Located near the geographical center of Texas, the Heart of Texas, the San Saba River is a rather clear and slow flowing river starting in Menard County and flowing to where it joins the Colorado River approximately five miles east of San Saba. I put in a few miles south of Brady, Texas on U.S. 377 at a rest stop that was made as a riverside park. Parking is very accessible and plentiful. There is no sidewalk to the river, only a few steps down to rock, in which a natural limestone pathway is made to the river. Expect a few people to be enjoying the river by the park, but the earlier one can arrive at the San Saba; the less amount of people there will be as you venture down the river. I was the only one as I arrived.
The first part of the river down from the parking lot contains a few small deep holes with a large shallow flat area of limestone rock with a large ledge. Approximately seventy-five feet to the right of the steps down to the river is where the primary fishing portion of the San Saba begins. To start out fishing, I used a 1/8 oz. Worden’s Rooster Tail in the Firetiger color on a 6ft. medium action Cabela’s IM7 Tourney Rod matched with a Pflueger President Reel.
I caught many sizes of sunfish instantly, with most about the size of my hand. Many of the bites were occurring along the bank, as a lot of brush and structure was provided for the fish. I soon caught a small Guadalupe Bass within fifteen minutes of fishing.
The area I was fishing was, as best as I can describe it, a large, slowly flowing pond that was dammed by large boulders. Past this dam was approximately 200 yards of small rapids. One can expect to have to get out of their kayak or canoe at this point in low water conditions and navigate their kayak. In slightly higher water levels, and with not as much gear that I had in my canoe, one may not have to get out and navigate their kayak, but just to play it safe, be prepared to. Past the stretch of small rapids, I was brought to another long and deep pool/pond in the river, which was approximately 250 yards long and 30 yards wide. Along the left side of the San Saba River are 50 to 60 foot cliffs and on the right is pasture land, truly Texas. This pool was separated from another larger pool by only Water Hydrilla. Most of the water that I was fishing was about 4 ft. of depth and had very good clarity. As I began to start fishing in the pool past the rapids, a larger fish bit my tiny Rooster Tail. It was by no means a monster fish, but it was an excellent quality bass and near 2lbs. Shortly afterwards though, a monster did bite, as a five-pound largemouth snatched my lure. Along with this monster bass, I caught an enormous panfish shortly afterwards.
This panfish was very colorful and covered both of my hands, and would easily be in the pound range. I paddled a little ways to reach my second nice largemouth that was very similar to the two-pounder I had caught previously in length and weight. I caught this largemouth on a Bitsy Pond Minnow from Strike King as I realized the fish were a little deeper and I needed a deeper diving lure than a Rooster Tail. I caught many more panfish and another 2lb largemouth bass as my day continued. At the end of the day, I was very please as I had only fished for a little more than two hours and caught more fish than I could count, as I lost count after number 10. This stretch of the San Saba is very nice and fishable, and I look forward to paddling further the next time I visit.
Pictured above is the author, Clint Taylor, with his catch of the day. Below are photos of the cliffs and the San Saba River as mentioned in the article. Photos by Clint Taylor.
About the author: My name is Clint Taylor and I fish the out of the way and mostly overlooked locations on Texas Rivers. I am a member of the Jackson Kayak Fishing Team, and I am a proud member of the Brownwood Lions Varsity Football Team – Go Lions. I enjoy outdoor activities and going target shooting as well. I also have a website,
