Fishing the San Marcos River in late summer

   It's about the time of year that our nights start cooling off and for the first time since April we see the mercury dip into the 60s. With shorter days and cooler nights the water temperature begins to drop, as does the sir temperature. This encourages a remarkable behavior in at least a few species. For the Black Bass family we notice an uptick in appetite, sated only by their love for any creature that inhabits freshwater. But this consequently creates an uptick in the amount of time fisherman try to spend on the water. Especially before cold days (you know, like the 3-4 weeks of winter we get around here).

   This past weekend- Labor Day weekend in America, I had the opportunity to float down the San Marcos River for an overnight trip between Martindale, Texas, and SH130, a toll road crossing of the San Marcos River. I would be joined by Sparrow and Steve who are on the opposite ends of the kayak-camping spectrum. Sparrow has been down this stretch and camped it numerous times. Steve had neither been down this stretch or camped out of a kayak before- but both are very capable fishermen. We put in at Spencer's/Shady Grove Campground (quite possibly the nicest folks and easiest put in on the upper San Marcos River). We didn't wake up early to get on the water, we just made decent time and were all on the water by 9am. 

   We meandered through the deadfalls, babbling rapids and cool water. Brian whipped his fly rod, I casted soft plastics and Steve cranked shallows lures. We hadn't been on the water very long before I pulled out a decent Largemouth.

The author with a 17.5" Largemouth bass

   Now I've been trying to get Steve confident in soft plastics for awhile. As I casted and kept getting strikes, he saw that they could work effectively, I gave him some pointers (accurate casting to the bank, where bass will hide mid-day, proper lure action, etc.) and soon enough Steve was catching them too. Not to be outdone, Brian hooked some up also.

   Steve and Brian both managed LMBs near 17.5", but Steve yanked out a 16.5" Smallie (pictured above) that put him over the top for the day. Throughout the day the bass were aggressive, all 3 populous species (LMB, SMB and Guadalupe bass). As I chunked plastic after plastic I started to mix it up. I first began with a Zoom Baby Brush Hog, Texas-rigged in watermelon/red flake (a go-to of mine). Soon after I ripped some of those up I wanted to show Steve that it wasn't necessarily the lure that was getting them. So I started chunking a watermelon/red flake Havoc Pit boss (T-rigged). After catching a few on those,  I switched to a watermelon/red flake Zoom Speed Worm and caught a few on that as well. Now, to top it all off- I was burning through plastics, and the aggressive bass were literally tearing them up on every second catch or so- I had to show Steve that no matter what color it was, as long as it was casted close to the fish and worked in a believable fashion, you could get a reaction strike on any lure. Cue the tequila sunrise curly tailed worm, and an arching cast upstream to the base of a submerged, mid-stream tree trunk and bam! a Guadalupe Bass took me for a ride. Then I switched it over to a brown lizard (with red & green flake) and did the same exact thing. Not only was I grinning ear to ear, Steve was too because he had new weapons in his arsenal. 

   Meanwhile, Brian is having luck switching between a craw pattern sinking fly and tossing a pumpkin worm. Steve watched as literally every lure caught fish and he slowly transitioned to a soft plastic user... until we literally had to stop using so many in fear of not having enough for day two. All in all we managed a dozen bass a piece, all aggressively taking a lure on the fall or sweeping it up in the current. 

   One technique worked really well for me in the hot mid-day sun. We know bass transition to deeper water as the surface temperature rises, and in rivers that deeper water may be difficult to find, however, on the San Marcos it isn't that difficult. Knowing that steep mud banks descend into the depths and shallow flood banks are the gradual slope, I casted within one foot of the bank along the mud cliff and I let my creature sink to the bottom. As the current drags me along I pop my lure up (if it's a worm or creature) or swish my lure sideways and let it fall (if a lizard or craw). 9 times out of 10 this resulted in a Guadalupe or Smallmouth picking it up off the bottom (maybe 6'-8') in current (since the current favors the steep bank). Especially if you can skip or drag up and over a submerged rock or structure, often times a Guad or Smallie will hang out right there.

   That night we enjoyed sausage and Ramen noodles (after Brian cleared the water moccasin out of our camp site). Silently the water drifted by as we slept under the stars...

    We all three woke up early and hit the water quick. We weren't but a few hours from our take-out and we wanted to ensure the bite was still on. Again, I managed the first bass (a Guad) and it was a day filled with Guads and LMBs for all of us. Brian lost a 5-6 lb. LMB at the side of his boat but boated many other bass and Steve managed to catch only Guads all day.

   All in all we had a great trip and I know Steve will be back to camp with us and will continue to expand his use of soft plastics.