We put in below the dam at Canyon Lake just before six, the water still carrying the cold of the release. Mist hung in the cypress and the air smelled like wet limestone and cedar. Two guides, six of us, and a schedule that belonged entirely to the river.
The first fish came to a #18 zebra midge fished on a tight-line rig through the seam below the second riffle. Sara set the hook with her whole arm, the way you do when you've only ever caught bluegill, and the rainbow came to the net shaking silver in the grey light.
I didn't believe it was on until it was in the net. Then I couldn't stop shaking.
By mid-morning the sun had burned the mist off and the fish had slid into the deeper runs. We switched to a dry-dropper and worked the shade lines. The take was soft, the kind of eat you feel more than see, and the rainbows were holding in the same lies, finning in the current like they had all the time in the world.
What we learned
The Guadalupe is a tailwater, which means the flow can change when the dam releases. Check the release schedule before you go, and get off the water if you see the flow coming up, it rises fast. Wading staffs were not optional. The rocks are slick and the current is stronger than it looks.
We fished 5x to the dry and 6x to the dropper. Anything heavier and the fish refused in the clear, low water. The best water was the slow seams on the inside of every bend, exactly where you'd expect them, and exactly where most people walk past on their way to the next riffle.
The fish fry
Friday night we fried catfish at the cabin and tied flies on the porch until the fire burned down. Nobody caught the most fish. Everybody caught enough. That's the whole point, really.
