Location, Accessibility, and Landscape

Located south of Mason, Texas on Highway 2389 you will find the Llano River. This portion of the Llano River does not have great accessibility, but you will find a nice “island” in the middle of the Llano River that you can drive your vehicle on. The Dos Rios RV Park is also very nearby if you’d like to bring a camper. You will need a somewhat high clearance vehicle and four wheel drive would be highly recommended to get on this island. If you can drive out on this rocky island you will be good to go. Luckily, my 4Runner is setup for terrain like this so it was no problem at all.

The landscape is quite beautiful and typical for the Texas Hill Country with small hills, cliffs, and clean water. Most of the area is pretty rocky, and cactus, rattlesnakes and scorpions are all highly present...but so are some nice Guadalupe Bass and Largemouth Bass.

Type of Water, Quality, and Features

As with the whole length of the Llano River, water is typically quite clear for fishing, but on occasion can get a little silty and murky. The Llano River has a lot of pools with rapids connecting them. The rapids generally are all rock bottom, but fallen logs and trees will find themselves into the water at times. The Llano is also unique in the way that there will be large boulders of granite in the middle of the river and under the surface, and these are often great hiding spots for some nice Largemouth Bass.

Fishing Tactics and Tips

This section of water typically holds good numbers of both Largemouth Bass and Guadalupe Bass in the faster water. A Worden's Rooster Tail is hard to overlook, but without a doubt my most successful lure in this area has been a fluke. Small squarebill crankbaits that dive no more than five feet are pretty good, and a Texas Rigged Space Monkey usually does the trick as always.

For Guadalupe Bass in the faster areas of water, make sure to try and cast upstream and retrieve downstream, as fish face upstream waiting for prey to be washed down. Casting at angles in faster water also proves to be deadly...the main thing is changing up your casting angle as this can be crucial in hooking a fish or not. A Rooster Tail is my general lure that I go to in faster water sections such as those in the Llano, but jigs are also good.

Things to Watch out For

There are some things to watch out for when you visit this section of the Llano. For one, you will be parking on an island that is surrounded by a river that floods if heavy rains come in…so be aware of the weather. In addition, you will be parking in an area that is near an RV park, so your vehicle will most likely be seen by others. Be sure to take valuables with you and lock your vehicle.

I have seen multiple snakes on this section of the Llano River, even a rattlesnake or two. Be cautious when portaging in shallow water. Other than this, you just need to apply standard caution and safety as you would with any other river.