Fishing reports for the Llano River at Llano

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September 21, 2007 - Don Johnson

I fished from about 7:30AM till about noon. The river flow, as measured by the USGS gauging station at Llano, was about 400 cps.

I started out throwing deep clousers into the deep holes immediately below the dam on its north and south ends, but had no luck there. I then waded down stream, first casting to current seams and rocks in the current, then casting into shady spots near the banks. I caught three small (6 inches to 10 inches) bass and eight to ten sunfish, all small. As usual, the larger fish got away. I played a 13 or 14 inch bass long enough to get it almost close enough to lip before it spit the hook. I played another fish for a few seconds that felt like a good fish, but it was in a pretty swift current, so it may have felt larger than it was. One of the fish was hooked on a #6 chartreuse and white deep clouser; all the others took a #6 black wooly bugger. Two of the bass were taken from near rocks in the current; all the other fish were taken from near the bank.

While I was working my way to an island close enough to allow me to cast almost to the dam face, I had to cross a few threads of the river that were swift enough to require careful wading. I got swept off my feet once (note to self: buy a wading staff), but, except for getting my fly box filled with water, no harm was done. The area under the bridge is littered with large granite blocks that make crossing the islands more of a scramble than a stroll. Down stream the river spreads out and the current is not a problem, but, at 400cps, you have to go quite a way downstream before the river is shallow enough to wade from shore to shore.

After four hours of wading, sometimes in current, scrambling over rocks, walking though deep loose sand, and casting, I was ready to head home for lunch and a nap.