I was just informed by work that I may be heading down to Houston for about a month for work. Anyone with info on good fishing this time of year within a hour or 2 of Houston would be greatly appreciated. Not to worried about species just looking to wet a line. Oh and I love to wade rivers.
Thanks for any help that may come my way.
Salt water might be an option but that would cause me to buy a new rod reel not a total problem
Hi Scubatim,
Look under the archive “feature” articles of “panfish” for articles from a while back written by “hillfisher.”
He had a lot of articles on fly fishing the Texas hill country. Some of the articles included where to go to fish and how to access the streams.
One thought. Be careful about access. I am a non-native Texan, and was told many years ago that Texas has some pretty fierce trespassing laws, and some property owners strongly have them enforced. Was told that it can cost you a bunch of dollars if caught trespassing.
Thus what I am saying is pay attention to what Hillfisher says about access, and do EXACTLY what he advises. You might phone the Texas wildlife folks also while you are down here about the access and trespassing questions, and also where to go to fish.
There also some lakes down there that have superb carp fly fishing.
Regards,
Gandolf
For south Texas it’s been a cold winter so far and the warm water fishing has been slow. The best place to go this time of the year is trout fishing on the Guadalupe River in the hill country. It maybe be a bit of a drive from Houston but well worth it. Just my 2 cent’s.
http://www.texasflyfishers.org/ is a good bet. This is the fly fishing club in Houston.
As was mentioned earlier, its been inordinately cold this winter so some local intel will be vital.
There are plenty of bayous, creeks, ponds and rivers in that area as well as the good old Gulf of Mexico not too far off as well. Galveston Island is within range as is Port Bolivar and a few other spots.The State Park there on Galveston has some back side wade areas.
Again, I’d hit up those Houston guys.
I don’t have the URL, but once upon a time I blundered across a blog by a Houstonian that discussed where his fly fishing in and around Houston and Katy. There were some publicly accessible creeks and parks that had some very acceptable fishing, IIRC. As always, beware of the wildlife (snakes, gators, fire ants, wasps/hornets/bees, skunks, oppossums, Girl Scout cookie pushers, etc…).
However there are no fish in South Dakota or Tennessee. Just ask Betty.
Ed
Remember Texas is a very large state and travel there is normally measured in days not hours. To cross Texas at the lower part of the state took my family two days to get to Mexico. Granted we were not in any great hurry but…
Lake Conroe is about an hour north of Houston. However by the time you get that far out have passed many farm ponds you should be able to fish.
What I would recommend is talking to your work hosts and see what they suggest.
EdD Did you say snakes? I hate snakes.
Everyone else thanks for the info.
The Bass Pro Shop at Katy will have a fly shop, it’s right on I-10 and there used to be a fly shop across the street (north) of the Galleria Mall and Westin Hotel. There is also a Oshman’s sporting goods in the Galleria area, just west of the Intercontinental Hotel, where G.H.W. Bush used to buy fishing tackle, all of those can probably direct you to water. I don’t know how far south of Houston you have to go to get into Redfish, but somewhere along the south Texas coast there is a world class fishery.
Houston is a city of around 10mm people, what part of the city will you be working in?
Tim, SNAKES!!! Rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths, coral snakes. Everything with venom lives in Texas (except for the even worse stuff that lives in Australia). Now you know the inspiration for the song “All my Ex’es Live in Texas”. Texas has snakes. Welcome to the South. At least they also have fish. Tennessee has snakes but no fish. Just ask Betty.
Ed
Ed, Ed, Ed. You ought to be ashamed of yourself!
Tim,
The snakes don’t like the cold any more than I do. 
You shouldn’t have any trouble with them 'til about the first of March.
This time of year, on the North Gulf Coast, fresh water fishing is kinda tough. That water is COLD. That being said, the fish still gotta eat.
Even in the Gulf, the water temp, as of 2 hours ago, is about 42 degrees. Given a couple of days of 60 degree temps, that’ll come up about 10 degrees.
There is water all around Houston, you’ll just have to ask around that area to get more specific info.
Be forewarned, the people in Houston drive like maniacs! Controlled chaos.
Have fun on your new posting!
Kirk
Hi Scubatim,
As mentioned above, there are lots of farm ponds (known in Texas as “Tanks”), but the problem is that in Texas much of the land is leased for hunting and fishing. This is especially the case near the high population areas. In some parts, farmers and ranchers make almost as much leasing the land for hunting as they do from farming.
Of couse you never know until you ask.
Regards,
Gandolf
What is this “shame” of which you speak?
Ed
Scaring that poor feller like that! As long as he’s kickin’ the bushes as he walks through, he ain’t gonna see them snakes!!:twisted:
Kirk
My brother in Houston told me not to worry about the snakes… the alligators ate them all.
