Hill Country Back Roads Fishing

New to Texas with 5 decades of all things fishing experience. I'm a 60+ retired Marine in good shape for hiking backwaters away from the crowd. I just moved to our Texas home 15 minutes West of Sea World in San Antonio and am looking at exploring spots along creeks and rivers with light tackle within 2 hours for day trips and some overnighter tent camping.

guadalupe river between comfort and kerrville, I have hiked a few miles along the banks of the guad.

guadalupe below canyon lake, used to be some huge stripers in the river way back when it flooded.

guadalupe above canyon, rent a canoe and chase some guadalupe bass

Try the Llano in Junction, up river from South Llano River State Park. You can also rent a kayak and float 5-6 miles down to the park.

Also try the Frio in Gardner State Park.

There are sunfish and Guadalupe bass in both rivers.

Good luck!

A while back I was interested in fishing the Texas rivers but with very limited public access I gave up on the idea. I am sure there are some places out there but state trespass laws definitely limits your options.

I'm up for stripers on topwater! Thanks for the info hopalong, I'll definitely explore the area.

Sounds like what I'm looking for F4 Gator, thank you.

TomRon, access without trespassing appears to be the challenge. I use the BaseMap app on my phone which gives property ownership boundary lines down to the meter, public or private with the landowner's name and address. The only problem is many adjacent landowners will challenge public land ownership, especially if you or I am not local, so I move on.

No Trespassing allow.

If you have a kayak or float tube, many of the hill country rivers are accessible. Certainly, be aware that trespassing is taken very seriously but if find access from a public right of way like a highway, etc. then you can move upstream or downstream from there to fish additional water that may not be as crowded. Also, kayaks are great for fishing in many of the smaller lakes associated with Texas State Parks. You don't need to spend $5000 for a high end fishing kayak either.

Try to read up on navigable waterways so you know what is legal. In brief, these rivers are legal to be on assuming you gained access to them legally but DO NOT get out of the water where it is private property on both sides as that is generally deemed to be trespassing. Generally speaking this applies to Guadalupe, Medina, Colorado and other rivers. Legal parking can be the bigger issue.

In my experience, land owners that get testy have had numerous bad experiences with littering and bad behavior which makes it difficult for those of us who respect the land.

No need to give up on river fishing, just know the laws. Disclosure: I am not an attorney but have somewhat of a working knowledge of texas water laws. Perhaps some of the lawyers that post to the forum regularly can state it better.

Good intel. As a retired Game Warden I respect landownership and no hunting or fishing trip is worth breaking the law or trespass. Since starting this thread I purchased and outfitted an inflatable paddle board for fishing. I have kayak fished since the early 90s and owned a number of fishing kayaks however, I don't have the storage space for kayaks in my San Antonio home and I believe the paddleboard is the ticket to my style of fishing in Texas. I have a number of sites reconned and have made a friend with a TPWD law enforcement officer to partner up with. Just being out on the water at daybreak is what it's all about, catching fish is a bonus.

BTW, I don't know how this thread drifted to trespassing. It is the responsibility of the hunter or fisherman to obey and respect laws and land ownership. There are tools like BaseMap that show land ownership within meters. Then there are the locals and owners that are the best of resources. I have recently obtained permission to fish private property by being courteous and displaying respect and willingness to not share or bring others onto the property and my willingness to help keep the area clean by helping pick up trash left/blown onto the property.

Sorry if I insulted your intelligence or assisted in the trespassing drift. Had no idea you were a game warden.........that changes everything.

Just that sometimes folks move from out of state are not familiar with how little public land is available in Texas and end up on the wrong side of private property rights.

Absolutely agree about being in the out of doors, that is primary!

No worries, nowadays it is too easy to have a topic go off-topic. I just want to fish and have a good time.