Rockport Fishing Report – December 5th

December is here and it’s time for an update to our Rockport fishing report. We’re not real sure what happened to November. Sure seemed to go quick. But things are still rolling here on the Texas Coast and we will fill you in with what we’ve been seeing out there lately.

Since our last report, about a week ago, things have continued to be steady and fish very well. In fact, not too much has changed at all. The weather has been very good around here. No reason to stay off the water at all. A couple mornings earlier this week were a bit chilly. Maybe in the high 40’s when you wake up. Then mid 50’s by the time the boat is in the water. But things usually warmed up throughout the days to the low 70’s or so. Perfectly comfortable for us in the boat.

Water temps also have been just fine. On the coldest mornings, we would see morning temps around 58-59 degrees in the flats. But things would warm up quickly as the sun came up. Usually topping out around 70 degrees or so. The past few days, with plenty of sun and no wind, morning water temps have already been in the low 60’s by the time we get to our spots on the flats. As we were packing it in at 4pm today, we were getting 74 degrees in the water on the specific flat we were fishing. That’s pretty warm for December, but the fish are loving it.

On the cooler mornings this week, the fish were a bit sluggish. But nothing that you wouldn’t be expecting. We focus on the areas that are holding the warmest water early, then branch out from there. There would be enough shots to keep you entertained in the mornings, which is all you can ask for. By 11am, things are pretty much on fire though. Those mid day hours, 11am to 2pm, have been stupid good. All kinds of activity out there. Tailing fish, small schools, bank crashers and cruisers all over the place. The action has been pretty fast and furious each day for those peak hours. As quickly as you get a shot or miss a fish, there are two on the opposite side of the boat. Pretty fun stuff.

Later this week, we started seeing a bunch of larger trout in the mix as well. Most are in the mid 20″ range. Our best of the week topping out at 28″. They have been hanging out in very shallow water, huddled up in the smaller potholes. They are a bit spooky on the calmer days. But if you get a fly near them, they are plenty willing to eat. Many days, we are getting a good 15-20 shots at trout though, if you are in the right type of water.

The drum and sheepshead have been out in force as well. Especially in the earlier morning hours, there have been a lot of solo drum tailing. Most in that 20″ or so zone. Fun enough to make it worth a cast. Most tailing drum are plenty willing to eat a crab pattern for you. The sheepshead will play as well. Of course they are snotty, as usual. But every once in a while one will grab the crab for you. But you will see plenty of them tailing out there right now. And of course the redfish are just doing their thing as usual.

There are still plenty of big bulls around as well. In the right water, we can still find them most every day. Some days you get 15-20 shots at fish over 40″ long. Other days you get 5. You just never know, as they are moving around a bunch. But as of today, they can still be found. So we are keeping a 9 or 10 wt rod strung up and ready in the skiff each day.

The biggest change around here, since our report last week, are the water levels. While we didn’t really get much of a storm blowing through, we did get enough wind to help pull some water out of the system. So we are currently sitting on our first low Winter type tides. A few areas are a bit too skinny to fish. Others are just skinny enough to make them a bunch of fun. But this has made for lots of tails this week, and big numbers of fish in more condensed areas. And certainly having little to no wind the past few days makes this doable as well. Plenty easy to pole around out in space with little or no wind interference. But the water is definitely on the lower side and something you would want to be aware of out there.

Flies have been the usual. Dark crab patterns have been our best. We’ve been throwing these at drum, sheepshead, reds and even a few trout this week. All are plenty willing to eat. The trout have been even more responsive to lighter colored flies. The Thumper in white/chartreuse was lethal out there yesterday on the trout. If you could get it to them without spooking them, they tore it to pieces. For the big bulls, we are still throwing large black and purple flies. Most lightly or unweighted. Although a few did surprise us and still ate the small Crabcake Special we had on our 6wt rod. And you would not believe the fight a 45″ bull red puts up, on a 6wt fly rod. Funny stuff.

The weather is looking like it will continue to be good through early to mid next week. So we are going to be out on the water every day for the foreseeable future chasing fish around. 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.