100° in the Shade — No Problem!

July 27, 2013 / Alvin Dedeaux

What do you do when it’s 100° in the shade and you’re on summer vacation? Simple, you go fishing! Let’s face it, it’s hot! However, the fish don’t seem to care about the heat. With good hydration and sun protection—including quality SPF 30+ clothing, and the occasional swim break anglers can enjoy themselves on our Hill Country Rivers all summer long. Over the last several weeks the fishing has remained good despite hot weather, rain, and “yo-yo” flows on area rivers. Summer patterns that are getting the job done include poppers, clouser minnows, weighted rubber-legged streamers and crawfish imitations.

Accomplished angler, Alex Butler (pictured) fished with us and put together a respectable mix of fish on both the Colorado and San Marcos rivers. Alex and his wife Lee Ann caught good quantities of quality bass—both Guadalupe and largemouth. An added bonus was a day of surprise catches, which included various sunfish and a monster Rio Grande Cichlid (Cichlasoma cyanoguttatum) that measured 10”. Alex was able to check off this species (Cichlid) from the TPWD Freshwater Elite Angler Award “big fish” list. After fishing with Alex, it’s not surprising that he holds the Colorado River water body record for a Guadalupe bass on a fly rod.

On another note, with recent research coming from our friends at TPWD and Texas Sate University, everyone at All Water Guides (AWG) is quite confident that the new world record Guadalupe Bass will come out of the Colorado River east of Austin. This was echoed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Aquatic Scientist and avid fly fisherman, Dakus Geeslin who recently shared his expert opinion in response to the latest research on Guadalupe Bass, “This is pretty significant, in fact up until this latest round of genetic analysis, folks including myself believed the Guads east of Austin to be slightly hybridized. ...You guys [AWG] should really latch onto this as an opportunity to put somebody on a world record pure Guadalupe Bass.”

We appreciate the great work and collaboration between Texas Parks and Wildlife and Texas State University researchers. Happy to see 100% strain Guadalupe Bass in the Colorado River! For years we have had our share of naysayers who have questioned our catches/photos of huge Guads as “hybrids” or “spotted bass”. Our intuition has been validated at last! Collectively, the guides at AWG have spent over two decades fishing for Guads on the Colorado River. We love nothing more than sharing our unmatched experience and knowledge with others.

Here is the link to the research mentioned above:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00028487.2012.758170

Alex Butler with a nice largemouth caught on the Colorado River.

1 Comment 2 Likes

Better than expected!!!

April 20, 2013 / Alvin Dedeaux

Better than expected!!! But still a tough day yesterday. Water was still dirty and the wind, it seemed, could not make up its mind. It was coming on strong from all directions. JTVZ and I fished Lil' Web to Big Web with Kevin, Dave and Chum.

(Chum was quite a character that "fished" but mostly handed out advice)

Dave used a Echo3 6wt. Hitting the bank hard with a popper but had the most luck using an extra fast sink tip with a 'crawfish like looking thang' in the fast water where we found some Guadalupe bass. My boat were folks from out of state with no knowledge of our state fish, I love peoples reaction to this fish "wow what a fighter"

Absolutely gorgeous day and again we had the entire river to ourselves. The fish must be getting really hungry.

Comment 2 Likes

tags / www.austinonthefly.com, www.echoflyfishing.com, www.orvis.com

"They pull hard"

April 02, 2013 / Bonner Armbruster

Good weekend. Between the state flower in full bloom and our state fish the Guadalupe bass in an eating frenzy, it's hard to beat central Texas right now. Many bass to the boat this weekend, heavy orange crayfish seemed to be the ticket. These things can't eat any more than they do, taking giant flies with live crayfish still in their throats. Lots of bent rods out there right now. Enjoy the Bananza.

2 Comments 1 Likes

tags / fly fishing, Colorado River, Guadalupe Bass

A Whole Lotta Bass

March 31, 2013 / Alvin Dedeaux

I have been on the water 27 of the past 30 days and I have to say spring fishing is off to a great start. Most of my time has been on the Colorado River. The water is low and clear and the bass have moved off the spawning beds and are feeding aggressively. We were starting to have quite a few good topwater days but a few recent cold fronts have slowed the surface activity. 80 degree temps the next few days should get the bass looking up again. Most days we are catching quite a few Guadalupe Bass ith some as large as 3 pounds. we are also hooking and landing a few Largemouth Bass over 5 pounds. The next couple of months should provide some of the best bass fishing of the year.

1 Comment 1 Likes

tags / Fly Fishing, Guadalupe Bass, Colorado River, Patagonia, Yeti Coolers, Coasta Del Mar

O'brothers where are thou

March 24, 2013 / Alvin Dedeaux

Had a great trip on the Colorado with brothers Jason and Jordan. The day started a bit slow making us think O'fish where are thou. But slowly the fishing improved and the bite was on. Once the sun was up and with warmer mid-day weather the Guadalupe bass were all over our surface flies. Flip-Flop poppers and Alvin's Double-Crease patterns in yellow, orange and red made the bass go crazy. The Colorado river is gin clear and in perfect condition for catching bass on the fly. With the bass moving into post-spawn they will be looking to fatten-up, which always means good numbers and bigger fish. All-and-all a great day on the river!

Jason with a nice Guadalupe bass caught on a a red Alvin's Double Crease fly.