And I thought that bellowing noise was just big frogs.
Everything in Texas has thorns or teeth. It will eather bite you or stick you.
LOL LOL LOL
go to http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/programs/gofishing/index.phtml
Info on public lakes in Austin, Houston, DFW and San Antonio.
howdy.
i live in houston and have been doing the urban fly fishing thing…mainly the bayous, drainage ‘ditches’ and park ponds…for the past couple of years.
i would say the number one attraction (if you don’t want to drive 3-5 hours) within the city limits is carp. they are fairly plentiful in the bayous and are definitely the best challenge/fight.
that said, i’ve caught 2-3lb LMB, ~24" cats, and sunfish too numerous to count (out of the bayous). There is a park (meyer park i believe) up on the N side of town that has double digit LMB in it (FL strain was planted there in the 90’s), but casting is a pain (you need to get out about 60 feet to hit the drop off, but there isn’t any room to backcast).
if you want to drive a couple hours, this time of year we actually have trout fishing in the hill country…the guad is a tailwater fishery and it stays cool enough to sustain trout…access is the issue there.
check out the bass pro in katy, as well as the FFF chapter here (www.texasflyfishers.org).
I will also add that the TPWD releases rainbow trout in many ponds across the state. Several of these ponds are in the Houston area. Check out this page for more information:
2009-2010 Trout Stocking Schedule
Sort by County and look at the following counties:
Fort Bend
Galveston
Harris
Brazoria
Some of these places may be a bit of a drive, depending upon what part of Houston you will be working in.
Good Luck!
BTW, bring warm clothes. It was in the high 70s yesterday.
"Houston has a lot of great fresh and saltwater opportunities - if you just stay in the Houston Metro Area you can fish Buffalo Bayou, Simms Bayou and some of slow moving creeks we have here for largemouth, crappie, sunfish and rough fish such as gar and carp. If you travel just 1-hour away you end up in shallow saltwater for redfish and speckled trout which offers great 8-weight action…If you need equipment we have several really good fly shops here too. If you can swing a little less than a 3 hour trip you can fish the Guadalupe River for stocked Rainbows…you will need to purchase access and you can learn more by going to www.grtu.org. However, if you already trout fishing…this time of year is a great time for both fresh and saltwater action…early winter offers great white bass since they are beginning their spawn…so bring your trout rod!
As a native Texan, I would like to add a couple of comments about access to waters in the state. Bear in mind that 98% of the land in Texas is privately owned, and that 90% of the remaining 2% is federally owned and sports a military installation of some kind. Most landowners definitely frown on trespassing, and the fines are steep. If you take the time to go to the farm/ranch house and ask permission, occasionally the land owner will grant permission. They are less likely near the major metropolitan areas.
There are three “rod-fee” facilities within an a 90 minute drive of downtown Houston. Columbia Lakes provides a john boat and trolling motor in their fee. Seven Lakes at Damon has one boat for use on each pond, but most fish from the bank. Some of the best fishing there can be in the swimming pool! The third one is The lakes of Danbury. Most of their lakes can easily be fished from shore. The boat house is a great place for some MONSTER bluegill. Their rod fee was a bit pricey. There are several county parks in the area that have nice ponds in them. The Lakes at 610 are public and have real good bass and sunfish populations (they are old borrow pits for fill for overpass ramps on the 610 Loop). There are a couple of municipal parks in Missouri City, a suburb on the southwest side of the city, that get stocked during the winter months with rainbow trout by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept., as do most of the county park ponds. One of the members of the Houston club guides on Braes Bayou, which has numerous street crossings in business areas. You park in somebody’s parking lot and “go fish”. It is a concrete-lined “ditch” that harbors gar, carp, grass carp, sunfish, largemouth bass, Rio Grande Perch, and catfish. Sight casting to carp is not unlike sight casting for bonefish or reds.
There are any number of access points along the western end of Galveston Island where you can access both the bay and the Gulf. Christmas Bay, just across San Luis Pass, is excellent wading water and can produce some nice redfish and speckled trout.
For flyshops, there is the already mentioned Bass Pro Shop in Katy Mills Mall on I-10 west of Houston and the Bass pro Shop in Pearland, a southern suburb. In the city itself are I Fly, The Anglers Edge on Westheimer across from the Galleria, and about a mile west is the Orvis store at Westheimer and Chimney Rock. On I-10 at Campbell is Cut-Rate Sporting Goods. Their main store is located ar I-45 south and Fuqua.
Absent knowing specifically when you will be in Houston, I want to personally invite you to attend our monthly club meeting if things coincide. We meet at 7:00 pm, the last Tuesday of the month in the community center in Bayland Park, located at Bissonett and Hillcroft.
Welcome to Texas!