Fly-Fishing the Texas Hill Country, by B.L. “Bud” Priddy

Well over a decade ago, a modest-looking spiral bound book on fly-fishing debuted. The book was Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country, by B.L. "Bud" Priddy. It did not take long for the popularity of Priddy's book to spread, and in a few short years it went from a small, locally circulated guide book, to "the" classic fishing reference for fly anglers venturing into Hill Country streams. Its popularity continues today.

Fly-Fishing the Texas Hill Country guides anglers along 13 Texas rivers from their headwaters in the western Hill Country to points along the IH 35 corridor where limestone gives way to dark clays and low rolling expanses. Rather than include maps of each river, which Priddy thought impractical, Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country traces the rivers in terms of "miles" beginning with "mile 0" at the headwaters. For each river, Priddy locates and describes the bridges, launch points, portage points, and good stretches of water along with notes on available food/lodging. Also provided are pictorials of effective fly patterns for each river and tips on how to fish them. There are several editions of Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country in circulation. Each of them expands and updates the previous edition. The original editions of this book, though somewhat dated, are valuable and sought after.

I was born and raised in the Hill Country, and although I fish more along the coast these days than in the limestone creeks of the Texas hills, I am still drawn back to the smell of cedar, lantana, and damp cypress, and the sounds of water rushing over rock. If you are planning to head to the scenic Hill Country to fly fish one of its rivers or just inclined to learn more about fishing these beautiful waterways, you should get a copy of Bud Priddy's Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country.

Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country
By B.L. "Bud" Priddy
W. Thomas Taylor Pub.
ISBN: 0-935072-23-3