Got done with work and my daily errands just in time for a massive downpour to hit Austin. Luckily the storm moved off quickly and as an added bonus cleared out a pond I had been meaning to check out for quite a while. I dusted off my Cabelas CGR 2 weight and went off in hopes of finding a hungry bass or sunfish.

Started off with a green and black bead head wooly bugger and started landing lots of green sunfish. This pond is thick with them, and although I didn't find any bass, there were some big greenies ready to put a big bend in my tiny fiberglass rod. As I picked my way around the pond, I saw a fish with a light back and some dark stripes running along its body. The unmistakeable silhouette of the Rio Grand Cichlid. I casted just past the mirage I saw hoping to drag my fly across the fish's face and induce a strike. The second my fly hit the water my line went taught and I strip set hoping for the best. My tiny two weight buckled as the fish darted across the pond frantically. When the battle was over, I pulled in a gorgeous Rio and my first of the year.



In fly fishing, things don't always go as planned, but when they do it's a thing of beauty. I hope spring has been as good to everyone else as it has to me! If you're in Central Texas and haven't been out fishing, it's time to drop everything and go NOW!

Good job, nice pic!

Wow! That's a nice dark rio.

That is a beaut! My day started off similar to yours, except I went to Barton Creek and couldn't interest any of the rios in my black wooly bugger. Caught quite a few green sunfish though, and had a blast. Nice fish!

Great rio!

It's really interesting seeing how differently these fish react in different waters. I caught two more today at Barton Creek and they were much more picky. Both fish today would follow the fly as I stripped it in but wouldn't hit until the fly finally settled to the bottom. It's also fascinating to see the wide color variation between all three of them.

Nice fish and great post! I'm learning a lot by hanging out on this forum.

Very nice!
As a kid, I lived in Harlingen and caught them out of a community pond. Never have caught one on a fly rod though. I'm going to have to change that one of these days...

Have been fortunate to catch over 160 different species on the fly....but never caught a Rio, to my regret.

Beautiful pictures and well done.

This is soooooo a bucket list fish! Love the pictures!!!