State River Access Sites, Paddling Trails Offer Angler Opportunity

OA18_Inland Fisheries3@2x.jpgTexas contains over 40,000 miles of perennially flowing streams, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has worked with local partners to offer new access to quality river fishing. The Texas Paddling Trails program has 74 trails that offer hundreds of miles of fishing opportunities. Also, the department’s River Access and Conservation Areas program maintains leases with partnering landowners for public river access across private lands. Current leases give access to nearly 200 miles of the Brazos, Colorado, Devils, Guadalupe, Neches, Nueces, Sabine, San Marcos and South Llano rivers. Sixteen Texas State Parks offer river fishing access, too.

On these rivers you’ll find quality fishing for Guadalupe bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, Rio Grande cichlid, striped bass, white bass, and numerous sunfishes, catfishes, gar and trout. The official state fish, the Guadalupe bass, is a favorite of river anglers. State parks like Colorado Bend, Dinosaur Valley, Guadalupe River, LBJ, Lost Maples, McKinney Falls, Pedernales Falls and South Llano River all offer a chance to catch Guadalupe bass. Anglers can also catch the state fish on the South Llano, Upper Guadalupe—Nichol’s Landing, El Camino Real and Wilbarger paddling trails. Public access leases at County Road 150 on the South Llano River and at WJF River Access and Hidden Shores on the Colorado River are also prime Guadalupe bass locations.

Visit TPWD’s River Fishing in Texas website for the current list of river access locations, site-specific descriptions of related fishing opportunities, a summary of Texas river navigation laws and current river flow conditions.