Medina River - June 25th, 2023

[Neumie]

Despite near record heat and 7 month old twins at home I was able to squeak in a quick trip to one of our Hill Country rivers; the Medina River. This time last year we were in the middle of a severe drought; but due El Nino we've received some good rains this year. I was anxious to see how the Medina had responded. She looked pretty.



I made my way upstream to the first pool and caught a small Guadalupe and then a plethora of sunfish in the next chain of pools as I made my wade up to a wide shallower pool.









As I slipped into the target pool. I finally caught a small largemouth bass. I hadn't seen many bass up to this point, and the one I caught was about as big as I had seen. I'm worried, at least through this stretch, the bass population may have been hurt by last year's drought.



But some good news is the Rio Grande Cichlid population looked healthy as I had seen numerous on my wade up stream. I swapped from a topwater Llano Bug to quick sinking Rio Getter. It paid off quickly and I caught several. My absolute favorite fish to catch in our rivers.





Some river shots.





On the wade back to my truck, I packed up the Phillipson Fly Fox and extended my tenkara rod. I usually use a tenkara rod on my return back to the truck because I can quickly wade and pick off small sunfish; really fun.







A quick three hour trip, but very productive. I'm just glad to see water flowing again.

[Kayak Kid]

Thanks for sharing your trip. The Medina PACK kayak trip we took each year was one of my favorites.

[Ron Mc]

Glad you got out Josh, excellent day and fun photos.
Your fourth fish down is a green/long-ear hybrid, which becomes common in isolated drought pools.
(Green hens are the last sunfish left with their big gills, and male long-ears are on their redds year-round)
Last year's 2-yr drought was less severe than '05-'15 drought, which was much less severe than '55 drought - groundwater use has become excessive.