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Home › Waters › Texas › Llano River
River · Texas Hill Country · Texas

Llano River Fishing Guides

The Hill Country river for Guadalupe bass, running clear over pink granite and limestone slabs from Junction through Mason to Llano and the Colorado.

A clear gravel-bottomed river running past a wooded bank
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Llano River

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

About the Llano River

The Llano forms at Junction where the North and South Llano meet and runs east about a hundred miles through Mason and Llano to the Colorado River at Lake LBJ. It flows over pink Llano uplift granite and white limestone in a series of slab shelves, gravel runs and deep green pools, and when it is at a good level it is one of the prettiest rivers in Texas. It is a shallow, wadeable, kayak-scale river for most of its length, not a boat river.

Guadalupe bass are the reason anglers travel for it. The Texas state fish is a small, hard-fighting native black bass found only in the Hill Country, and the Llano holds one of the strongest populations, with an active restoration program on the South Llano that has pushed back hybridization with introduced smallmouth. Largemouth take the deeper pools, Rio Grande cichlids give the river a tropical flash on the light tackle, longear sunfish and bluegill are everywhere, and channel catfish work the deeper holes. Fly anglers work the slabs with poppers and small streamers.

The Mason gauge is the number that decides the trip. The Llano is a flash-flood river with a fearsome reputation: a thunderstorm over the upper basin can raise it many feet in a matter of hours, and floods here have been among the most dramatic recorded in Texas. Moderate readings mean clear water over the slabs, easy wading and good paddling. Very low water leaves a chain of pools connected by trickles, which still fishes but means dragging a kayak. Never camp on a gravel bar with rain in the forecast upstream.

Junction, Mason and Llano are the base towns, and the South Llano River State Park is the best public access in the basin.

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  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

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Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Llano River.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Llano River cfs

Now: 453 cfs, read 2:00 am CDT, Mon Oct 19, 2026 (USGS 08150700, Llano Rv nr Mason, TX).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

South Llano River State Park: the best public access, camping and river frontage near Junction.
Junction and the North and South Llano confluence: the top of the main stem.
Mason and the Highway 87 crossing: access near the gauge.
James River confluence: a clear spring-fed tributary.
Castell and the Llano River slab crossings: classic Hill Country access.
Llano town park: lower river access above the Colorado.
Numerous county road crossings give wade access; respect private land between them.

Seasons

March through May: the best months, moderate flows and active Guadalupe bass.
June through August: hot and low, fish early and late; watch upstream storms for flash floods.
September and October: falling temperatures and excellent topwater fishing.
Winter: clear low water, sluggish fish on cold days and beautiful empty river on warm ones.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Llano River?

As of Oct 19, 2:00 am, the USGS gauge Llano Rv nr Mason, TX reads 453 cfs, the 83rd percentile for this date. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Llano River?

Anglers target Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Guadalupe Bass, Largemouth Bass, Longear Sunfish, Rio Grande Cichlid, Smallmouth Bass on the Llano River in Texas.

Are there fishing guides on the Llano River?

GuidedFloats lists 2 guides and outfitters on the Llano River. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Llano River?

South Llano River State Park: the best public access, camping and river frontage near Junction. Junction and the North and South Llano confluence: the top of the main stem. Mason and the Highway 87 crossing: access near the gauge. James River confluence: a clear spring-fed tributary. Castell and the Llano River slab crossings: classic Hill Country access. Llano town park: lower river access above the Colorado. Numerous county road crossings give wade access; respect private land between them.

When is the best time to fish the Llano River?

March through May: the best months, moderate flows and active Guadalupe bass. June through August: hot and low, fish early and late; watch upstream storms for flash floods. September and October: falling temperatures and excellent topwater fishing. Winter: clear low water, sluggish fish on cold days and beautiful empty river on warm ones.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Llano River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Texas agency site: https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/fishing