San Gabriel "The Steps" White Bass 2020

The Wife and I fished "the Steps" Sunday 2-16-20. We got there about 3pm. As Usual, a lot of cars and a lot of people. We didn't bring our waders so we went upstream to the bend in the river. We ended up with two keepers only. We saw a man with about 8 on his stringer leaving as we were getting there. We didn't see many people with a lot of fish. The water looks good. the banks have changed over the year/s. It was a beautiful day out there. TX Game Wardens were out checking fish and license. Make sure you follow the laws and bring your fishing license.

The Spawn is just getting Started. My Wife and I will be back soon.

tight lines!

Thanks for sharing...

I'll be heading out there saturday by boat. I'll report back on monday next week

Did pretty good yesterday caught north of 20 fish kept ten as I only keep 'em 11 inches and bigger to completely avoid being the next star on Lone Star Law. Caught most of my keepers in little pocket water away from the bigger pools and runs and the crowds. All males so the best is yet to come. Took the scenic route down hwy 95 got to remember why Texas is a great place to live and that not much changes once you get a bit away from I-35, just wish it was easier find places to hunt here.

Nice catch, Bones72!

I just missed y'all again. (Since I'm half blind I didn't recognize who was yelling at me on the Yegua )Ben and I were at the Steps from 7 AM to 10AM and again for about an hour in the early afternoon. The fishing was definitely better early morning. Thanks for the update and great photo.

Looks like you were using the electric chicken clouser I wish I would have known you were heading this way I might have been able to sneak away and join you. I look forward to fishing with you soon. Y'all sure got I lot more water than we did so I plan on heading that way soon.

I will be in the area around the 13-15th of March. Will the spawn be full on? I was there last year about the same time and it was slow to dead. 2 days and i caught four barely legal whites. No one else there was doing much either. I'd love to hit it when the run is full bore. That water is beautiful. I saw several pods of hefty whites, and so did other fishermen there, but the bite was VERY S;LOW.

That one was a double with one on each flavor I am just not the iPhone photographer some folks are just happy to make the darn thing work most days. I'll be heading down the next time the weather permits during the week. Yeh seems like a little more rain this way but more towards that specific area. Seems as if the rain likes to go in a triangle between 29, 71, and I-35. Was surprised how mucked up the water was four days after the rain moved out but could have been the masses trudging through the water too, so who knows. Getting a pretty slow steady rain here in Killeen today. Radar is showing about the same thing around Granger but I have been fooled by that before. I want to try some of these guys out the next time I am down there. Even have some in that electric chicken color pattern.






It is all weather dependent, rain, cold fronts etc.. . If it was clear enough to see the fish they may get a little spooky and instead of darting off when seeing folks on the bank like many species in my experience whites just tend to get lockjaw. Also they may have decided to be more interested in each other and their purpose for being up the river. They tend to get lockjaw when they have lovin' on their little peas sized minds. Usually early in the mornings and late evening is when the bite is best. And yes the run should be on pretty good when you are in the area. There are also other area rivers and creeks to checkout that aren't too far from there in addition to other sections of that specific place on the river if the bite is slow where you are fishing.

Thanks for the info. Since i was not familiar with the layout, i never went more than 100 yds in either direction of the actual steps. I was not prepared for wading the pools either. The more successful fishermen were had on waders and were in waist deep water, casting either jigs or minnows under a float, into the deeper pockets of water that had a sort of eddy or backwash. That is where i saw the larger pods of whites. I was on a small bluff looking down and across the river, At water level those pods were hard to see. I will in all likelihood give it a shot and give myself enough time to go either up or downstream looking for likely looking fish holding pools.

This is my favorite DFW bank fishing spot for whites and hybrids, the Elm Fork of the Trinity. As you can see, it's dangerously high due to heavy winter rains. When it goes down it will be GAME ON! Unfortunately, more heavy rains are due this week.

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When the water level is down to what you can see in the background of this pic, well you see the results, lol!

You must have ruined that nice shirt with all that white bass slime.

Nothing a little Tide laundry detergent couldn't handle

Lot of neat pics in this thread

I forgot to share a pic of the big white bass I caught. For the San Gabriel "the Steps" area, this was a good fish. I didn't measure this one, but she was big. These whites are 11 inches on average down here. Nice and fat; she was released to live another day. I want to get back out here soon. But... it's my Wife's birthday weekend. She would rather go somewhere other than fishing this weekend. I have to give in and take her. I feel a sick day coming next week though. LOL.





This water looked awesome this day. I'm sure it is muddy today.

tight Lines All.!

I went around noon for about two hours and caught one lol

Hopefully by the time i get there in about 3 weeks, it'll be a full bore run! If it's not, I'll drown my sorrows in some Elgin hot sausage, burnt tips, and a cold Shiner Bock at Southside Market

!

Good game plan!

First time out there today, just went to check it out, didnt even take a rod. Water looked great. Walked about 1 mile in both directions, lot a cars on the street, but only saw about 10 folks. Saw2 fish caught, no stringers in the water. Suggestion on going up stream or down when I go back next week.

Nice..

Fished the area Saturday by boat. Lots of folks out. Saw a few fish being caught. Most fish I saw where up stream from the steps. Was a slow day for me. Picked up 5 keepers above the steps in a deep bend. All caught one after another, then nothing. Nothing on live bait at any of the holes or brush in the river.

If I go fishing at the steps it's usually just an excuse to go get BBQ at Louie Mueller's in Taylor.

