Fly Fishing the Guadalupe River. Mark Dillow

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      Guadalupe River (Central Texas)

       Location: Central Texas, 16 miles northwest of New Braunfels, between Austin and San Antonio. During the winter months, fly fishers focus on the trophy trout zone located near the small town of Sattler. Warmwater species can be pursued the entire length of the river.

      Birthed from limestone springs on the Edwards Plateau in the Texas Hill Country, the north and south forks of the Guadalupe converge in Kerr County near the town of Hunt

      to form the main stem of the river. There, it begins the journey to San Antonio Bay on the Gulf of Mexico, covering nearly 230 miles as it negotiates cypress-lined canyons, cliffs, and coastal plains.

      The river ran generally unmolested to the Gulf until 1964, when the Army Corps of Engineers completed the construction of Canyon Dam. The dam was installed to help moderate the notorious mood swings of nature found in this region, holding back floods from tropical rains and providing water storage against droughts for municipal, industrial, and agricultural needs.

      The use of the dam to protect lives and property was successful, but it created a 10-mile segment of the river too cold for native fish to thrive. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the river held promise as a coldwater fishery. Enter Lone Star Beer.

      The owner of Lone Star Brewery at that time was an ardent trout fisherman who sponsored trout tanks at various events around the state, to increase

      interest in angling. Afterward, the trout were dumped into local waters for sport fishers to enjoy. Lone Star approached Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) about potentially stocking the Guadalupe River with trout and eying its potential as a year-round fishery. The brewery donated 10,000 fish for the first stocking in collaboration with Texas Parks and Wildlife. This was the genesis of the southernmost sustainable trout stream in the United States.

      Although a trout fishery was established, access to the river is challenging. Still, armed with a little information, anglers should have little difficulty enjoying this slice of Eden. In Texas the vast majority of property is privately held, including the banks of the Guadalupe River. With the exception of access near Canyon Dam, the public has few options to sample the fine fishing and paddling that the river provides.