All Water Guides friend Brandon, owner of Sea Level Apparel wrote up a quick blog post about the striper fishing he got into after the floods and before the trout on the Guadalupe River. I asked him to tell me a little something about himself as an introduction. "when i'm not running SeaLevel, I fish" he replied, a complicated and profound man of many words it seems.

Striped Bass and The Other Guadalupe River

By: Brandon Fox

One doesn’t immediately think of the Texas Hill Country when this fish comes to mind. The blistering cold winds and rocky shorelines of the mighty northeast are usually first to thought, along with surf rods and funny accents.

Snapping out of that, lets head south. Way south. To 30 minutes outside of San Antonio. Here the Guadalupe River flows from its headwaters near Hunt, TX down to Sattler, TX where it forms Canyon Lake, and thus a tailrace fishery below its dam. While the main attraction here are the rainbow trout that are stocked by both GRTU and the state of Texas, there is a fishable amount of striper lurking in the deeper pockets. This summer, heavy rains rose Canyon Lake levels and forced the flood gates to be opened, washing in hundreds of striper in the up to 7000 cfs flows. The flows then dropped, and the striper became stuck in the deeper sections, providing you and I with some awesome fishing to be had.

When targeting these things, I usually bring along heavier gear intended for saltwater. A 7 or 8 wt rod will do just fine, matched with an intermediate or full sink line. Leaders do not have to be anything fancy, and a 10 pound tippet will usually suffice. If fishing an area with boulders or submerged trees, you can always bump it up as necessary. As far as flies go, if the striper are feeding, whatever fly you throw will probably get hit. Some favorites of mine are the Casey Smartt’s Deadhead Minnow, OR Matt Bennett’s Lunch Money fly. As always the super trusty clouser minnow will work as it does for just about anything. Striper are a predominantly dark, harsh weather species. Cloudy and rainy days are usually the best bet, along with sun up and sundown being other key feeding times. Sunny, bluebird days may be great to fish in for you and I, but the striper most often shut down in settings like this. You’ll see them cruising around, but getting a strike is another story.

In your face!  That's Mr. Clouser to you. — In your face! That's Mr. Clouser to you.

With the exception of a few 30+ pound fish lurking around, the majority of the fish in the Guadalupe Tailrace are small; we’re talking 15 inches or so and under. However, as you might know, striped bass are natives to saltwater, and they know how to bring a hit. In feeding mode they will charge a fly with abandon, strike with vicious intent, and fight above their weight class no matter how big or small. So - find a dark, cold, stormy morning, and go make yourself miserable for a few hours. When you see the splash, the flash of silver, and your backing screaming off of the reel, you’ll find a way to smile.

Enjoy,

Brandon Fox