+1 on Muellers. You can argue that it's not the best BBQ in Texas, but it would be a silly argument.

Has anyone gone to that diner-slash-rodeo in Circleville? Every time I drive past I think, the internet says this is a restaurant, but it _looks_ like someone's barn.

Any reports? I imagine the parking is full and the river banks are shoulder to shoulder with fishermen by now?. Hopefully the WB are there too.

tight lines!

I went this morning. I got there at 7 AM and there were already 15 cars there. I worked my way upstream past the area where the creek comes in and only caught one. That was pretty much the norm. The fishing was very slow for everyone. Then about 8:45 I went back to a spot that always produces for me and I caught 9 in the next hour. I fished until 10 AM and then left. I expect the warmer weather will get them going again. The evening bite the next couple of days could be very good.

Thats a drive for you isnt it?

1.5 hrs from Brenham

Haven't been in about 3-4 years, it was good but pricey. My brother and some of his friends go couple times a month for lunch, seems to always be good. He likes to go on Wednesday for fried chicken, or Friday for fried catfish, the ribeye is good also. Don't know when it first opened but I remember it in the late 50's, it was there way before that I think. It was a beer joint, sold groceries, had a meat market, made BBQ, general store, bought wool, bought and sold pecans, and had a grainery. The old building's roof got bad so they just built a metal roof over it. If you stop see if you see someone that looks like a local old timer,and ask about it. I know I didn't get it all.

I was there then J-Moe caught then and left at noon. Think I was one pool down from where you were fishing. Heck you might have even heard my old SA (Hardy Made) system 9. Pink and chartreuse clouser.

Grey & White clouser for me. I actually tried a Pink an chartreuse with no luck. Go Figure

I got a chance to hit up the steps yesterday for a few hours. It was really tough fishing, caught three whites and one small black. But the fact that I was able to go fish was enough for me. It was awesome to be on the river and not dealing with the pressures of life. I might get a chance to hit it again today on my way back home from north Austin before the rains come. Speaking of which, we need some rain and a good water rise to get this spawn going in full swing.

I completely agree fiishytx we really need some rain. The San Gabby is down over a foot from where I first tried it on Presidents' Day. I still have yet to catch a female either though I have heard of them being caught at the actual "steps"; I have been fishing at the upper access point. Mud doesn't seem to effect them too much so may be down again before the weekend.

J-moe I'll be getting some more supplies in shortly and hope to tie up some more flies that more closely approximate the little tail-spot minnows that the fish seem to be feeding on instead of "crashing the hatch" with my obnoxious attractor patterns

I wasn't sure of the name of the minnow. It has that split tail that is very distinctive. I look forward to seeing a picture of your tail-spot clouser

I was researching what the forage species that are up the creeks here in Central Texas and the tail-spot shiner was one of the most prevalent. There are several other species that look very similar including the endangered Devil's River minnow. The shiner is the one I think I am seeing in the river being more silvery instead of having a more pinkish hue. There are a few other species I have seen dredged up in cast nets (I always check the bait buckets of the guys with nets) including "stone-rollers" I remember from growing up in Virginia. I don't see the glass-minnows down there on gabby like I see up here on the Lampasas. Was told that they are in the lakes along the drainage though.

Arrived 6:30 am and caught almost 40 keeper, left at 9:30 am. What a blessing day!!

The steps have been very productive for all. Get out and catch a few before they quit biting. I have seen a lot of spawning action and that means the female will spawn out and then return to the lake. All of March is awesome fishing, so there is still time to get out there and enjoy this fine sport at its peak.

Visit this place again this morning, Try different lures only caught one on 3 hours. But one guy next to me who caught limit by fry fishing under 2 hours. Looks the white like fry fishing bait more this morning.

Made to the steps today and got a limit. It was slow in the morning only managed 5. I was thanking about leaving about 11:30 but the fish turned on and I caught 20 in the next 30 minutes.

Did you catch any over 14 inches?

I love fishing, the quiet, being surrounded by nature, and having God moments while enjoying Earth. But today the amount of people on the river wasn’t my cup of tea. We tried for 3 hours and got only a few bites. Everyone that caught seemed to be getting males that barely reached 10. Let the 10’s go. I see posts about the steps and their productivity but haven’t experienced it in the three years I’ve been. I’m being a little negative and apologize to those that enjoy the Steps but, it reminds me of Rollover Pass at Bolivar when I was a kid. Not so much marking fish but trying not to get tangled with the person on both sides and across from you.

it's raining today. but my co-workers and I are headed to the steps after work today. raingear?, waders?, --- got them! 12" + WB today? will find out soon. ---- Lots of people fishing today in the rain? I know of three of us will be. --- we will find out if others are too. This will be the second time I've been out here this year. One of my buddies has never been here. I'll post a report later.

tight lines all!

My coworkers and I fished last Friday and had a little luck. We bought some minnows from the nearby store. We got to the water about 5:30pm. We fished until dark at 8pm. Artificial's weren't working so we switched to minnows. within minutes of throwing a minnow out, we found a spot that was holding a few. I've been busy at work and haven't had a chance to get this out. We had fun. we caught enough for a good meal. Fun times.

I hope the recent Court Order to shelter-at-home won't last too long. Until next time.

tight lines all!

So has anyone been out lately? I know COE closed the parks but are the steps or Willis creek WMA still open?
TIA

Those are decent sized whites fro Granger. You caught more than I ever do!