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Home › Waters › Texas › Pedernales River
River · The Texas Hill Country west of Austin, running through Fredericksburg and Johnson City toward Lake Travis · Texas

Pedernales River Fishing Guides

A classic Hill Country limestone river of slabs, chutes and green pools, and one of the most approachable places anywhere to catch a Guadalupe bass on a fly.

A clear gravel-bottomed river running past a wooded bank

Map of the Pedernales River

25 numbered points: 14 bridges, 6 parks and conservation areas, 1 agency office, 2 hazards, 1 spring, 1 USGS gauge. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Oct 21, 2026.

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  • Bridge crossing (14)
  • Park / conservation area (6)
  • Agency / conservation office (1)
  • Dam / hazard (2)
  • Spring (1)
  • USGS gauge (1)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.

Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.

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All 25 points on this map
#PointTypeLat, LonNotes
1US 290 crossing west of Harper
US 290		Bridge crossing30.30038, -99.30827Uppermost mapped public crossing on the main stem, above Harper.
2US 290 crossing at Harper
US 290		Bridge crossing30.30046, -99.28541Harper; the upper river is small and largely private through here.
3White Oak Road crossing
County through-road		Bridge crossing30.23516, -99.06459Low-water crossing between Harper and Fredericksburg.
4Alfred Petsch Road crossing
County through-road		Bridge crossing30.20949, -99.00540Crossing west of the TX 16 bridge.
5TX 16 crossing
TX 16		Bridge crossing30.20714, -98.97920State-highway crossing south-west of Fredericksburg.
6US 87 crossing
US 87		Bridge crossing30.21990, -98.86998South of Fredericksburg.
7Old San Antonio Road crossing
County through-road		Bridge crossing30.22084, -98.84299Historic road crossing south-east of Fredericksburg.
8US 290 crossing east of Fredericksburg
US 290		Bridge crossing30.22729, -98.81854The river turns east toward Stonewall below here.
9RM 1623 crossing at Stonewall
RM 1623		Bridge crossing30.24308, -98.65723Ranch-road crossing at Stonewall.
10Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site
State park		Park / conservation area30.23757, -98.62613Texas Parks and Wildlife park fronting the river at Stonewall; coordinate is the visitor centre.
11Johnson Dam
Low dam		Dam / hazard30.23850, -98.62168On-channel dam on the LBJ Ranch reach, 20 m off the centreline. Scout or portage.
12Park Road 49 crossing
Park Road 49		Bridge crossing30.24250, -98.60562Crossing inside the LBJ state and national historical park complex.
13RM 1320 crossing
RM 1320		Bridge crossing30.27214, -98.54553Ranch-road crossing at Hye.
14US 281 crossing at Johnson City
US 281		Bridge crossing30.29144, -98.40048The main crossing at Johnson City, beside the reference gauge.
15USGS streamgage - Pedernales River near Johnson City
USGS streamgage		USGS gauge30.29187, -98.39949Real-time flow; the reference gauge for the whole river.
16Lake Johnson City Dam
Dam		Dam / hazard30.28749, -98.39601On-channel dam impounding the Johnson City town lake, 16 m off the centreline.
17Pedernales River Nature Park
LCRA river park		Park / conservation area30.28394, -98.39875Lower Colorado River Authority park with river frontage at Johnson City.
18Pedernales Falls State Park Headquarters
TPWD park headquarters		Agency / conservation office30.30804, -98.25764Entry station and ranger office for the state park.
19Pedernales Falls State Park
State park		Park / conservation area30.30779, -98.24301The marquee public access on the river. The falls reach is closed to swimming; the fishable water is below it.
20Jones Spring
Spring		Spring30.29337, -98.22931Spring on the river below Pedernales Falls.
21Westcave Preserve
Nature preserve		Park / conservation area30.33675, -98.14063Guided-access preserve above the river at Hammett's Crossing.
22Hamilton Pool Road crossing
Hamilton Pool Road		Bridge crossing30.34003, -98.13893Hammett's Crossing, the access road for Westcave and Hamilton Pool.
23Hamilton Pool Preserve
County preserve		Park / conservation area30.34302, -98.13257Travis County preserve; the grotto itself is on Hamilton Creek just above its Pedernales confluence. Reservation required.
24Milton Reimers Ranch Park
County park		Park / conservation area30.36772, -98.12085Travis County park with long Pedernales frontage; the main public access on the lower river.
25TX 71 crossing
TX 71		Bridge crossing30.38975, -98.08637Last mapped crossing above the Pedernales arm of Lake Travis.

