower Colorado River (LCR). About ¼-mile from the takeout one of the anglers hooked a big Guadalupe bass that I quickly netted. We started taking pictures of the beautiful bass when I notice an odd growth up near its dorsal fin. Upon examination I discovered a tag covered in a layer algae, which I gently scraped away.

That’s when the light bulb came on in my head and I realized this is one of the fish tagged in this recent Texas Tech/TPWD Guadalupe bass study that All Water Guides has been involved with. I took a bunch of pictures for documentation—as well length and weight—before we released her.

On my way home to Austin I called Matt Acre, a graduate student at Texas Tech, one of the biologist who have dedicated the last 2-years to this study. I told him the story including the location and he could not believe what he was hearing. He stated that the particular type of tag was only used on 200 bass between Austin and Columbus Texas. He said there are literally thousands of Guadalupe bass every mile of LCR, so the odds of us catching one with a tag was astronomical. There are Approximately 100 river miles between Longhorn dam and Columbus—talk about a needle in a haystack!

Here are a few pictures of the fish. The clients could tell I was pretty excited—to say the least. This is one more unique story from the experienced guides at AWG who have a lifetime of knowledge and experience on this gem of a fishery.

Hope your weekend was as good as my clients and mine.

— Shea

Bonner Armbruster

Bonner grew up on the banks of the San Marcos River, where he learned to swim, paddle, and fish at a very young age. By the age of 6, the older boys at the rope swing had bestowed upon him the coveted title of "River Rat", a moniker he still answers to, with pride, to this day.

A lifelong angler, Bonner learned to fish first with conventional tackle, and eventually found himself drawn to the challenges inherent to fishing exclusively on the fly. His engagement with fly fishing parallels his fascination with craft in general, encompassing the fluid mechanics of fly casting, the dark art of fly tying, and all the myriad knowledge required to understand a fishery from headwaters to its end.

Given the choice, Bonner will always elect for trips in beautiful, secluded settings with clean water and healthy fish over more convenient and potentially crowded locales. He prides himself on his knowledge of Central Texas river systems and is always chasing new water to share with friends and clients.

Born into a line of educators, Bonner also enjoys the instructional aspects of guiding, and loves to see the results of clear, concise instruction in fly angling play out on the water, no matter the age of the angler.

When he's not guiding, you can find Bonner in his woodshop, where he produces award-winning fine furniture, or at his home outside of San Marcos spending time with his wife Samantha and daughter Dottie - one a fellow River Rat and the other one in training.

https://allwaterguides.com/bonner-armbruster

Tag You're It!

Texas on the Fly (Day 1 of 4) Guest Post by Tony Wheeler

Striped Bass and The Other Guadalupe River