Texas Fly Fishing Events Decline Steeply in 2026
I was talking to Chet, and it noticed a meltdown of Statewide events aimed at the fly fishing community in what is left of 2026. So, while top-shelf reps and fly fishing pros and guides may try and sell you on the good times roll, the evidence is there is a severe downturn in Texas fly fishing events taking place. And it’s trending …
The Texas Fly Fishing & Brew Festival ended after the 2024 event. There has been no announced 2025 or 2026 festival, and the organizers’ website and social media have gone inactive. This is an old story. I knew from the first time I went to this, it was a dog-and-pony, let us all get together and show you what we sell, talk amongst ourselves, and slap backs event … destined for failure. That is for one simple reason – a total and complete disconnect from local/from Texas fly fishing. Speakers and lecturers and the location made it clear, this event was never built to last.
Texas has a surprising lack of statewide fly fishing events in the second half of 2026.
Other than club meetings and outings, there are very few public fly fishing events on the calendar.
For July–December 2026, some things I can verify are:
- Texas Fly Fishers – club outings and monthly meetings (Houston area)
- Alamo Fly Fishers – monthly meetings with guest speakers (San Antonio)
- Austin Fly Fishers – monthly meetings, tying nights, and outings
- Dallas/Fort Worth Fly Fishers – monthly meetings, fly tying, and fishing trips
- Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited – volunteer workdays and conservation projects as flood recovery continues
- TPWD fishing education events – occasional freshwater seminars that sometimes include fly fishing topics. (Texas Parks & Wildlife Department)
Notably absent this fall:
- ❌ Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T) Texas stops
- ❌ International Fly Fishing Film Festival (IF4) Texas stops
- ❌ Texas Fly Fishing & Brew Festival (ended after 2024)
- ❌ Any statewide fly fishing expo
- ❌ Any Texas fly fishing tournament of significant size
END NOTE: It’s easy to look back on the COVID Pandemic and forget, more than a million people in the USA died. Those in the fly fishing economy tend to only remember the economic bubble caused by that pandemic, and the fantastical sales volume (student loan payments paused / free bailout stimulus checks for everyone), and then the supply chain problems. Heck, it seems like everyone has forgotten the COVID lessons, and you know what that means? We’re doomed to repeat it. If you doubt me, consider the fact we repeated the President that caused it. Even I had windfall profits from the pandemic … hard to imagine these days after the fly fishing economic crash that followed!
Based on what is left of the 2026 calendar, I would say this level of social activity is as low as I have seen in the last two decades, as low, if not the lowest. That’s not to say someone will read this and schedule a movie showing, or even two, before the year ends with a roar (think midterms). As Texas fly fishers, we’re going to have to roll back to social events that are more reliable, less profit motivated, like club outings, club meetings and maybe some new social avenues? You know me! I am no “clubber,” but I do like to be social around my edges. It tends to ground my thinking, and bring me back to reality, as I watch club guys share moments on their phones, face-to-face, phones face-in-face, from places FAR AWAY from Texas. I’ll just keep trying to show Texas fly fishers what you’re missing, right here, in Texas fly fishing, and keep throwing my chips on the table – in the best ways I can think to show you.