Guides on the Pedernales River

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About the Pedernales River

The Pedernales runs east out of the country west of Fredericksburg, past Johnson City, and into the western arm of Lake Travis. It is a Hill Country river in the truest sense: a bed of flat limestone slabs, water that slides through narrow chutes and then opens into deep green pools, and cypress and pecan along the banks. In a wet year it is a lovely, wadable, floatable stream. In a dry one long sections go to standing pools connected by a trickle, and the river becomes a wading and hiking trip rather than a paddle. Both versions fish, but they fish differently and it is worth knowing which one is running.

The fish that brings anglers here is the Guadalupe bass, native only to this part of central Texas and found nowhere else in the world. They are small by bass standards, rarely much over a pound, but they hold in fast water like a trout and hit hard enough that nobody complains about size. Largemouth take the deeper pools, Rio Grande cichlid are abundant and eager, and redbreast sunfish will take almost any small popper thrown near structure. Light tackle and small flies are the tools that fit.

Most guided work here is wade fishing or a kayak float on the reaches near Johnson City and through Pedernales Falls State Park, where the exposed slab formations are the signature of the river. The park is the best public access in the drainage and it has a firm rule worth respecting: the falls area itself is closed to swimming and the river rises fast in a storm. The gauge near Johnson City is the honest read on whether there is enough water to float.

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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

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Posting to Pedernales 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 Pedernales River cfs

Now: 17.4 cfs, read 6:00 am CST, Mon Nov 2, 2026 (USGS 08153500, Pedernales Rv nr Johnson City, TX).

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

Access

Pedernales Falls State Park - the primary public access, with trails, bank fishing and the falls formations.
Cypress Mill low-water crossing - a common upstream put-in for kayak floats toward the park.
Hammett's Crossing on Ranch Road 962 - mid-river access and a popular wade-fishing stretch.
Highway 281 crossing at Johnson City - roadside access near the gauge and the town reaches.
Reimers Ranch Park in Travis County - lower-river access on the approach to Lake Travis.
Milton Reimers and Westcave Preserve area - limited-permit and day-use access on the lower river.
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park - riverfront frontage near Stonewall on the upper river.

Seasons

Spring: highest and most reliable flows, best floating, and Guadalupe bass feeding hard in the chutes.
Summer: low and warm, wading and sight-fishing the pools, with early morning by far the best window.
Fall: flows recover with autumn rain and the river fishes as well as it does all year.
Winter: cool, clear and quiet, slow fishing but the most pleasant wading conditions of the year.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Pedernales River?

As of Nov 2, 6:00 am, the USGS gauge Pedernales Rv nr Johnson City, TX reads 17 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Pedernales River?

Anglers target Channel Catfish, Guadalupe Bass, Largemouth Bass, Longnose Gar, Redbreast Sunfish, Rio Grande Cichlid on the Pedernales River in Texas.

Where can you access the Pedernales River?

Pedernales Falls State Park - the primary public access, with trails, bank fishing and the falls formations. Cypress Mill low-water crossing - a common upstream put-in for kayak floats toward the park. Hammett's Crossing on Ranch Road 962 - mid-river access and a popular wade-fishing stretch. Highway 281 crossing at Johnson City - roadside access near the gauge and the town reaches. Reimers Ranch Park in Travis County - lower-river access on the approach to Lake Travis. Milton Reimers and Westcave Preserve area - limited-permit and day-use access on the lower river. Lyndon B. Johnson National...

When is the best time to fish the Pedernales River?

Spring: highest and most reliable flows, best floating, and Guadalupe bass feeding hard in the chutes. Summer: low and warm, wading and sight-fishing the pools, with early morning by far the best window. Fall: flows recover with autumn rain and the river fishes as well as it does all year. Winter: cool, clear and quiet, slow fishing but the most pleasant wading conditions of the year.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Pedernales River?

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