Warm Water Report

The warm water fishing in the Texas Hill Country has been a mixed affair of late. We have seen days when the fish will move 6 feet to take a fly, and others were you can bring a fly within an inch of a bass, only to have the fish slowly turn away. The trick for successfully targeting bass in late fall is often persistence and being at the right place at the right time.

The most productive fishing days are days when the weather pattern is stable and has been stable for at least 3 days. The quality of the fishing has also improved in the past few days, mostly due to the fact that our overnight lows are back into the mid 50s, while the afternoon highs are staying in the 70s. This is the time of year when we get our “Indian Summer” that will bring nice bass out from their stumps and snags. On the days when we are experiencing weather pattern changes the fishing can still be good, but is subject to shut down as the front moves through. If you are fishing ahead or right on the front, then the fishing can be excellent, once the front has moved through the fish often move into deeper water and will wait to see if winter is here or if the Indian summer will return. Another factor that has affected the fishing has been the rains we are finally receiving in the Texas Hill Country.

For the first time in almost two years the ground in the Hill Country is wet and so much of the rains we have been receiving, and that we are forecast to receive in the next few months, will be flowing into our rivers and lakes. With each rain event there is typically a 2-3 day window after the rains subside that the water is stained. The first day or two will put the fish down but a little stain on the water can allow you to get a little closer to the fishy spots before casting.
After the rains subside and the water clears, we have continued to enjoy nice sight casting days on both the Llano and Colorado Rivers. The San Marcos has received a number of rises coming off the Blanco River but the fish are settling back down and the fishing should keep improving as the current weather pattern holds. On the extreme end of what we see in the Texas Hill Country, on October 22, in 40 minutes, the Pedernales River in Johnson City went from 230 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 22,500 cfs and, at one point that day was increasing the level of Lake Travis by one foot per hour.

Fly patterns for this time of year are almost all streamer patterns. My best producing fly on the Llano has been in olive, and white has worked very well on the Colorado.

The forecast for the next week calls for stable temperatures (lows in the 50s, highs in the 70s) and mostly stable rain chances. Now is an excellent time to get in that last minute bass trip before trout season settles in.