Water slightly low and very clear. Fishing steady. Best in low light hours. Concentrate on shade during the heat of the day, and fish terrestrials against the bank. We are seeing some nymphing activity in sections of the creek where fish are positioned in the current. Fish a hopper/dropper or dry/dropper for best results.
Top patterns: Sunfish – Morrish Hopper, Rio Getter, and Wilcox JC Special. Bass – Brushy Creek Streamer, Morrish Hopper.
Low and clear but fishing well! Rio Grande Cichlids are thick in some stretches. Concentrate on backwaters/eddies for highest numbers of rios. Sunfish and Rios are providing high fish counts but bass are steady as well. As a general rule, fish shade or vertical structure mid-day for best results. Cooler, low light hours are best for bass but sunfish and rios should remain steady throughout the day. Top patterns: Sunfish – Morrish Hopper, Rio Getter, and Wilcox JC Special. Bass – Brushy Creek Streamer, Morrish Hopper.
90 cfs at Junction, 78 cfs at Mason, and 90 cfs at Llano. Thanks to recent rains, flows have bumped up a bit. Fishing has been good on the river but be prepared for HOT mid-day temps! Dress right, bring TONS of water, and remember the sunscreen. Bass are still slamming hoppers and streamers. Sunfish are giving it away on hopper patterns fished against the bank. Freshwater drum and carp are somewhat selective but still steady on damsel nymph patterns. Top Patterns: Bass – Morrish Hopper, Brushy Creek Streamer, Rainy’s Carp Tease, and small hair bugs. Sunfish – Rio Getter, Morrish Hopper, Jim’s Damsel. Drum and Carp – Anything in a 10-12 that’s olive and looks like a dragonfly or damsel nymph! Jim’s Damsel, Rainy’s Carp Tease, and Near Nuff Sculpin are all good bets.
Oncorhynchus is Greek meaning “hook snout”, and mykiss is the Kamchatkan name for rainbow trout. Rainbow trout have a characteristic salmon-like shape. Dark spots are clearly visible on the tail fin, which is slightly forked. The anal fin has 10-12 rays. The back is usually a dark olive color, shading to silvery white on the underside. The body is heavily speckled, and there is a pink to red stripe running lengthwise along the fish’s sides.
The warmouth is somewhat larger than either rock bass or green sunfish (with which it is often confused) but very similar otherwise in that it is large-mouthed and heavy-bodied. Adult warmouth are dark, with mottled brown coloration. Their belly is generally golden, and males have a bright orange spot at the base of the dorsal fin. Three to five reddish-brown streaks radiate from the eyes, and the gill flaps are often red. Warmouth have three spines in the anal fin, 10 spines in the dorsal fin, and small teeth are present on the tongue. These fish range in size from 4 to10 inches (10.2 to 25 cm), but can grow to more than 12 inches (31 cm), and weigh up to 2.25 pounds (1 kg).
The striped bass is the largest member of the sea bass family, often called “temperate” or “true” bass to distinguish it from species such as largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass which are actually members of the sunfish family Centrarchidae. Although Morone is of unknown derivation, saxatilis is Latin meaning “dwelling among rocks.” As with other true basses, the dorsal fin is clearly separated into spiny and soft-rayed portions. Striped bass are silvery, shading to olive-green on the back and white on the belly, with seven or eight uninterrupted horizontal stripes on each side of the body. Younger fish may resemble white bass (Morone chrysops). However, striped bass have two distinct tooth patches on the back of the tongue, whereas white bass have one tooth patch. Striped bass have two sharp points on each gill cover, and white bass have one. Additionally, the second spine on the anal fin is about half the length of the third spine in striped bass, and about two-thirds the length of the third spine in white bass.
The smallmouth bass is generally green with dark vertical bands rather than a horizontal band along the side. There are 13-15 soft rays in the dorsal fin, and the upper jaw never extends beyond the eye. Known maximum size in Texas exceeds 7.5 pounds. Micropterus is Greek meaning “small fin” [see Guadalupe bass for further explanation]. The species epithet dolomieu refers to the French mineralogist M. Dolomieu.
Cichlasoma is derived from cichla, the Greek word for “thrush.” It means “resembling cichla.” The word cyanoguttatum is also Greek and means “blue spotted.” Rio Grande cichlid are distinctive in that they exhibit cream and turquoise colored spots, giving them a speckled look. Background color varies from very dark to light olive. Lighter colored specimens usually exhibit five dark vertical bars. Both dorsal and anal fins are long and tapered extending behind the caudal peduncle (fleshy portion of the tail). Unlike tilapia and most sunfishes, which typically have three spines on the anal fin, Rio Grande cichlids are equipped with five to six anal fin spines. Adult males may also develop a pronounced “hump” on the head which is not present in tilapia. Adults usually range up to about 6 inches in length.
The green sunfish, like warmouth, has a large mouth and a heavy, black bass body shape. The body is dark green, almost blue, dorsally, fading to lighter green on the sides, and yellow to white ventrally. Faint vertical bars are apparent on the sides. Some scales have turquoise spots. Lepomis, the generic name, is Greek and means “scaled gill cover.” The species epithet cyanellus is also Greek and means “blue”.