FLY-FISHING ANGLERS FLOCK to the Guadalupe River and multiple other sites stocked with rainbow trout this winter. Google TPWD trout stocking schedule for dates and locations. But except for an area beginning 800-yards below Canyon Dam on the Guadalupe, any tackle may be used to fish for rainbows, as illustrated by the attached photo of a lady on the Guadalupe River using spinning tackle on a foggy morning. See the TPWD Outdoor Annual for the special restrictions on tackle in the area mentioned above. (Photo by John Jefferson)

by John Jefferson

I may have seen other rivers, but the first one I remember seeing was the Guadalupe between Seguin and New Braunfels. A big war and gasoline and tire rationing prohibited travel. We didn’t go places until it was over.

The river was wide, seemingly deep, and a beautiful shade of green when I first saw it from the high bluff upon which my grandfather had built his home. He had opened a fishing camp and small store selling soft drinks, bread, bait, and other necessities.

I was about nine and didn’t understand how to pronounce the Spanish word “Guadalupe.” Instead, I called it the “Guadalcup.” I also didn’t know how much a part of me the river would become.

I caught my first fish there, fired my first rifle, bravely swam all the way across it to keep up with other kids although I had never swum more than a few yards before. And dodged bullets fired by a careless kid shooting pecans off a tree that fell on both sides of my wooden rowboat in the middle of the river. So, you can see the river is special to me.

I was excited when I heard about a new Guadalupe dam west of New Braunfels. It was completed in 1964. That gave Central Texas another lake for big bass. For years, it lacked structure and vegetation. Trophy bass were rare. I fished it anyway. That’s changed in past years.

The lake’s tailrace below Canyon Dam created new species habitat. The cold, swift water coming from the dam was ideal for rainbow trout, and a successful fishery was established. In the main lake, smallmouth bass and striped bass found a home and delighted fishermen. As hydrilla began to take hold, largemouth bass prospered, too. The lake record is still only 11.69, but that’s a record ripe for the breaking.
Lone Star Beer got permission to stock excess rainbows from a boat show fishing tank below the dam. That first afternoon in the spring, 1986, was a magical time. Using spinning equipment and a small “safety pin style” black and white spinner called an “H and H,” I caught a five-fish limit of rainbows – two of which measured 14-inches!

A number of release sites are still to be stocked by TPWD in late January, February, and even early March. These are small, catchable-size trout. BE SURE and check the TPW Outdoor Annual for special trout regulations on the Guad. That’s a great place to take kids who fish.

Adults need licenses and endorsements, but kids under seventeen fish free.

The restricted zone beginning 800-yards below the dam is a trophy rainbow area. Trout Unlimited has stocked it several times since November 2022 with 20-inch trout and has leased access points for its members. The state record rainbow weighed 8.92-pounds and the Guadalupe River record is 8.24. That’s another record to watch.

For those who wanted to fish western trout streams, the Guadalupe is it. It even resembles the West in places.

JJ