Here is your first Rockport fishing report for the month of October. Not that it feels much like October around here just yet. It’s still pretty darn warm out there on the flats each day. So we are plugging along, looking forward to that first cold front to officially kick off our Fall season. But until then, this Rockport fishing report will sound a lot like those throughout the late Summer months.
Despite things being a bit warmer than we would like out there, it really isn’t fishing too bad. We are seeing and catching fish every day. So no complaints at all. But we would like to see things moving a bit more towards our much awaited Fall fishing season. But even having a bit longer nights has helped the water temps a little bit. Water temps have dropped down a tiny bit. We are seeing 83 degrees most mornings still. But afternoon temps aren’t getting much above 87 degrees. While that is still really warm, it is a bit better than what it was a week ago.
We still are dealing with very high, and even flooding, tides. This has created the biggest headache for those out searching the flats each day. While we are seeing fish each day, they are clearly all spread out on the flats. So there is plenty of searching going on throughout the day. The fish are there, but we are having to cover a good bit of water to get in a bunch of shots.
We have been finding a few smaller schools on occasion still as well. Not the norm every day, but not a surprise when you see them either. And if you can find shallow enough water, there are some tailing fish around as well. Usually in the earlier morning hours most days. But the key is finding the flooded grasses where they are digging around for food. Lots of it out there right now.
With the water being so high on all the banks, there have been a good number of fish busting bait on the surface. So the topwater action has been pretty solid as well. Or if you are willing, there have been a bunch of redfish hovering around over the shell. So find a reef that is deeper than normal, and feel confident fishing a topwater over any part of the shell. This has been very productive most days, for those willing to do it.
Our fly selection has varied some as of late. Crab and toad patterns work fine most of the time. But as things warm up, some of those snotty fish have been a bit more into the smaller shrimp or slider type flies. The topwater fly of choice has been a hair bug that is natural colored. Nothing too bright or flashy. Experiment with the weight on all of your flies as well. With the water this deep, be prepared with a few heavier flies for those fish on the bottom. Or lightly weighted options if you are seeing fish hover a bit more.
There are a few migrating fish around still. As we are writing this, our client had just landed his first tarpon on the fly. So keep your eyes peeled for those types of opportunities out there as well. Tarpon, Jacks and Cobia have all been reported in the past few days. So not a bad idea to have that 10wt rod on hand.
All in all, things are fishing ok around here. We expect everything to pick up a bunch once we get this first cold front under our belt. So far, they are telling us late this week and on into the weekend will bring us a bit cooler weather. We’ll see about that. But we are hopeful. As this water cools, you can count on the fish activity to increase exponentially. Hopefully this is soon. But in the meantime, things are pretty ok down on the flats in Southwest Texas.
We will try to check back in before weekend, barring any crazy changes around here. But 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 Snapchat. 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.