Better weather, high water and slack tides are the name of the game for your first Rockport fishing report of May. The weather has continued to be a bit unstable, but not bad. This past weekend, it actually overachieved and left us with 2 excellent weather days on the water. And after a quick front blowing through today, we looks to have a solid run of high pressure moving in for a few days.
The water is still really high. Not all bad, though. We are just fishing a little different water is all. The fish are still scattered quite a bit. But they are there. You just may not see them with the frequency you might like. And many of the fish we see are deep, really deep. They are in heavy cover; mangroves, grass, etc. As far back as you think they might get, they are further. Again, not all bad though. This has made for some really fun, and challenging, shots at fish.
The good news is, the fish are very cooperative. Once you do find them, they are more than willing to eat. Most are quite aggressive as well. So if and when you find them, your properly presented fly is most certain to get a look. Kind of makes all that searching worth while.
We have had some slack tides the past couple of days. This has many fish laying up and not moving much. So with the reds already scattered, and many layed up, it made for a few frustrating moments. If you could spot them laying, they would still eat pretty well. If you could get them to slow cruise away, they would eat as well. But the best shots were still the fish already cruising or tailing in the grass.
The weather the remainder of this week looks great. A little North wind, that may blow a little of this water out of the bays. But clear skies for a run of days as well. This is the first in a little while. So hopefully these fish mellow out and get back on the program a bit more. We would love to see more fish each day we are out. Time will tell.
As for fly selection… take your pick. An active fish would eat anything. Topwater, crab, baitfish, etc. They would hammer anything we put in front of them. Tailing fish as well. Dark crab patterns have remained on our lines lately though, and have landed many reds and trout. If it ain’t broke…
The warmer weather has people looking for guided trips. But there are still plenty of summer dates available. If you are interested in chasing redfish on the fly in the Rockport area, contact us and we can get your Early Summer trip booked.