Cody and I attended the Fredericksburg Fly Fishers 13th Annual Oktoberfisch Event, which was held at a new venue but still on the South Llano River. We had the pleasure of RVing next door to our friends the Egglestons as well as being their Friday evening dinner guests.
Since the 2011 drought, this river has changed annually, but this is the most drastic change yet. What was once a wide river with long deep pools with the occasional Class I and II rapids no longer exists. Taking its place is a true, riparian corridor where a much narrower river has emerged. Cody floated using his pontoon boat, and I floated in my kayak. We each caught our fair share of species: Redbreast Sunfish; a few Rio Grande Perch for each of us; Guadalupe Bass (the original State Fish of Texas); a few Largemouth Bass; a Smallmouth for Cody; and one Warmouth for me! One fish I had trouble recognizing and was a first catch for me, was a Largemouth Hybrid. It took reading Steve Quinn's In-Fisherman August 2012 article, "Hybrid Black Bass" to figure it out. Additionally, the Rios that Cody caught had no sores, while the two I caught had those sores. I can not remember what Kevin Hutchison told us about the Texas Cichlids and these sores, but I do remember him saying they were harmless and disappear on their own. Going where the flows take our vessels, we had a great day on the water, launching at the South Llano River State Park and taking out at our campground, just upstream of the Loop 481 truss bridge.
For the Saturday night Event dinner, we opted not to buy raffle tickets but tried our luck on the float tube; unfortunately for us, the 8 of Clubs was the winner, and we held the 9 of Diamonds. We enjoyed our long, beautiful, and fruitful day on the water, as well as seeing good, fly fishing friends.
Guadalupe Bass
Largemouth Bass
Smallmouth Bass
Rio Grande Perch
Redbreast Sunfish
Warmouth
Hybrid Largemouth Bass
A good day, so many different species.
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