Fly fishing in Texas: where to start

Fly fishing looks like a different sport, with its long rod, loops of line and tiny feathered flies. Underneath, it is still fishing: put something a fish wants to eat where the fish is. The difference is that a fly weighs almost nothing, so the line does the casting. Texas has more fly water than most people expect: cold tailwater trout in winter, clear Hill Country streams, and shallow coastal flats. This guide covers where to start, what the outfit looks like, how a cast works and which fly to tie on first. TPWD's numbers are marked as TPWD's; the rest is our plain-words description of standard technique.

Where Texans fly fish

• Guadalupe River trout, below Canyon Dam. TPWD says rainbow trout do best where the water stays below 70°F, that heat keeps them from living through the summer in most of Texas, and that some may survive in the cooler tailrace water below big dams such as Canyon Reservoir. TPWD stocks trout on the stretch between the dam and New Braunfels. Check the trout stocking page for the schedule and its date.
• Hill Country streams, for Guadalupe bass. TPWD calls the Guadalupe bass the state fish of Texas, a feisty little fish of cool, clear Hill Country streams, and its podcast follows anglers fly fishing for them in the shallow, skinny water of the South Llano River.
• The coast, for redfish. TPWD says saltwater fly fishing for red drum is increasing in popularity and that anglers sight-cast to cruising or tailing fish on the shallow grass flats. See bay fishing for speckled trout and redfish for where redfish are and how to spot them.

The outfit

A fly outfit has four parts: a rod, a reel that mostly holds line, a thick fly line that carries the casting weight, and a thin leader and tippet that connect to the fly. The number on a rod and line is its weight, from light to heavy, and the two should match. Lighter weights suit small flies and small fish; heavier weights throw bigger flies and fight wind. The right outfit depends on what you fish for. Pick a target to see what TPWD and our trout guide give, and where there is no number, the drawing says so.

An interactive drawing goes here in the app.

How a cast works

In spin fishing the lure's weight pulls the line out. In fly fishing the line's weight pulls the fly out. You flex the rod with a back cast, wait for the line to unroll behind you, then cast forward. The wait is the part beginners rush. Try different pauses and see what the line does.

An interactive drawing goes here in the app.

Which fly first

There are thousands of fly patterns, but they fall into three groups. A dry fly floats on the surface. A nymph sinks, to imitate the young insects trout eat most of the time. A streamer is a larger fly, shaped like a baitfish, that you move through the water. TexCast's Trout & Fly guide gives a simple order: watch the water for a few minutes, fish a dry fly if trout are rising, a nymph if nothing is, and a streamer if nymphs are not working. It also says that presentation matters more than the fly, and that if a fly is not working after a few minutes of good drifts you should change it. See the Trout & Fly guide and the nymphing method picker for more.

An interactive drawing goes here in the app.

Rules to know

You need a Texas fishing license, plus a freshwater endorsement for freshwater or a saltwater endorsement on the coast. TPWD says some Guadalupe River stretches have special rules: in two sections, trout that are kept must be caught on artificial lures, and there is a 12-to-18-inch slot limit from 800 yards below the Canyon Dam release gate to the easternmost bridge on FM 306 (trout 12 inches and under or 18 inches and longer may be kept, with a daily bag of five and only one 18 inches or longer), and an 18-inch minimum and a one-trout daily bag from there to the second bridge crossing on River Road. TPWD's page says many camps and resorts in this area offer access to paying guests, and it lists free public access points, so read it before you go. See the license drawing and handling a fish well for letting a fish go.

This is a summary of what TPWD's pages say, not legal advice. Rules and access change; check TPWD for the current season. TPWD's trout schedule and Guadalupe pages were read 2026-10-09 and describe the 2025-2026 winter.

For more reading, we suggest these articles

• TPWD: Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) (checked 2026-10-09)
• TPWD: Guadalupe River trout fishing (checked 2026-10-09)
• TPWD Under the Texas Sky: Guadalupe Bass (checked 2026-10-09)
• TPWD: Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) (checked 2026-10-09)
• TPWD: Rainbow Trout Stocking Schedule (2025-2026) (checked 2026-10-09)
• Trout and Steelhead.net: fly choice and nymphing guides (checked 2026-05-27)

Home · Rivers · Lakes · Coast · Trout stocking · State parks · Learning Center · About · Privacy · Terms

Contact: hello@texcastfishing.com