🐟 Guadalupe Bass

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🐟 Guadalupe Bass (Micropterus treculii)

Also known as:

• Texas State Fish 🇨🇱

• “Guads” (what locals call them)

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🌎 Where They Live

Native ONLY to Central Texas — mainly:

• Guadalupe River

• Colorado River system

• Clear Hill Country streams

• Spring-fed rivers with limestone bottoms

They love:

• Flowing water

• Rock structure

• Moderate current

• Clean, oxygen-rich rivers

They are true river bass, not lake bass.

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📏 Size

• Average: 10–14 inches

• 1–3 pounds typical

• Trophy: 4–5+ pounds (rare and special)

They fight way bigger than their size.

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🎨 Identification

Often confused with Smallmouth Bass, but here’s the difference:

• Olive green body

• Rows of small diamond-shaped spots

• Lateral stripe broken into blotches

• Smaller mouth than largemouth

• Rough patch on tongue (key ID feature)

Compact, muscular, built for current.

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🍽 What They Eat

• Crayfish 🦞

• Aquatic insects

• Small minnows

• Shad

• Topwater insects in summer

They are aggressive and opportunistic.

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🎣 How to Catch Guadalupe Bass

Best techniques:

• 🪨 Fish rocky runs & riffles

• 🐜 Small soft plastics (2–3 inch)

• 🦞 Crawfish imitations

• 🎣 Inline spinners

• 🐛 Light Texas rigs

• 🌊 Topwater poppers early morning

Ultralight to medium-light spinning gear works great.

They love current breaks and pocket water.

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🔥 Why They Matter

• Texas conservation success story

• Once threatened by hybridization with Smallmouth

• Now protected and restored in many rivers

• Indicator of healthy spring-fed systems

They are a symbol of Hill Country fishing culture.

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🧠 Interesting Fact

Guadalupe Bass don’t grow as large as Largemouth — but pound for pound, they may fight harder in moving water.