Is anyone familiar with fishing the Rockport area? Looks like I will get the opportunity to fish there sometime this year, but I could use some general info on the area.

What times of the year are best for redfish in the area? Are there any months that should be avoided?

I'll be using a guide and I'll get their input of course, but this will be my first saltwater trip and I'm not even sure what questions to ask.

Is anyone willing to share some general info on Rockport and some Redfish tips?

Thanks,
Rex

Contact Capt. Sally Moffett. Rockport Tx. She is on the web.

Rex, I expect that TexasKayakFisherman site might have some data available. Those guys are out in it all year long.

BTW I am quite jealous LOL

Time is hard to call, usually by about June the weather calms a little, August can be nice and still yet Gene and I went there one year and there was a tropical depression and it blew 25+ every day for a week!

You taking a guide every day or doing some DIY too?

So, is the wind the difference throughout the year? Are the Redfish there year around?

I don't have plan at this point, but probably a guide one day and maybe some DIY after that. But I don't really know yet. I'm still trying to learn some basic information.

Thanks,
Rex

Oh, yeah, the redfish are there year round. Light gets a little tough in the winter with the sun hanging so low. Prime time is probably about May-Oct though, with lots of schooling action in the fall as the juvies feed up for their migration out to the Big Water.

The guys that live/fish there all the time have some incredible winter days when the wind lays and no tourists out there to disturb the fish, but of course that's one of those deals where you have to live there and go when you can. Summer the fish will feed pretty good due to the water temps being up forcing their metabolism up.

New moon is preferable, it often brings the heaviest tidal flows of a month. Full moon will too but then the wily bastards will feed nocturnally on you and they tend to refuse flies more during the day when you're fishing around full moon.

Thanks LHD, that helps.

Rex

According to her website , Cap'n Sally has a sweet ride.

Yeah, well, I wouldn't fish with her.



Just saying.

Really?

Just one man's opinion. I have been around and interacted with her. I would suggest that there are better guides around that will put you on fish at least as well.

Well, there you go.

If I had the money to hire a guide i would cantact Billy Trimble. He'll put you on some fish. He'll also send you monthly fishing reports. Good guide; great guy.

Thanks for the comments. The guide has already been selected, so guide info is not really the information that I was looking for.

Here's what I know so far:

- Redfish will be the primary target, but there are other fish in the area.
- Fish are there year round.
- Timing seems to be a matter of trying to second guess the weather (temp and wind speed).
- Equipment - an 8 wt with a floating line and 10 ft leaders
- Techniques are either wading or fishing from a boat
- The fish are shallow
- It will be sight fishing
- Bring amber colored sunglasses
- Accurate casts will be critical
- Casting distance should be about 40 ft or less, but need to be precise.

Anyone have anything to add or change?

Thanks,
Rex

Nylon pants are a must. I hate nylon shirts, won't wear them, too hot for me, but the pants are a must because stuff takes forever to dry out down there, and saltwater seems to just take longer to dry anyway... even if you're in the boat a lot you'll probably get out and wade, you want long pants due to sea lice and you'll want them nylon. I use the Magellan brand at Academy.

Stripping fingers, some love em some hate em, but the salt and sand will cut your rod hand from stripping line between your fingers and the cork.

You need some seaducers for slow sink grass conditions, maybe some "weedless" flies and of course a gurgler/popper, Clouser types. Sink tip doesn't hurt to pack if you're forced to blind fish cuts into deeper channels due to bad sight fishing weather or extreme low tides.

Carry a microfiber cloth in a ziplock or in your boat bag; your sunglasses will get salt spray on them when motoring from flat to flat, it's impossible to sight fish with salt spray covered glasses. I like the alcohol swab type lens cloths, those work good too, but you almost need a swab and a microfiber, because if it rains and you get soaked you'll want to use the swab first then dry with the microfiber.

Keep bandaids on exposed cuts, I usually keep some spray-on bandage in the boat bag, just to keep the vibrio out.

