Fly fishing for the Guadalupe Bass in Texas is one of the best places to learn how to fly fish.

The Guadalupe bass is a river fish and best caught with flies when fished in rivers and streams. However, it can also be fished in lakes and reservoirs. When the water temperature heats up in the early summer, the Guadalupe Bass migrate from their spring habitat to deeper water. For those Guadalupe Bass far from rivers and streams, they migrate to deep pools and riffles. They may also head further upstream, where possible, as the waters for most of their river habitat flow from the mountains where the water is much colder and only heats up as it reaches the lower altitudes.

Distribution

Of all the bass found in North America, the Guadalupe Bass has one of the smallest distributions with few others, with the Roanoke Bass having less.

The Guadalupe Bass is found on the Edwards Plateau in Colorado and Texas in the following river basins: San Antonio, Guadalupe, Colorado, Lampasas, Leon and Brazos.

Habitat

All the rivers and streams have the same characteristics in common. They contain gravel beds, fast flowing to moderate flowing waters, runs and flowing pools and creeks. These are ideal conditions for the Guadalupe bass. When they are most active in the spring and early summer, these are the best places to find them. While they also enjoy the deep water of reservoirs and lakes, they are rather lethargic and eat far less when at these deeper conditions.

Fly Fishing

Fly fishing for the Guadalupe Bass in Texas is one of the best places to learn how to fly fish. They offer a great fight, are voracious eaters and are unlikely to snap your line or rod as they are not very large fish.

They can be caught with wet flies or dry flies. For novice fly anglers, start off with dry flies as they are easier to work with than wet flies.

For more experienced anglers, the bamboo rod is recommended for fishing the rivers and streams as it provides better sensitivity and is lighter.

A primary food group of the Guadalupe Bass are water born insects such as the dragonfly, damselfly, midges and mayfly. Use flies that mimic the appearance of these insects for best results.

Bait casting

The usual suspects include Jim Stewart’s Spin-N-Jim and the Buzz Bug.

Spawning

During spawning, use spinner baits Spin-N-Jim, the Woolly Bugger and the Buzz Bug as these lures cause the Guadalupe Bass to strike as the adult Guadalupe Bass are hungry after spawning.