Two fish. Same river. Same fly. Very different story.
The first is a pure Smallmouth Bass. Beautiful fish, fought incredibly hard, ate a yellow #6 Llanolope popper on the surface. Absolutely no business being in the San Marcos River.
The second fish on the board — look at that lateral stripe pattern. That's not a clean Smallmouth. That's not a clean Guadalupe Bass either. That looks to be exactly what happens when a non-native Smallmouth spawns in Hill Country water — a hybrid that muddies the genetic line of the Guadalupe Bass, Texas's only endemic freshwater fish. Found nowhere else on earth.
I spent years working inland fisheries for TPWD. Hybridization between Smallmouth and Guadalupe Bass is a documented threat to one of the most unique fish in North America. Once it takes hold in a river system it doesn't reverse. The Guadalupe Bass recovery program exists for exactly this reason among other factors.
The Llanolope is a Texas Hill Country original — deer hair and foam hopper tied by Jim Gray, yellow foam head, natural hair body. A warmwater workhorse built for these rivers. Size 6 is money for Guadalupe Bass and apparently irresistible to fish that shouldn't be here.
Catch it. Appreciate it. Feel genuinely conflicted about it.
Posted by johnnyb70
2 Comments
I don’t know how far down you were. We had a place on the San Marcos a few miles upstream of Luling. There were smallmouth in the slough behind the house that got connected to the San Marcos at least one flood I recall in the early 2000s. I have no idea who put them there, but it explains how stuff like this happens.
Was dinner good at least?