Texas State University

College Ambassador: Abbie Etzler

Species

Largemouth Bass: Bass are a staple to the San Marcos River fishery, especially being able to catch hogs from the headwaters of Sewell Park on campus all the way out of town. Most of the year these guys are available, but their palette gets smaller with drops in temperature. Lucky for us the San Marcos is spring fed and stays at 70 degrees year-round.

Sunfish/Perch: Absolutely everywhere with very cool variability on color and species. Never picky but can always see you.

Rio Grande Cichlid: There are areas they can be found in shallower, slower moving waters so far as I can tell. Great fighters and predatory fish.

Gar: Great river for gar all the way through. Paddle Boarding near Martindale revealed tons of gar breaching the surface. They can still be found closer to the headwaters but not nearly as much as I have seen a few miles down.

Carp: There is a growing love for carp here in the hill country and even with our clear waters they can be found. San Marcos is also home to old canal systems established by the Thompson family where these guys can be found cleaning out and even feeding in all areas of the water column.

Rock Bass: A little infamous, but they are here.

Guadalupe Bass: Highly loved Texas state fish live here along with other hybrids. These fish can be monsters to bring in and in their size.

Accessibility

Sewell Park: Right on campus it is an easy walk to the headwaters of the river and parking can easily be obtained as long as you have a parking pass (of any color).

Bicentennial Park

Children’s Park

Rio Vista Park

Ramon Lucio Park

William & Eleanor Crook River Park

VII.JJ Stokes Park

Notes on II-VII

All these parks meet consecutively through urban San Marcos which has great accessibility. Texas State Rec Center in Sewell Park offers kayak, paddleboard, and canoe rentals at a cheaper cost hourly to overnight. Near many of these parks the city bus stops, and they are not too far of a walk from Sewell, if you follow the river banks.

Community

So, in terms of being a fishy school, Texas State is not. BUT, the community of conservationists and river lovers are huge, and once you find that niche, fly fishers are not too far from it. Freshman year I was not exposed to the fishing world at all here, but once I started integrating with conservation-minded people, I rediscovered fly fishing.

This also led to me being able to write conservation pieces on one of the rivers an hour away from San Marcos for Hays County Free Press. Luckily, in January of 2024 I started Texas State Fly Fishing Club, where you are thrown into the fly-fishing world, from San Antonio, to Round Rock, and beyond. As a woman it is very encouraging because this group started off with all women!