Rockport Fishing Report – April 1st

This is your first Rockport fishing report for the month of April. Spring fishing is in full swing around here. So in this fishing report for the Texas Coast, we will fill you in on what’s going on out on the flats each and every day. And of course we will help fill you in on how the Coronavirus pandemic is affecting fishing in Rockport and the rest of the Coastal Bend.

First and foremost, let’s address the Coronavirus thing. We are trying to help keep people informed as best we can. These times are pretty crazy everywhere, and the Texas Coast is no different. Rules and closures are changing daily. Sometimes more than a single time in a day. So we are scrambling  and trying to make sense of it all for all involved. But check out our post from yesterday with what we know currently.

All of us here at Fly Fish Rockport are in good health. Hopefully this finds you and yours in good health as well. And for those who have been affected, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Now, back to the fishing…

Despite all the crazy going on these days, we have been on the water pretty much every day still. Especially if you consider a little sneaky bass trip around here as well. It’s frog season on the lake. So we couldn’t help but take advantage of the few extra days off, and carve out a day to harass a bunch of largemouth with a frog. So your bass report… two thumbs up!!!

We have been on the flats every other day though and the fishing is very good out there as well. And, due to the more recent restrictions and closings, the traffic has been really light. Just an added bonus, considering the time of year and all. So we have fished all over the place lately, since crowds were not an issue, and all is fishing pretty darn well.

Mornings have still been the best fishing. Especially with our tides as of late. Nice incoming tides have greeted us every morning, moving a lot of water. So getting on the water a bit after 7am has been our jam lately, usually in our spot and fishing by 7:30. Tails are first on the program in the mornings. They have become a daily occurrence now days, which is a good thing as most our mornings have started out with pretty solid cloud cover. Each day this past week, there were tails up by the time we got rolling. Most days they have continued well into the mid day. As the sun become a bit brighter, many of the tails go away as fish begin cruising around and doing some other things. Many of the fish are solos, working lightly in the grass. But a few small schools are around as well.

As the day progresses, and the sun continues to burn through the clouds, the tails diminish a good bit. But seeing one isn’t out of the question still. But most of the fish are cruising around, crashing banks or blowing up bait in the middle of the flat. This becomes the norm for the next good portion of the day. There are a few small schools cruising around at this point. Mostly twos and threes. But easily the better and bigger fish are doing their own thing. Swimming along down a bank or out in space at their leisure.

Fishing most days has remained very good through lunchtime. Then it tends to slow up a bit. Part of this lately can be attributed to the tides slacking off. But even on days that the water is still moving some, the fish just seem to chill a bit more after that noontime hour. But there are still targets to be had. Just don’t be surprised if a good number of fish are laying up in the grass and not moving until the boat hits them in the head. So with that in mind, we recommend you get after it fairly early and get it while it’s good.

If you are in the right water, there are still larger schools of fish tearing down the banks each morning. We’ve been finding these fish in very specific water, grass, depth, etc. As we move away from those spots, the larger schools just aren’t there. But those fish are doing their thing, running down the banks hard and eating every little shrimp in their path. A topwater is easily the best option for these. But they will eat smaller shrimp offerings as well. But if you guess wrong on your fly, don’t be surprised when the entire schools swims right by it. Crab, baitfish and larger patterns have been completely snubbed. Just sayin’!

Flies are still pretty standard. Topwater flies are an excellent option right now. Tailing fish, bank cruisers and especially fish crashing bait will all come to the surface readily right now. Size does seem to matter a little bit though. They aren’t loving anything too large on the surface. So keep the tails on the shorter side and you will be fine. Color hasn’t seem to matter at all. So the Tube Top in black/chartreuse or white/red have been perfect.

When not tossing a topwater, we’ve been messing around with a couple new crab patterns. Most of them in dark colors. Anyone who reads this report on the regular knows how much we love black and purple crab patterns. That hasn’t changed a bit. But we are playing with a few different styles lately. All have been eaten just fine. As have a few new shrimp patterns as well. One of which, JJ’s Genhgis Prawn, is being featured in our April Newsletter. So check that for images and tying instructions.

We’ve been favoring the waters around Rockport and South towards Corpus. Fishing on the North side of town has been solid too, but not quite as good. Also, no where near the size of fish consistently. There are a lot of good sized fish swimming around right now. Most days we are seeing multiple over slot fish out there. Also a few large trout lingering around the shallow flats.

We did run out one day earlier this week for a little nearshore/offshore attempt. We have seen a few jacks around, so thought this would be worth a shot. Unfortunately, after a few hours of looking around, we found nothing. So we had to wave the white flag and run back in to fish some flats. But it is the right time of year. We just need a little bit more sun and warmer water to get some of those migratory fish to hang around a bit more often. So stay tuned for that.

As we write this Rockport fishing report, fishing really isn’t of grave importance it feels. With so much going on in the world right now, its just fishing. Just not that important. But we do find it as a great escape from things, even if only for an hour or two each day. So we will do our best to keep the reports coming, both fishing and otherwise. But we do understand that there are greater things going on in all of our communities. So we wish everyone good health in these trying times and will continue to do what we can to help, whatever that may be.

We will do our very best to keep you all caught up on closures, restrictions and the like as we continue forward. And of course we will do our best to keep you updated on our fishing as well, assuming we can. 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 report 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.