In the beginning of planning an April or May kayak fishing trip on the Llano. Has anyone floated from Castell to Llano over a weekend? Camping on a sand bar or granite in the middle of the river? May not be too smart depending on river flows and it looks to be roughly 20 miles so may be a bit too long. Or, would you go upstream of Castell with takeout at Castell?

Call the Castell General Store. I bet they can give you some advice.

RIP Cockaroo

Wont take long to cover 20 miles in a yak. Goes quicker than u think.

Yeah good point on contacting the GS. I've also found some good info from Southwestpaddler.
Will probably pick the 16 or 11 mile option. Right now, I'm leaning Whites Crossing to Hwy 87 which is 16 miles or I can go 87 to Castell which is 11 miles. April is when I'm thinking. Just have to pay attention to river flows.

Love the Llano for fishing. Take some light tackle and pitch small craw imitations or mini senkos. Have fun with a mix of sunfish, guads, largemouth, etc. Beautiful river, great fishing.

If thunderstorms in the area or west, be careful about sleeping in middle of the Llano!

Or if it stops raining between now and then be prepared to drag your canoe or kayak over granite shoals for 20 miles.

TRIPLE 7 said:

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If thunderstorms in the area or west, be careful about sleeping in middle of the Llano!

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Amen to that! And I don't plan of doing the section after 385 where it's a granite nightmare.

Where in the hell is Castell?!

About 20 miles due West of Llano on Ranch Rd 152. Right on the river.

sjislepilot said:

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Where in the hell is Castell?!

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castell,_Texas

It's a tiny town. German side of My family is still there. The general store has seen a resurgence of late. BBQ and tourists helped out.

Castell is about 40 miles northeast of Doss

Castell

Go to the Castell GS on Friday for a damn good burger and a cheap beer, on Saturday for some BBQ and a cheap beer, and on Sunday for steaks and a cheap beer.

You'll have to forgive Randy Leifeste if you bring a cute girl, he's an old pervert haha, but he's good people nonetheless and can sure tell a story.

Sgt. Hartman said:

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Or if it stops raining between now and then be prepared to drag your canoe or kayak over granite shoals for 20 miles.

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This. Check the river level. Can involve a good bit of dragging at times.

Ahh so same guy owns the campground too based off the last name. Does he run shuttles by chance?

My HS class is having our 30th reunion at the Castell general store this year. Llano high school '88. Started off a small class, even smaller 30 years later.

Found this looking at access earlier tonight.

http://www.castellguideservice.com/html/llano_river_access.html

Has a Google Map with access points, food and camping marked.

Thanks for the link! I've looked at quite a few sites but this one has some good info!

Check out Homer Martin Ranch- located outside of Mason.

This might be of interest to you also.

Llano River Primer