Comment 1 Likes

Guad-city 3-16,17,19

March 24, 2013 / Bonner Armbruster

Good fishing in the last few weeks. This report encompasses the last 4 trips as they have all been similar. Due to the largemouth spawn, and lack of activity from the bucket mouth, we've been catching mostly Guadalupe bass lately. Most people who catch this species will tell you that they are more aggressive than the largemouth bass and fight a bit harder pound for pound. So there has been no lack of thrills out there. I personally have a love for this fish that dates back to the first one I ever landed back in the late 70s on the Pedernales river, near the state park. If your interested in catching this gem of a bass there is no better place on earth than the lower Colorado.

Comment 1 Likes

tags / Guadalupe Bass, Colorado River, Fly Fishing

Canoe fishing Utley to Bastrop

March 22, 2013 / John Erskine

JT and I made a run from Utley to Bastrop in the canoe this week. The fishing was fantastic and the scenery on this stretch is wonderful. The river is really clean and there are lots of rocky riffles in the river and many scenic spots along the way to enjoy. The first few miles get hit pretty hard by boaters, but after the first set of rapids the fishing really picks up. We started catching fish right away and had good luck all day! The middle 7 miles of this stretch are virtually impossible to reach with a motorboat, so if you want to see some water that very few people fish, you should consider a trip!

Comment 2 Likes

3-21-13 Colorado River

March 21, 2013 / Alvin Dedeaux

Good fishing today on the Colorado River. The day started off kind of slow and got better as it got warmer. Spring is defiantly under way. We caught quite a few nice Guadalupe Bass as well as a handful of Largemouth bass. The best was a Largemouth bass of around 4 pounds. At the end of the day we had boated between 30 and 40 fish and all of them were caught on top!

Comment 1 Likes

March Bass-Madness

March 19, 2013 / Alvin Dedeaux

March Bass-Madness is in full swing and over Spring Break the fish did not dissapoint and neither did the weather. Mornings were frigid (39° to 50°) and made for cool boat rides on the Colorado River. However, soon after shutting down the boat it didn’t take long to start hooking nice largemouth and Guadalupe bass. Most of the action early in the week was with subsurface flies—baitfish/streamers and crawfish patterns. With the weekend came hot weather and water temps reaching 70°. You all know what this means—POPPERS! Though we only had small males on poppers the quantities were impressive. That will soon change as we rapidly move into post-spawn fishing for giant hungry female bass who love to eat well-presented poppers. Hope to see you on the water and thanks for all the “likes” on the All Water Guides Facebook page.

1 Comment 1 Likes

Spring is Here!

March 09, 2013 / Bonner Armbruster

Spring is here and the good fishing has begun. In the past 10 days I have had 3 trips on the Colorado river near Smithville Texas. Average count was 20 plus bass per angler, with a few bass up to 4.5 pounds. Mostly large Guadalupe bass up to 2.5 pounds. Real clear water and newly budding trees make for a beautiful Central Texas day. It's strange to say but it's going to get better in the next 30 days.

1 Comment 2 Likes

3-1-13 Colorado River

March 01, 2013 / Alvin Dedeaux

Great fishing today on the Colorado River near Smithville. I fished with Mike and Ben Thompson. We caught quite a few nice Guadalupe Bass up to 3 pounds. We caught a few Largemouth Bass as well. The fish of the day was a huge Largemouth Bass. We caught most of our fish on a crawfish patterns. we also picked up a few on weighted Clouser minnows. The water was in the high 50s in the morning and rose into the low 60s later in the day. The low last night was in the high 20s. Despite the cold temperatures the bass were pretty active. Bass fishing should really pick up in the next few weeks as temperatures rise.

Comment 3 Likes

Winter Scouting on the Colorado River — 02/23/13

February 26, 2013 / Alvin Dedeaux

With warmer and longer days the bass are heading into prime pre-spawn mode. While most of the area guides are still on the Guadalupe River harassing the trout I decided to do some scouting in preparation for the always crazy March-bass-madness.

I grabbed my 8 year-old daughter Elli and friend Tyler Reisig—a yankee steelheader and southern bass junky—to hit the water in the jetsled for a memorable day of CATCHING and RELEASING. The conditions were perfect with air temperatures hitting near 80, gin-clear water, and river temperatures holding in the mid 60's. Most of our fish came from sub-surface streamers and crawfish patterns fished on my new Rio Stream Tip sinking line. If you haven't tried this line you are missing the mark—this line is incredible. The best part of the day was watching my daughter Elli catch six nice bass on her spinning rod rigged with a crawfish. All-in-all a great day on the water!

If you want to be a part of March-bass-madness of the Colorado River you need to book your trip with All Water Guides Service soon—our calendars are filling up fast!

Comment 1 Likes

Lower Colorado, Feburary 17, 2013

February 18, 2013 / Alvin Dedeaux

JD and I hit the Colorado yesterday. We ran a few miles up river from Smithville and after the first sand bar we had the river to ourselves, as usual, on the Lower Colorado. The wind made it difficult but we managed to boat 15-20 fish in a few hours, with a handful of nice ones. LOW AND SLOW was the key yesterday. I used a 6wt with 150 grains sinker with a few different streamers having the most success with a Belly Dancer (no clue, it’s a Montana thing) but I liked it. The fish were where they should have been. I missed some nice opportunities and we both had some good thumps, a little wintertime rust I think. We were down to t-shirts and flip-flops by early afternoon and it’s only going to get better… Spring is near.

Comment 2 Likes

tags / Colorado River, Fly Fishing

2-10-13 Guadalupe River

February 10, 2013 / Alvin Dedeaux

Good fishing today on the Guadalupe River. We caught a bunch of nice trout on an assortment of flies. San Juan Worms and RS2s were the most productive flies.

1 Comment 2 Likes

tags / Fly Fishing, Guadalupe River, Rainbow Trout