The $20 neoprene flats boots from Academy or BPS is about all you need for footwear but do take care to shuffle and try to avoid walking on oyster at all costs.

If you have a boat bag, best pack a small box (shirtpocket or smaller) for when you end up wading (shuffling) way away from the boat, you need just a minimum of gear, a pliers, a spool of 12# tippet and a couple spare flies.

If you see a sheepshead, try not to think "sheephead" and definitely don't say its name out loud! As soon as your brain fires the instruction to your rod arm to get a move on usually it notices the electrons and spooks anyway, but doubly so if you tempt fate and think about actually catching it first. You have to just be in the zone there.

Don't play with crabs. They cut lines and rod tips when irritated.

The food down there sucks at most places (lots of fried "fish platters" that lack flavor and correct cooking technique), but Los Comales is some of the best mexican food you will ever eat. Pepito's in Aransas Pass is pretty good too. Breakfast tacos, you get them at the Taqueria Guadalajara that is just down 361 (towards Ingleside, not east towards Port Aransas along the causeway road) from the HEB in Aransas Pass. Stay away from Big Fisherman at ALL costs. Boiling Pot in Rockport is fun and pretty good, for a pile of food dumped out in front of you on the table.

Aransas Pass is only like 15 minutes from Rockport so it's nothing to switch around. "Twice the Ice" machine across from the HEB in AP to save money, the boiled shrimp at the brightly colored seafood marked on that side of the road is pretty stellar too.

Thank you! That is exactly the type of information that I was hoping to learn. I'm used to either fishing from a bass boat or wading in a stream, but this on trip "we're in Kansas any more".

Thanks,
Rex

I heartily second Billy Trimble - the man knows fish and fishing.

Listen to LHD about the food, he has it dialed in. There are 'twice the ice' stations pretty much everywhere now, and they are definitely handy.

Billy will tell you to use a 9ft leader - he may put some tippet on a 7fter knotless tapered to add to the longevity of your tapered leader.

Amber lenses are definitely good, as are green and (for me) greyish.

Hydration and sun protection are paramount, as you know.

Estes flats -south of rockport/fulton have been treating me very well for long time,always somewhere to go to avoid the wind/waves and have had some great speck action also..
good luck -ebb

Yup, the Estes always seems to hold some fish if you can find them. ,

The thing about this style of fishing is that it is more like hunting than anything else. You are playing hide and seek - If you can find feeding fish, they will almost always make themselves known if the water is shallow enough. As a redfish grows and gets bigger, it will start moving more and more shallow to feed because it doesn't have to fear getting eaten by birds. A 25" and up red can be found 'super skinny', in water 3-4". I have observed them wiggling along feeding in water just deep enough to cover their eyes. Billy tells stories about seeing them flop up onto mud banks to grab snails and then wiggle back into the water.

When redfish are feeding on the bottom in skinny water (generally 12" and under) they will incline their bodies in the water column and their tails pop up above the water. You will become expert at scanning for shiny, blue tinged triangles poking above the water's surface. When the redfish are feeding on small fish or running shrimp they will often slash at the surface and you will hear them long before you see them most of the time. Always, always pay attention to the birds. Seagulls will put you on feeding schools of fish, but terns are often false prophets.

Last year, the wind never really laid down except occasionally. It was annoying but you can still find feeding fish especially on the windward sides of islands off of channels. This is helpful to us because we get to cast downwind much of the time. (Although I have to admit they always seem to catch me off guard and I end up casting 30 feet upwind of the fish just to try and hit that magical 18" circle they have in front of them).

This game is fun because of all the variables - you could have an eye on a pod of tails 100 yards off, and then from nowhere up pops a tail 10 feet to your right. I tend to always keep a lot of line pooled off the reel in case you need to hit a quick 50 or 60 foot shot, but keep the line off the rod short in case a fish pops up a rod's length away. I have caught several fish just by reaching out and dropping a fly in front of them.

I have also spooked many more. That's the game

I SOOO want to play that game.

That post makes me want to pack the car and head south tonight.

Thanks for info.

Rex