"Paul Goodwin" wrote in message ...

I just accepted a offer from a company in Austin, Texas and will be
relocating in the next couple of weeks. I am hoping that in the long list
of differences between Austin and my home in the Northeast I don't have to
include trout fishing.

Is there any trout fishing in Texas and better yet in the greater Austin
area?

BD did a nice job describing things in this area. I'll just add
that the Guadalupe seems to be making a strong comeback after the
"hundred-year flood" of last year. This flood had supposedly wiped
out the trout that had been "summering-over" in the river. AFAIK,
this is the only place in Texas where the water stays cool enough for
trout to survive from one season to the next (it's a tailwater fed
directly from the bottom of Canyon Lake), and until the floods caused
the water to turn over, it was not uncommon for folks to catch some
pretty big fish (the state record came from there and is something
like 7 lbs.).

Having said all that, these are still hatchery fish, so it's up to
you whether you consider it worth your while. Most folks dredge with
weight and SJ worms and/or glo-bugs and such, though the fellow at the
Austin Angler told me the other day that some fish were being taken on
top on Stimulators (?!).

Basically, it seems that these fish respond best to anything with
orange, red or yellow, and I'm sure a few tan/brown "Purina flies"
would do the trick as well. I've been tying up a bunch of dry flies
that incorporate red or orange, like the Sierra Bright Dot and will be
giving them a try sometime next week. (I just can't really get into
the bobber-fishing that most folks do around here.)

If that's not your bag, but you want to still fish rivers/streams
rather than lakes, you can always go to the upper Guadalupe. You can
find a fair amount of wadeable water there, and you'll get a chance to
fish for the native Guadalupe bass. These aren't your big-bellied
largemouth, they are feisty little bass that tend to hang around water
that looks almost like trout habitat.

There are also largemouth and smallmouth in the river, and the
setting is so beautiful that you'll almost forget you're in Texas.
;-)

If you hang around here for a while, you'll probably find yourself
getting into other warmwater species as well. If you simply don't
like the idea of lake/reservoir fishing, there are still plenty of
rivers in the area that should keep you interested. The Blanco,
Pedernales, San Marcos can all be excellent (though access is
sometimes limited because the majority of river frontage down here is
privately-owned). They all have good populations of sunfish, bass and
catfish, and they all respond to certain flies.

Also, we fish pretty much year-round here, with the dog-days of
summer normally being our "off-season". When you get here, check out
the Austin Angler and the new Sportsman's Finest store for advice. I
used to always recommend the A.A., but the fellow who probably knows
more about fishing this area than anyone else (Joe Robinson) is at
S.F. (He sold me my first ff'ing rigs back in 1983 when he was at the
A.A.)


Chuck Vance