Rockport Fishing Report – October 4th

Here is your first Rockport fishing report for the month of October. Not that it feels a whole lot like October out there just yet. But hopefully change is coming our way soon. Either way, we will fill you in on what we have been seeing out there this week, and what we expect for your Rockport fishing report for the week to come.

As we mentioned, it is warm. Really warm. Maybe a bit too warm for October around here. It’s not quite as awful as August/September, but it’s still quite a bit warmer than we would prefer. Which means, our water is warm as well. Still hovering in the 85-87 degree range on the flats many days. Again, warmer than we would like. And warmer than our fish would like as well. All that being said, it is still fishing pretty decent. You just have to be aware of the higher temps and adjust your program accordingly.

We are still finding our happiest fish in the morning hours. These fish seem to be enjoying the coolest portion of their day and are easily the most aggressive. Before the sun is high over head, the fish are very willing to chase and eat a fly. As things begin to warm up out there, you can see the changes taking place. You may see a few less fish, but really not that bad. Certainly you will find fish laying up in very deep cover; grass, mangroves, etc. Most won’t move, until you make them move either with your presentation or the boat.

There are still some fish working around though. Singles are most common, slowly working a bank or flooded grassline. Many of these fish are plenty catchable. But there are also a bunch that won’t cooperate at all. We are seeing lot’s of follows, refusals and other such reactions. Much like you see during the other hot months of Summer. Where three or four fish may turn and follow your fly before turning away, the fifth might scoop it up without hesitation. Our advice… trust your fly selection, stick to the program and find another fish when you get snubbed. Don’t take it too personally.

Having said that, we have been changing up our fly selections over the course of the days though. Most mornings, they have been very willing to eat most offerings presented to them. Crab patterns are first out of our boxes most mornings, especially with the higher water levels. These are easy to get down in the deep water, or through heavier grasses. As the heat sets in, some of us are switching it up a bit and going a bit smaller. Maybe a small shrimp or baitfish pattern. Something that lands softly, can be fished slowly without hanging up and can offer a red a simple meal to slurp up. We think it has helped with some of these finicky fish. Or at least that’s what we are telling ourselves. But as the fish change their attitudes, don’t be afraid to adjust your game accordingly.

The water around here is still pretty high. We are still needing a big front from the North to come down here and help blow out some of this water left behind by the rains of September. Also, it has certainly changed the salinity a good bit as well. We are seeing gators and gar in plenty of areas where they aren’t too common. Some are showing up well South of Port Aransas. So this salinity change is clearly changing the patterns our fish are on as well. Also as a result of our high water, our fish are spread out all over the place. It’s not too uncommon to see a few fish, then spend a bit of time before getting another shot. The fish are there, just spread out. They have a lot water water to swim in and are pushing back as far as they can get. Our advice, don’t lose hope or focus. You just have to cover a bunch of water to get your shots in for the day.

All in all, the fishing really is pretty good as we are working towards Fall… we hope. We are seeing plenty of fish each day, and finding enough to cooperate for us as well. It’s looking like we will have more of the same over the next weeks time. Temps in the upper 80’s each day, plenty of moisture in the air and plenty of water in our bays. So we expect the fishing to continue to remain as is for the time being. But we are looking forward to some cooler nights and cooler water soon.

We have boats out every day this week. So we will do our best to stay on top of the fishing reports, as we do expect things to change moving forward. Also, stay tuned for information about our the first every Fly Fish Rockport Golf Tournament. We are getting things rolling on this and hope to have solid dates and info for you very shortly. You can always email any time if you would like any up to the minute Southwest Texas fly fishing or Rockport type news. We continue to post on  Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. Or perhaps SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel as well. We continually are trying to add more videos and stuff there. We try to keep stuff fresh for those of you that are wishing you were on the flats with us. So be sure to follow us on all our social media stuff. And don’t forget to sign up for our monthly newsletter below.