Favorite 2016 Fishing Accomplishment: Crawfish Bass Slam

Guadalupe bass, Guadalupe River, Texas, Teeny Wee-Crawfish

2016 provided many amazing fishing opportunities, including chances to fish in a few states where I had never fished before and a few new species catches. I'll have to think more about specific favorite destinations and specific catches, but my favorite fishing accomplishment of the year is easy, and the story began in February with the bass pictured above. It's a Guadalupe bass, a black bass species found only in select Texas waters, and I caught it from the Guadalupe River in a state park of the same name. I only caught one and it wasn't very large, but I was thrilled because it was a species I'd never before had the opportunity to catch.

Suwannee bass, Santa Fe River, Florida, Deep Wee-Crawfish

In March, I got the chance to fish for Suwannee bass in Florida's Santa Fe River and to catch a few on Deep Wee-Crawfish. Having then caught two black bass species I'd never caught before by March and having caught both on Rebel Crawfish, I wondered how far I could carry that in a year. To shorten the story, I ended up catching seven species, which at one time would have been considered  true black bass slam, all on the Rebel Crawfish. Biologists have fairly recently defined a couple of other bass that are very similar to spotted bass a distinctive species in select watersheds, but the seven I caught represent what traditionally has been seen as a slam.

Interestingly, the last one I caught, which came late in the summer, was a shoal bass, and it came from the section of the Chattahoochee River that is less than 1/2 hour from my house. See photos below for species three through seven, each with a caption telling the species, location and kind of Rebel Crawfish.

Largemouth bass, Ouachita River, Arkansas, Middle Wee-Crawfish

Smallmouth bass, Ouachita River, Arkansas, Middle Wee-Crawfish

Spotted bass, Ouachita River, Arkansas, Middle Wee-Crawfish

Coosa redeye bass, Chattooga River, South Carolina, Deep Teeny Wee-Crawfish

Shoal bass, Chattahoochee River, Georgia, Wee-Crawfish

Guadalupe Bass

Although I certainly caught larger fish on the recent Texas trip with Nathaniel, I'd have to say that my single favorite catch from the trip was a Guadalupe bass that hit a Rebel Wee-Crawfish. The catch came from the namesake Guadalupe River in a stretch that cuts through Guadalupe River State Park.

The setting was part of the reason. High bluffs bound a clear tumbling stream that almost looks like it should be in the Ozarks, except for the very Texasish looking vegetation. We only fished one short section and for a couple of hours, but I could have easily spent a day walking along the edges or wading these waters.

The big thing that made this one No. 1 in my mind, though, was simply that the Guadalupe is a unique Texas black bass species that is the Texas state fish, and I had never caught or even seen one before. Catching one was a definite trip goal, and one I'm glad to have achieved.

Interestingly, in just a little more than a month I'll be in Florida and will spend a day trying to catch Suwanee bass, which, like the Guadalupe, would be a first-time catch for me.