I will be in the hill country next week staying right off of the Blanco River, I have a fly combo that I've been practicing casting at the neighborhood pond and will be taking this as my main fishing method. The tips I ask for are what flies are recommended for this trip? I am not picky about the fish I would just like to hook anything on the fly. The knowledge I have about fly fishing comes from youtube and it is mostly geared towards small streamer trout, although there are trout in the Guadalupe river but don't plan on fishing that area this trip. Another question I have is should I take the kayak along or would wading suffice? Thanks in advance for any tips.

Fishing the Blanco would mainly be sunfish and bass I assume. Maybe some gar. I would take some poppers for top water action on bluegill and bass and then some woolybuggers in olive, black, rust and white. Maybe have some split shot available to get those streamers down if the water is high. Also take some clouser's as well in white and white/chartreuse. Tippet 2-4X.

Good luck and have fun.

Not sure exactly where you will be fishing the Blanco, but generally it has fairly steep banks and lots of cover, making it tough to access via wading. The kayak will be a great way to fish it, as fish often hold close to the banks, especially in the summer. 4 Weight had great suggestions, if I could only fish one fly throughout the hill country, it would be an olive wooly bugger.

With that said, I mostly fish Matt Bennett's patterns. You can find them at his website and his patterns are stocked in every fly shop in Austin. If you find yourself driving South on I-35, stop at Living Waters fly fishing in Round Rock and ask them what's working down there, they won't steer you wrong.

Don't be afraid to size down both your flies and tippet (flurocarbon will help for sub surface flies). The water in small central Texas rivers is extremely clear and fish are wary from the volume of traffic that these rivers get during the summer. My best largemouth and Guadalupe bass both came on small carp-it-bombs, so you don't need to throw giant streamers to find big fish.



Good luck! Let me know if I can help further!

I would also say woolyboogers but I would add in Llano bugs and siliworms. With those three you are almost certain to catch something in most waters here in Texas this time of year.

I haven't fished the Blanco or any Texas streams in the past fifteen years but Bett's poppers a few gurglers and my favorite the John Barr pattern the slump buster #6-#8 in rust, olive or black in addition to the wooly buggers and clousers others have mentioned. I just moved back to the area (last Saturday) so I am on the learning curve as well. The thing with the flies mentioned is that they can represent a wide variety of prey. Clousers can be fished depending on color and size to look like baitfish or things like crawfish, the same can be true of the slumpbuster. Wooly buggers can represent baitfish or invertebrate's such as worms or larger aquatic insect larva like damsel and dragon fly nymphs or hellgrammites (dobsonfly larvae). I would also carry some smallish, #4-#10 streamers tied with flashy material such as lazer dub or light bright.
I'm hoping to get out soon myself but the heat and high water due to storms in the Ft. Hood area have me house bound for the time being.

So sounds like I need to pick up some woolly buggers, small poppers and various streamers.
I'll be staying on the river between 217 and 174 crossings, I think I will be taking the yak to make sure I can reach other parts of the river if needed. I appreciate the help and will be sure to report back how I do.