Southwest Texas Fly Fishing Report – March 8

Here is the first fly fishing report for the flats near Rockport and the Southwest Texas Coast. We will fill you in on what we’ve been seeing this past week, and make our predictions for what you can expect for the week to come. Spring is here… well, sorta. But where is our Spring fishing?!?!

The past week or so brought quite a bit more of the same. Clouds, fog, mist, rain and wind were again the norm. An added bonus early this week, we had a nasty cold front blow through. When we woke up to hit the water Monday morning, we had air temps around 34 degrees. Even bettter, were the North winds upwards of 20 mile per hour. That made for wind chills somewhere in the 19-20 degree range. A great day to stay inside and tie flies. But this is not exactly that Spring weather we’ve been waiting for.

The cold temps continued into Tuesday, although the winds did taper enough that we could get out on the water later in the day. It was certainly cold, but there were a few fish moving around for us. The same could be said for Wednesday. With three boats out on the water that day, all were able to put at least a few fish to hand. Not exactly “hot” fishing for early March. But at least we were fishing.

Thursday we again had three boats out on the water, and it was the first break we’ve had in a little while. The air temps were still a bit chilly, but the winds were calm and we had just enough sunlight during the morning hours to be able to spot fish easily. For three to four hours, we had completely outstanding fishing. Tons of shots at fish, that were all happy, swimming shallow, a few tailing, crashing banks and generally being redfish. Something we haven’t seen a whole lot of lately. But as our tide went slack, in the early afternoon, it went off like a light switch. Everything starting laying in the mud again and refusing to move until the boat hit them.

Today was more of the same. While we were able to turn a few early on topwaters, predominately we had fish laying up and refusing to move, until the boat was right on top of them. This lasted all day today, with just the occasional player here and there. All told, we were able to put a handful of fish in the boat today, but it wasn’t easy. Especially with wind blowing better than 2o miles per hour.

Our water levels were fairly low, following the strong North winds early in the week. But they have bounced back well with winds turning back to the South. There was plenty of moving water early in the week as well. But we are moving into some slack tides here for the next couple of days. Hopefully the fish don’t mind too much, as there is plenty of water for them to be pushing deep into the marshes.

The coming week’s weather is looking a bit more Spring-like. Meaning, pleasantly unpredictable. This is the time of year where we see reports of 20% chance of rain many days, partly sunny skies and wind in the afternoons. It seems to happen each year. Most often, the reports end up a bit worse than the actual weather. Well, maybe with the exception of the wind. That seems to be there each day, regardless. But typically, the rain showers never take place, the sun tends to peek out and everything is just fine. So we are hoping for much of that in the week to come. HOPING.

For fly selection this week, we’ve begun most days with a crab. Slow and sluggish fish can often be convinced with it. Also, if a bit on the heavy side, you can get it down in front of fish fleeing from the boat last second. You never know who may be willing to pick it up, even though they are moving away. But, with all the baitfish moving around the flats, we’ve also had a good bit of luck with the Billy Ray Mullet and Muffin Top in pink. We’ve had marginal success tossing a few topwaters as well. Capt. Jeff prefers the Tube Top in pink/white or red/white. While Capt. Gibson prefers the Chug Bug in more natural colors. Both moved a few fish for us.

We have a bunch of boats out this coming week, as it is already Spring Break for some. And a bunch out next week as well, as Texans begin their Spring Break routines. So we will keep you up to speed with what all is going on down here. If you are looking to get out on the water, you can always contact us any time if you would like to BOOK A TRIP or need any up to the minute Southwest Texas fly fishing or Rockport fishing 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.