Weekend Angler: Austin

Fall colors hit the Texas Hill Country

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Austin, Texas, set in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, has historically been a mecca for singer/songwriters. The capital city of Texas is known for the likes of Willie Nelson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Gary P. Nunn playing the little honky-tonks scattered around the hip, laid-back town. Austin is the major hub for the Hill Country, famous for its hippies, authentic food, and the University of Texas.

But few outsiders know enough to take the opportunity to escape for the weekend, to head to the quaint towns of Gruene, Wimberly, or Lampasas. There are several excellent fisheries located near these towns, just waiting to be explored with a fly rod, including miles and miles of trout water.

Fly fishing? Trout? In the Texas Hill Country? You better believe it. The local hard-core anglers know about the fertile waters of the Colorado River, the Blanco River, and the Guadalupe River, to name but a few. Anglers can fish for smallmouth, largemouth, and spotted bass. They can drop a line for fat rainbow trout. The clear, cold Hill Country streams also hold sunfish the size of a Texas flapjack. In fact, with its abundance of resources, the Hill Country around Austin may be the fly-fishing mecca of the Southwest.