See every public fishing venue in Texas on the map, with boat ramps, camping, parking and full rules for each one.
Colorado River is a public river in Colorado County, Bastrop County, Fayette County, Wharton County, Matagorda County and Travis County, Texas, managed by State of Texas (public-trust water). It is a public-trust water — you can fish it with a Texas licence; bank access is at public river-access points and bridges. Public access confirmed via public-trust river.
A major Texas river — a trophy blue and flathead catfish fishery, white and hybrid striped bass below the dams, largemouth in the oxbows, and alligator gar on the sandbars.
It runs roughly 303 miles through the Central Texas region. Anglers here mostly fish for blue catfish, flathead catfish, channel catfish, white bass; hybrid striped bass, largemouth bass, alligator gar, freshwater drum are also on record. Live flow and gauge height come from the Colorado Rv nr Wadsworth, TX USGS station shown below. The nearest other mapped waters on PiscaMaps are Harveys Creek and Middle Fork Harveys Creek.
Species from TPWD DEC public fishing access and fishery survey data.
Night fishing: No statewide night-fishing closure in Texas. State parks and some city lakes have gate hours; check the specific water. Bowfishing and jugline/trotline catfishing are commonly done at night.
Boats: Most Texas fishing rivers are run by tiller boats, jon boats, canoes and kayaks; larger craft only on the lower Mississippi, Texas, St. Croix and Rainy.
Bank & bivvy camping: Bank access is at DNR water-access sites, state water-trail campsites, parks and WMAs; other banks are private riparian land.
Tackle: Statewide: largemouth bass 14-inch minimum, 5 per day. Many lakes carry a slot limit or a higher minimum (Lake Fork, Alan Henry, Caddo and others) and several have special blue/flathead catfish rules — check the TPWD Outdoor Annual for this water. Report a 13 lb-plus largemouth to the ShareLunker program.
Boat ramps: 19 mapped — Boat ramp, Boat ramp, Columbus Loop On Colorado River Boat Launch, Boat ramp, Boat ramp, Columbus Loop on the Colorado Take-Out and others nearby.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors.
Loading live flow & gauge height…
Live from USGS gauge 08162501 — Colorado Rv nr Wadsworth, TX. Full gauge data →
Everyone 17 or older needs a Texas fishing licence with a Freshwater Fishing endorsement — the resident freshwater package is about $30, an all-water package about $47, and a non-resident annual about $58. A 1-day all-water licence is about $16. No separate trout stamp. Buy from Texas Parks & Wildlife. A Texas fishing licence covers public rivers. In Texas a watercourse is public if it is 'navigable in fact' (roughly a 30-foot average bed) — you may wade and fish the bed and banks up to the gradient line, but adjacent land is usually private.
Every water carries species, bank & boat access, current regulations and live water conditions — and members get Swim Mapper, Catch Logger and Trip Planner. It's the only US map with a dedicated carp-water layer.
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