One Old Bull Rio !

Fished the Nueces Canyon and caught this very old "Bull Rio"! She has seen her better days. It will not be long until she will be swimming in that great clear river in the sky above. I had a great feeling knowing that I got probably her only fight and for sure her last fight. The fish was 11.15" in length. As I watched her swim away in the crystal clear water of the West Nueces River,if she only knew that she would be the Catch&Release Record Rio for the West Nueces River. Paper work was sent to the Texas Parks And Wildlife. I had seen a bunch of "Super Nice" Rios swimming in schools. The Rio bite was slow but I did manage to catch a few all in the trophy range. Catching one very old "Bull Rio" in the Nueces Canyon. It just don't get any better.

..........very nice...!

Congrats on the grand moment and for sharing!

Wow! The things that fish must have survived to reach that size and age. Congrats on yet another record!

Thanks gander,psalty,RWCAT,and Will for the replies. Plenty of active fish right now. I just pray that we can avoid any major flooding on this pending storm out in the Gulf. If the storm hits our area and major flooding occurs this will wipe out a good portion of the fall bite. We can always use the rain but the flooding is another story!

Congrats chuck on another record! That rio sure looks old.

Congrats Chuck!!

Thanks Leo and Yesenia for the replies. Would have gave you a call but was on a tight schedual. Love fishing Gods Country.

Thats a beautiful fish Chuck. The stories it could tell....

Congrats on another record

That's a real beauty! Congrats!

That's a man's Rio! Congrats!

Thanks Andrew,Littlefeather,and Capt.Mac for the replies. Andrew: Yes Sir if only that fish could talk. She has been through a lot over the years. I am sure she has added plenty of Rios over the years in the West Nueces River! Spring fed pool with plenty of thick weed beds in Southwest Texas is a nice place for a Rio to live.

Now that's a nice Frankenstein!!! Way to go Chuck.

+3

Now that fish has been THROUGH! A fish that battle tested ought not be counted out yet though. The tough get going and keep going if memory serves. Nice catch, Chuck!

Glad you were the one to catch her Chuck !

Congrats on another record !

Congrats, great story!!

Thanks guys for the replies! For sure the oldest Rio I have every caught.

Awesome post and one nice old Rio. Congratulations on the record. How many Rio records does this make for you?

Thanks Curtis for the reply! It's been a great a year for Rios both old and young. As for the Rio records I have a few!

I thought you would say that.

Side note. One of these days I am going to have to go through the records section and count them for myself.

That's is one old fish. Bet that fish has many a story it can tell. Congratulations on yet another record.




Side Note: How old would you say that fish is? Also what is the average life expectancy of a Rio? (Anyone feel free to answer or give an opinion).

Thanks Gitter and Leo for the replies. Gitter: According to biologist who I have spoken with they say the average life of a Rio is 2 to 3 years with favorable conditions. They further state that a Rio could live 4 to 6 years with excellent conditions.

That is a pretty good life span for a smaller type fish. Thanks for the information.