Rockport Fly Fishing Report – January 1st

Its a new year, and time for a new Rockport Fishing Report. As this is the 1st of January, this is officially the first report of 2023 for what we are seeing out there fly fishing the flats on the Central Texas Coast. So let’s see where we’re at heading into the new year here.

Since our last Rockport fishing report, just before Christmas, things have been outstanding. It was cold as crap over the Christmas weekend. Lows were in the 20’s, with daytime highs in the low 40’s, at best. So it was pretty terrible outside. A perfect excuse to hang out inside or spend time with family and friends over the holiday. But as of Monday the 26th, we were back out there on the flats.

Most of the time, after a real nasty cold front, we are blessed with some sunny and calm days. This week was no exception. While it was a bit chilly in the mornings, it would give way to sun and warmer temps as the days went on. And the fish loved it. The fishing all week has been lights out, no matter where you are fishing.

Each morning has been cool and calm, so the fog has been really thick. But the fish don’t care, and it’s actually really easy to see them with dense fog and slicked out water. Mornings have been filled with schools of 3-5 fish up crazy shallow cruising around slowly or tailing. They aren’t super aggressive, but just moving along slowly and still plenty willing to eat. Most of these fish are in tight and showing their tails, backs or all of the above. This activity will continue throughout the morning hours until the sun burns through. Once that happens, the fish have pretty much just been going haywire. Tons of fish crashing banks, blowing up bait on the open flats, solo tailers and pretty much anything else you can think of. Amazing what a little sun warming the water up will do. Tons of happy fish out there.

Fly selection hasn’t mattered at all. That being said, we have been doing all of our fishing very shallow lately. So topwater or unweighted flies have been the best program. Also, slightly smaller and lighter stuff that lands softly on the water as well. With all the really calm, slick water on the flats, the fish can be a bit touchy while they are slowly cruising around. But so long as the cast or fly landing doesn’t spook them, they’re gonna eat whatever they see. If we do venture out into areas without much grass and stuff, then the usual flies with a little weight are just fine as well. But the topwater game has been super fun most days lately.

We’ve been fishing kind of all over the place. From San Antonio Bay down even as far as the Land Cut the other day. Hasn’t really mattered much either way. There are plenty of happy to fish to be found everywhere. So take your pick.

We have a kinda crappy day to close out our extended holiday weekend tomorrow (Monday). But the rest of the week is looking great. Lot’s of sun, daytime temps in the 70’s and easy winds look to be the norm for the foreseeable future. So if you are looking to start 2023 with some time on the water, let us know!

We will have boats out on the water all week and will continue to stay on top of the Rockport fly fishing reports for you. Also we have filmed some new stuff recently, that hopefully we can get up on some of our social media sites here soon. Maybe even a few new fly patterns and such!

Happy New Years to all! Thank you for making 2022 a great year. We look forward to seeing you on the water in the new year.

Also, we have a new series of videos coming to our Youtube channel as well. Something kinda funny and different to do. Flyfishing is not serious. Or at least it shouldn’t be. So we are gonna have a little fun and make a few funny videos based on the lighter side of red fishing.

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.