Texas Coast Fly Fishing Report – February 16th

We are down with some gnarly winds today. So it seemed like a good opportunity to update the fly fishing report for Rockport, Texas and surrounding waters. It’s been a little over a week since our last report and things are trying to change around here, sorta. So here is the current lay of the land down here and what we are looking at for the coming week or so down on the Texas Coast.

Since our last report, it has been pretty good down on the coast. We’ve had more nice day than bad, which means we have been able to get a bunch of boats out on the water. We still had a couple of cold fronts roll through, but they were are a bit more standard for this time of year. Quick and painless is kind of the deal with these. They blow in pretty fierce, get cold for a day or two and then blow out with some calm days behind them.

On the days we are out, we are seeing plenty of fish. It’s not outstanding out there, but plenty solid for late Winter fishing. The water has remained very cold still. We just haven’t had enough sun or warm days to do much for those water temps. So low to mid 40’s are common most mornings. So that has been the biggest holdup on the fish. They just aren’t overly excited everywhere. They have their moments for sure, but we are still seeing far more fish laying around than being active. But that will change.

We’ve been fishing everything from San Antonio Bay down to Nine Mile Hole lately and finding fish throughout. But it sure seems like the fish are just waiting for things to warm up a bit more. Even on our nicest days lately, they just don’t get fired up during the day like you want them to. They want to, but just don’t quite have it in them yet.

Any active fish we find out there is plenty happy to eat a fly. They aren’t picky at all. As long as its in front of them, and not moving too quickly, they’ll eat. Some still charge the fly, but most are a little more leisurely with their approach. But pretty much anything will work out there. We still prefer darker colored stuff. Especially with the large numbers of drum around lately. Not uncommon to get a handful of shots at drum every day right now. Some are average size, but most are tanks. So we are especially liking the black stuff to get those stinky guys to eat.

we’ve always told people that Winter in Rockport or South Texas is pretty much over that third week of February every year. Not that we don’t get cold fronts beyond that, because we do. But you can just tell there is a difference. The fronts have a lot less bight to them, are shorter and are the rarity more than the norm. So by our calendar, that means by the end of this week we hope to be turning the corner towards Spring. Already we have had a couple nice days this week with temps in the mid 70’s. Now we just need the overnight temps to hold up as well. Then, you start getting more winds from the Southeast bringing warm air our direction. The days are getting longer and putting more sunlight on the water, which warms things up for the fish. Just everything begins to change. So mark it on your calendars, Spring fishing is starting in the next week or so. Finally!

We have a couple of our guys headed up to Troutfest this weekend, while the rest stay on the coast and will be in the boats all weekend. But after this weekend, it’s all hands on deck out there. We have boats out every day for the foreseeable future, so long as the weather plays nice. Spring dates are filling up very quickly, with Summer following right behind. And as this weather warms, things just get busier and busier 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 report type news. We continue to post on  Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and other such stuff. 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.