Summer in the TX hill country

Share your fishing adventures, especially ones using antique tackle!
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Ron Mc
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Summer in the TX hill country

Post by Ron Mc »

It's been a good summer, and I haven't posted fishing photos here in awhile.
We've been in a drought which just broke this week. The middle rivers were down to one-quarter of median flow, the headwaters were all holding at about 2/3 of median flows, so that's where we've been fishing.
(shows you how much the water tables are getting pumped downriver).

tight water with little rods
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a little farther downriver to some open water
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up to another tiny headwater where we found giant fish
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more pretty water
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Last edited by Ron Mc on Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jim Wiegner
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Post by Jim Wiegner »

Summer fishing

Beautiful photos Ron...as always. Green...and blue have always been my favorite colors. Not much of a fan of hot and dry places. Good to see that you folks have some purdy areas to retreat to during the heat of summer.

Neat looking fish too.

Jim
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Robin Sayler
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Post by Robin Sayler »

Great shots Ron. What kind of fish is that in your last picture?
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Ron Mc
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Post by Ron Mc »

that is a yellowbelly (redbreast) sunfish. Actually an import from the NE.
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Robin Sayler
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Post by Robin Sayler »

Thanks Ron, we have alot of varieties of sunfish up here in the midwest but none with ears that long! Cool looking fish.
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Brian F.
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Post by Brian F. »

Hey, nice photos as always. So that's what you've been up to :lol:
Jack Bright
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photo essay

Post by Jack Bright »

Excellent shots , I like the opening stream shot for color saturation,
weren`t the long ears from the SE ? With the drought the trout fishery
must be a bummer for this year. How far by road do you have to go
from home to be on that water ?
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Ron Mc
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Post by Ron Mc »

I know they're not native to TX, and are introduced from the eastern Atlantic drainages - although you wouldn't know it, since they are the predominant sunfish in most of our rivers.
Those are specifically not long ears, they are redbreast sunfish, Lepomis auritus

The headwaters of two different rivers, around Fredericksburg, and Kerrville, TX. The two spots are different turns, but both about 80-90 miles from home.
The "middle river" part is about 40 miles from home.

yeah, and I won't get to do this as much now that the yard (an acre) is turning green.

Here are longear sunfish, Lepomis megalotis, which are native, and every strain in every creek is SO different.

north fork Guadalupe
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middle Guadalupe
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San Gabriel
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Sabinal
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Seco Creek (this creek originates in the hill country and runs for about 20 miles above ground then pours through vents back into the aquifer, so this is a perfectly isolated strain)
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Nueces
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Don Champion
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Post by Don Champion »

Ron,
How can you stand it, all that fine bueaty and fish too? And my yard is 3 1/2 acres!
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