The Guadalupe River—the southernmost year-round trout fishery in the US—is again within the nationwide highlight. The Victoria Advocate reported on February 10 that Trout Limitless has once more acknowledged the Guadalupe as certainly one of America’s “High 100 Trout Streams,” a distinction that resurfaced this week alongside the discharge of Chris Johnson’s new e book, “Texas Fly Fishing,” and the lead-up to a reimagined Troutfest TX 26 occasion in New Braunfels, Texas.
The timing isn’t any accident. Final July’s devastating floods hammered the Guadalupe hall, and the native Guadalupe River chapter of Trout Limitless (GRTU) has retooled its signature annual gathering right into a direct flood-relief and habitat-restoration fundraiser. This 12 months’s theme—”Mend the River”—alerts that Troutfest TX 26 is designed as a lot to rebuild as it’s to rejoice.
Troutfest TX 26: Mend the River
Troutfest TX 26 takes place Saturday, February 21, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the Lazy L&L Campgrounds in New Braunfels, Texas. The format is a banquet night time that includes a keynote handle, a stay public sale, a web-based silent public sale, door prizes, and meals and beer. Regional reporting has underscored the occasion’s pivot towards flood aid, and GRTU has made clear that proceeds will go on to river-restoration efforts on the Guadalupe.
For fly fishers outdoors Texas, the occasion doubles as an introduction to a tailwater fishery that has quietly earned nationwide credentials. For locals, it’s a likelihood to put money into the river’s future at a second when that funding issues most.
A Tailwater Constructed on Chilly Releases—and Protected by Particular Regs
What units the Guadalupe aside is identical factor that makes tailwaters in all places definitely worth the journey: dependable chilly water, even when the encircling panorama is something however “trout nation.” Chilly releases from Canyon Lake maintain downstream trout-management zones cool sufficient for rainbow trout to carry over year-round—an exception to the broader Texas mannequin, through which stocked trout are harvested earlier than summer season warmth makes survival unattainable.
These administration zones include particular laws. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) defines two particular trout zones on the Guadalupe, each artificial-lures-only:
- Trout Zone 1 (800 yards under Canyon Dam downstream to the east bridge on Freeway 306): a 12- to 18-inch slot restrict, five-fish each day bag, and just one trout 18 inches or longer could also be saved.
- Trout Zone 2 (from the east Freeway 306 bridge downstream to the second River Highway crossing): 18-inch minimal, one-trout each day bag.
For visiting anglers, these laws are an enormous a part of why the Guadalupe has remained greater than a novelty. The foundations are designed to create an actual fishery—one the place holdover fish are attainable and bigger trout are usually not only a rumor.
Stockings, Entry, and Why the River Is a Focal Level This Winter
Texas trout season is at all times a brief runway. Statewide, TPWD deliberate to inventory 335,048 rainbow trout from late November via early March, and the company overtly encourages harvest in most waters as a result of trout can not survive Texas warmth as soon as spring arrives. The Guadalupe tailwater is completely different—so it will get completely different consideration.
In a winter-season access and stocking announcement, TPWD highlighted a “no payment” public-access lease at Camp Huaco Springs, positioned between New Braunfels and Sattler, providing practically a half-mile of fishable financial institution. The lease opened December 5 and runs via March 7 throughout daylight.
The identical launch detailed the winter stocking push within the Canyon Tailrace: shut to twenty,000 rainbow trout stocked throughout weekly runs from early December via late January, together with a supplemental batch offered via the Water-Oriented Recreation District of Comal County (WORD). TPWD additionally credited GRTU as a companion that shares extra rainbows through the colder months—sometimes bigger fish than the usual state stockers—stacking the chances in anglers’ favor on the actual time Texas fly fishers most want a tailwater possibility.
Why It Issues
The Guadalupe’s “High 100” standing is a reminder—particularly for anglers outdoors the area—that Texas trout fishing shouldn’t be a once-a-year stocking-day curiosity. It’s a managed, closely regulated tailwater fishery with nationwide bona fides, and it’s coming into the guts of its prime season on the similar second the area people is asking anglers to point out up for greater than catching fish.
If you happen to wanted a cause to go south this winter, the Guad has two: a nationally acknowledged trout stream on the fringe of trout nation, and a Troutfest that has been refocused right into a direct river-repair fundraiser.
If You Go: Fast Information for Anglers
- Learn the regs earlier than you fish. The Guadalupe’s two particular trout zones are artificial-lures-only with completely different dimension and bag limits.
- Test the stocking schedule. TPWD emphasizes that dates and areas can change because of climate and different elements.
- Public entry: TPWD’s Camp Huaco Springs lease gives financial institution and wade entry via early March.
- Assist restoration: Troutfest TX 26 “Mend the River” runs February 21 at Lazy L&L Campgrounds in New Braunfels, Texas, from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
For extra data on Troutfest TX 26, go to GRTU’s event page. For stocking schedules and trout-zone laws, go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department website.
Trending Merchandise
