Fished a private pond in the Nueces Canyon and the BIG RIO bite was ON FIRE! The water was crystal clear with plenty of thick Hydrilla Beds. The Rios were in large schools of about 15 to 20 fish. I was using a weightless line with a half of a night crawler on a size 8 Eagle Claw hook. Caught 30 "BIG" Rios. The smallest was 10" and the biggest was about a tenth of an inch under 12". I missed the private water body State Record. The current record is 11.50" in length with a weight of 1.68 Lbs. I had two fish that were between 11.75" and 12". The weight of both fish was 1.66 Lbs.and 1.65lbs. All fish were healthy,fat,and full of fight! Fish were caught on ultralight tackle,with worms as the bait. All fish were released. Hope to fish that pond a couple more times before the first major cold front arrives. Catching some HUGE Rios in a crystal clear,Nueces Canyon Pond. It just don't get any better!

Wow!! Great day.

>E

Thanks Kelly for the reply!

The IGFA Rio Record Holder doing what he does best! Well done Chuck, thats awesome!

Thanks Andrew for the reply. I went to all of our spots and all of them are not fish able. Currents are way to fast. Also the back road from Camp Wood to Brackettville has been washed out due to flooding and is closed to Thru Traffic! I had a lot of spots picked out for the fall bite. Going to have to change up some plans.

Those are some brahmas chuck

Thanks for the update. I have faith in your "back-up" fishing holes if it doesn't dry out enough out there.

WTG Chuck!

Great fish Chuck

Bet that was fun. A lot of big fish Chuck.

Never eaten a Rio. How are they for table fare? Those are some dandies.

Golly gosh....them there are some real Hog Rios. Great job Banker and thanks for getting our juices running.

Thanks Leo,Yesenia,Clayton,Jamie,Chascat,Skeeter22,and Rick for the replies. Sketter22: I do not personally eat Rios but friends of mine who do have all said they are super good fish to eat!

Those are some BIG Rios. Good job Chuck! Will this latest rain event effect the Rio bite? When will the Rios go into hiding?

Big Rio's chuck, nice fish!!

Those some nice chunks

Thanks Gitter,Alan,and Nekro for the replies. Gitter: Yes Sir this latest flooding will have a HUGE effect in a negative way on the Rio bite! They are going to be hard to find on some water bodies. Usually after the first MAJOR COLD front the Rios will go into hiding until spring.

Thanks Chuck. Hope you find a few more before the fronts arrive!

Will be trying!

Those are some SLABS! Nice Rios Chuck. Good job. Do pond Rios go dormant in the winter?

Thanks Curtis for the reply! During the winter especially after the first MAJOR cold front,Rios will usually get dormant no matter what type of water body. When food is hard to come by during the winter time Rios are usually non active until spring. If the winter is a very COLD one,a lot of Rios will die off. They are a warm climate fish.

Thanks Chuck for the information. Still catching a few Rios each time out!

You will not be catching many Rios after today. First Major Cold Front will arrive here at 11am. Several days of freezing temperatures to follow. The Rios will be very hard to find!