got there about 1pm, shrimp was sold out except for beacons bait house. didn't come prepared for throwing arti's. wind started picking up on the way across aransas and kept blowing till about 6:30 to 7:00 pm then died down a bit and switched directions blowing out of more or less the n/ne. went and hopped around a back lake (san jose island around allyns) dodging stingrays (tons!). three of us picked up our limits of reds. there was a good school running around, two buddies found it, i had to catch mine the hard way. people were catching reds through out the day. right about dark, headed back to the boat, the wind had pushed it out to stomach deep water. trout were about 4-5feet. caught them fast under a popping cork came back with 7, the bite was fast and right at dark. the ride home after nightfall was smooth as glass. winds picked up later that night. a few people catching some okay (16-19 inches) trout on plum chartreuse assasins. one guy i talked to caught 7 keeper trout between 6 people out in the estes, but the number of undersized ones were about 75-100 caught. one buddy had never been fishing for specs or reds before and he had a blast, looks like i addicted another one. oh and i caught one flounder in about a foot in the back lake. wish i had my gigging set up in my boat.

2nd weeked in april here i come!

thats sounds awesome right now. a good stringer of reds and trout. congratulations!

Sounds like a good trip. I had a bad trip last week but I am going for round 2 next Monday.

Justin

Thanks for the update Cocodrie, heading down that way, Friday thru Sunday, Did you fish any area around Hogg Island, or the backside of Traylor, or just the back side of St. Jo's?. I've fished the area around Allyn's Bight just once, saw a red swim by the boat and that was it though I am sure more were there. appreciate the info

Nice report cocodrie. Do you know what kind of tide you had?

Also, where did you pick up the name cocodrie?

it was a slack tide and started coming in later in the day. Most of the reds were caught in the flats right in the middle of the slack and we got in the trout on the raising tide out deeper.
Cocodrie is Cajun for crocodile/gator, it was a nick name for me dragging [censored] when I was little like a gator drags its tail and is the name of my boat too!

Thanks for the 411.

Thought you might have gotten your name from a place in south Louisiana; Cocodrie, LA. It is one of the top spots for saltwater fishing.

What are the normal tide ranges for rockport?

I've always found a good 1 foot range to be the best.

yeah, i've always wanted to go to cocodrie, la. i love what louisiana has done with their fisheries.

anyways, one foot is nice for rockport. one weekend in.. october i think, we went and took my boat out and caught trout on a high tide, the next day caught reds on a falling tide, and the next day we went around to in between aransas pass and port aransas to go hit the cali hole and cruise over to mud island, and everything just looked kinda different and weird. i saw more oyster shell out there then i ever had, and even though my boat doesn't run shallow, i usually can make it no problem. next thing i know i'm full throttle screaming (26mph, eh, whatever) across california hole and its so shallow i can't let down and i'm freaking out and then we bog down in the sand and get out in a foot of water saying, what the heck just happened.... well, we push out in the middle of the cali hole while everyone else looks at us like a bunch of yankee deep water guys and well, we finally get going again. so we find a spot and i'm walking on exposed shell - 2 hours later i can't see the shell and my boat is no longer right off the edge of the cut. it looks like as if i parked, eh, anchored, right in the middle of the cut. well, we fish hard, a few keepers, head home, get to rockport, and thank god i made it. a few weeks later i was talking to a guide buddy and he said, yeah! you idiot! the tides only dropped like 2 feet! its amazing what guides will pay attention too... tides, ha, who would've thunk it.

haha, boys and girls, be sure to always check your tides. even if they seem normal enough.

Can anyone tell me the earliest the bait shops in Rockport usually open?

I'm not speaking from experience, but a lady I work with told me that there is a bait shop over by Charlotte Plummer's that stays open all night. If you're driving on that beach front road heading towards the Copano Bay pier you pass Charlotte Plummer's and pull into the open parking lot on your right. You'll see a bait stand right in front of you, but she said it's the one behind it, over next to the water that is open all night. There may not be anyone there, but she said just ring the bell and someone will come take care of you. Maybe someone from around there can varify this for both of us.

yes the lady sleeps in the van right next to the bait shop, i call it "lucy's" but that is her daughter's name. (who might i add is the main reason i go there to buy bait) great shrimp and croaker and always super friendly. get the phone number and you can call ahead too.

usually its around 5-6 that most open during the season. most boats get back from catching bait at about 5.

its the only bait stand inbetween charlotte plummers and the little convention center (as i like to call it there at the parking lot) that is right on the bay, the other one is at the harbor and about 150 yards behind it is lucy's on the bay.

google DeForest Loop, Rockport, TX and then zoom in and satellite the screen image and its to the right of the giant T pier on the corner of the harbor