Nueces River

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Map of the Nueces River and associated watershed

The Nueces River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, approximately 315 mi (507 km) long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas north of the Rio Grande.

1 Location and Flow
2 History
3 Fishing
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Location and Flow

The Nueces rises northwest of San Antonio in the Edwards Plateau, in Real County approximately 50 mi (80 km) north of Uvalde. It flows south through the Texas Hill Country, past Barksdale and Crystal City, approaching to within 35 mi (56 km) of the Rio Grande on the border with Mexico. East of Carrizo Springs it turns to the east, flowing the scrub plains of South Texas, across rural Dimmit, La Salle,and McMullen counties. In central Live Oak County it is joined from the northwest by the Frio River, then flows southeast along the coastal plain past Mathis, where it is impounded to form the Lake Corpus Christi reservoir. It enters Corpus Christi Bay on the Gulf of Mexico at Corpus Christi.

[edit] History

From before the end of the Texas Revolution, México recognized that the Nueces River was historically the border of Tejas from the rest of the country. However, the Republic of Texas claimed the Río Grande as its border with México. This dispute continued after the annexation of Texas, and was one of the causes of the Mexican-American War as the U.S. pursued their Manifest Destiny. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the dispute, with México recognising the Río Grande as its northern border.

[edit] Fishing

The Nueces is one of several few clear warmwater spring creeks in the Hill Country of Texas. The river originates in Real County, Texas and flows south and then east until it finally heads south again and into the Gulf of Mexico at Corpus Christi. In its upper reaches, the water is crystal clear and cool.

Unlike spring trout creeks in the Rocky Mountains, the Nueces holds largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and the native Guadalupe Bass, along with a variety of panfish such as yellow-belly sunfish, rock bass, green perch and Rio Grande perch.