The Colorado River is one of the major rivers of Texas, draining much of the Texas Hill Country, it eventually flows into the Gulf of Mexico at Matagorda Bay. While there is good lake fishing on the Highland Lakes, I prefer to fish the river in and below the City of Austin. Click here to learn more about fishing the Colorado downstream of Austin For those in Austin, Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) is a tremendous fishery for both bass and sunfish and has produced many state record sunfish and carp.
The Colorado River below the City of Austin is well know for holding very sizable bass, including largemouth bass in excess of 8 pounds. While the beauty of the Colorado River is somewhat diminished downstream of Austin, the fish in this section of river are some of best fighting fish in all of the Texas Hill Country. Both Lady Bird Lake and the Colorado below Austin are exclusively float fishing opportunities and preferred equipment includes 5 weight or 6 weight rods, with my preference being a 9 foot, 5 weight rod for Lady Bird Lake and a 9 foot, 6 weight rod for the river below Austin. It is possible to fish a 4 weight rod with smaller flies if you are targeting the sunfish on Lady Bird Lake.
Flies for both the lake and lower river are similar to those fished on our other Hill Country streams, only larger; following the theory of “the bigger the bug the bigger the fish.” In addition to larger and better bass and sunfish, Lady Bird Lake and the Colorado below Austin also give anglers some of the best chances to sight-cast to feeding carp in the region. While there are those who might turn their nose up at catching carp, many have been converted once they experience the fight a 10-20 pound carp can give on a fly rod.