Thanks to the holiday weekend I decided to make the drive back down to Rockport for a some fishing action. Saturday was shaping up to be an absolutely gorgeous day, Sunday was looking solid too, and I'll just ignore that Monday even happened. As usual I loaded my truck down Friday morning before heading to work so that I could get as quick a jump south as possible. I researched tides and weather a bit more decided I was going to launch from Island Moorings Marina for a couple reasons: 1) It being a holiday weekend I knew there would be little to no crowds; 2) the adjust flats should give me an opportunity for fly casting to reds.

I arrived at the cabin just a few minutes before midnight and had my traditional "I made it down safely" Lone Star Light while I reviewed the wind forecast, tides (I knew they were going to be low), and aerial map of where I was going to be fishing. I set my alarm for 4:30 and hit the sack around 1.

I rolled out of the cabin a little after 5 to fetch my kayak and gear from our boat storage. So far the forecasts were spot on with no winds and foggy; I was giddy. After crossing the ferry I arrived at the boat ramp at IM and noticed the tides looked suspiciously lower than I had anticipated.

I launched at 6:45 and made my way to the first flat. With tide being so low (though incoming all morning) I had only one option to access the flat. When I arrived my suspicions were confirmed and the large flat I had drifted last fall was a shell of its self. But, with an incoming tide I, soon to be sunny day (the morning fog/haze had yet to burn off), and zero wind I felt like today was going to be a fun day. More positive signs was the amount of bait activity in the entrance for the flat. I only made it a few yards up the flat before a red exposed here back to me. I was a bit rusty with the fly rod since it had been a couple years since I fly fished for reds. My 4th or 5th cast found the sweet spot and at 7:15 I landed my first slot red.

From there on with the sun out and tide creeping up the flat was on fire. The reds were absolutely hammering my pink Crazy Charlie. I ended the day with a 9 slot reds and 2 unders all on the fly. I swear my best fly fishing days have always come in February.






I was off the water a little before 11 am. What a fun day with the fly rod on a gorgeous day. It was one of those days where you had to drive with the windows down and Stevie Ray Vaughan blasting on the radio. I got back to the cabin and after cleaning fish I sat back at the picnic table, cracked open a cold one, and lit up a cigar.


Fresh redfish was certainly on the menu for dinner so I quick trip to HEB for the necessary supplies. Tonight's menu would consist of pan seared redfish served over a bed of crab meat & parmesan risotto adjoined with a spring salad; might tasty.

Desert would be a glass (or two) of rye whiskey and another cigar. By early evening I was running on fumes after less than 4 hours of sleep, so I was in bed by 8:30.

The next morning when I woke up I had a decision to make. Do I return to the same flat or head elsewhere? The forecast was a little different calling for mostly overcast skies and a little wind, conditions conducive to trout fishing if I could find the right water. I couldn't ignore what I had done the day before so I went back to IM. While unloading gear I came to the realization that I had left my stringer and cooler at the cabin. D'oh! I got over it fairly quickly because in truth I had plenty of fish already vacuum sealed in the freezer back home. Since I forgot to snap sunrise photos the day before I grabbed two that morning.


With the change in the weather came a change with the redfishs' behavior. They were still there sitting shallow but refused to disclose their location; fly fishing today would be difficult. So I decided to blind cast a wakebait while keeping a sharp eye out for tailing reds. Even though the reds weren't showing signs they were actively feeding they were very aggressive to my wakebait and it didn't take long for me to hook up with reds.


My vigilant eyes paid off as I saw a red up shallow with her back exposed. I positioned my kayak, grabbed my fly rod, and made the cast. It would be my only red on the fly that day.

I did see this red up shallow and decided to have some fun with it. Poor thing never knew I was there.

The ticket for that day was certainly the wakebait. The reds were crushing it. I ended the day with about the same number of reds as the day before, though only 4 slotters, and I hooked into two keeper sized trout to boot. The last red of the was probably the smallest but it did have the most spots of any red I caught for the weekend.; 7 total.


I was off the water early again with the sun never breaking through while I had been fishing. As I was crossing back across the ferry I looked at the wind forecasts for the next day and decided I wasn't going to fish, so I went to the boat storage to rinse off and store my gear before grabbing a quick lunch. After a couple hour nap I began working on that night's meal; pecan crusted redfish topped with a lemon cream sauce and crab meat & pecan relish, served on top of roasted asparagus and some long grain wild rice.

Desert would be the same as the night before.

The next morning I took it easy, gathered up my junk, and cleaned the cabin. I pulled out of Rockport at 10:45 and made it about 20 minutes north before colliding with this cold front. It went from 72* to 45* in no time. I was glad it waited until Monday to blow through because it was a great fishing weekend.

Badass Josh!!!

Great report !!!! Sounds like you had a lot of fun.. Congrats!!!

Awesome Post. Good job.

Great report, Neumie! My wife and I are contemplating our next move for our live-in RV: Either Aransas Pass or Rockport. I've read your previous trip reports. If we get ready to move down there(maybe this Fall), I'll get with you and pick your brain about fishing there. I lived in Harlingen for a while, but didn't have a yak then, and fished the resacas for bass and cats. No saltwater fishing.

IslandJim

Thanks guys, it was a great weekend to get away from the metroplex.


I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you have regarding fishing, kayaking, or general Rockport/AP/PA area questions.

Nice!

Loved the report and the photo's keep um coming!

Yep.

As always.

Nicely Done!

Enjoyed the report. I can almost taste the dinner

very nice, I sure miss fishing the salt!