On the Sabinal this summer- June 2019

[krackdawg]

Sorry for the late report, but his up the Sabinal in Utopia for an annual trip about a month ago. Water level was up from previous years which made floating and accessing the river easier and more productive in certain areas. I caught the tail end of the blue gill spawn which made any bait in a bg pattern golden. Blue Gill crankbaits, swim jigs, etc... were very effective along with the traditional topwaters in the morning. Also broke out the fly rod and nabbed a few blue gill and small bass along the way. Water was fairly clear, and the weather was actually great - had several cool days with a few thunderstorms when we were there. Fished Utopia park lake as well as the stretch south of the dam. Here are a few pics...

[Ron Mc]

shhhhh, don't tell the Sabinal is the best fishing in Texas - oops

it's also all sight-fishing

[bones72]

Awesome report, love me some river bass. The ones you bagged krackdawg are some toads. I dig the hat, have one very similar except it's probably got more calf s*** on it than fish slime from my time ranching in Colorado.
Ron holy cow that's a big Rio. That's one fish that's on my bucket list to target.

[Ron Mc]

really wasn't showing off for the photo - just trying to get my cat's whisker
The bass was about 10 lb, and measured 27"
But I'll never forget when that bucket opened up to eat it

You might want to add a day trip south to the confluence of the Sabinal on the Frio. 20 mi S from the town of Sabinal.
Can't float to get there, because the river is mostly a dry sendero south of Sabinal. You can launch at the (Frio) bridge, and paddle upriver a ways.
Cichlids the size of footballs.

Here's the blue hole where the Sabinal re-emerges from the aquifer a half-mile above its mouth on the Frio.
There are 5 bass sitting on the shelf against the far bank

here on the Frio, 60+' casts to visible 5-lb bass (and fat thumbs)


Other than the Devil's R., the only better fishing in Texas is the Frio sendero, but it's 20 mi of dirt road and all private land.
My buddy's family has a ranch there.
3 of us caught 400 bass one day hiking the sendero to cold pools
We also each broke off 2 or 3 10-12-lb bass in the lumber.



There's also comparable fishing on private access on Hondo Creek and Seco Creek.
Shonto Ranch on Turtle Creek west of Kerrville has purina-fed cichlids over 3 lbs.

[Neumie]

Man, great photos. The Sabinal is one of my favorite rivers to fish. I've seen and caught some good bass (though not as large as Ron's) and cichlids in there.

[Ron Mc]

Josh, you need a fly rod, T130 sinking line and cats whisker


btw, if you want to try the lower Frio/Sabinal run one day (right about 100 mi), we can eat at Hermann Son's Steakhouse on the way home

[pontoonman]

How is Utopia Park Lake during the winter? I will be up there starting early tomorrow for a couple of days, and my lodging place in Utopia says the Sabinal is down to a trickle. Weather looks good, clear to partly cloudy and low winds, no precipitation.

Thanks,

PM

[Ron Mc]

my experience is that part of the river gets hit pretty hard, but that's bound to slow way down in the winter.
It might be a good paddle.
One of my favorite spots is the bridge 12 mi south from Utopia.

[pontoonman]

Thanks, Ron! I'll keep an eye out for the Sabinal Bridge and see what's cooking. I can Portage just about anywhere there's a one man walking clearance for for a couple of miles, but assume the Sabinal is not a legally navigable river.

[pontoonman]

My plans changed, but I did get a one time 2 hour total solo crankbait troll during sunny midday on Monday. Wentfrom Utopia Park Dam up to where the sabinal River feeds into the lake, one small Bass. Nobody else on the lake until a couple of cars showed up as I was leaving in the late afternoon. The sabinal end was crystal clear water with Bass clearly visible and it was really quiet, tree sheltered, and beautiful even though surrounded by cabins on private property, nobody around. Of the three bridges that were North of Sabinal town, only one had Road access but it was very skinny water and the river was fenced off on the east side. Didn't have time to check out for any bridge access south of Sabinal town. Thanks again for your help.

[krackdawg]

Always wondered about winter fishing on Park Lake. Might try and stretch a trip up that way sometime to check it out myself. Thanks for the report.