# December update for Rockport



## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

I was talking to StabbinFlatties this morning, and he told me I had to file a report. Every time he came down over the summer, it seems like we had weather/water problems to contend with. Hopefully this will get him back down for another try:

We had a ton of rain in the late summer and fall, and the water was stained brown for months. Iâ€™m sure there are people who know this bay system a lot better, and have seen it under those conditions before. But I havenâ€™t been in Rockport long enough to have seen anything like it. For me, it was the worst fishing/floundering season of my lifetime. After a while, I just found other ways to use my time productively.

One of my biggest concerns was that the huge amount of fresh water over such a long period of time would ruin the spawns, and have a negative impact on fishing â€“ maybe even for a couple of years. Iâ€™m happy to report that did not happen. The number of small trout recently has been incredible. Like plague levels of small fish, which says that we had some very good spawns earlier this year. And the even better news is that the fish Iâ€™ve been catching are all very fat â€“ more like surf fish than bay fish.

The best thing of all, IMO, is that the water has finally lost that nasty coffee color that was present for so long. Weâ€™ve reached that time of the year where the water is cool enough to dump most of the silt pretty quickly. A front hits and stirs things pretty badly, but when it calms down to maybe 15 knots, it clears up within just a few hours. I donâ€™t mean gin-clear, but clear enough to fish. When the wind stays down for a whole day, the water does start getting to that gin-clear point, but I try to avoid it and seek out water with some color to it.

For me, at least, most of the fish have been coming off or near some kind of shell. On cloudier days, Iâ€™ve done best fishing the deep water sides of reefs. Iâ€™m catching a lot of smaller fish doing that, but still finding some respectable fish out at the edges of the small ones. Iâ€™ve stuck with the sand eels, because they keep producing. The big key has been getting the plastic to the bottom, and keeping it there. Iâ€™m using 3/8 oz. jig heads almost exclusively, letting the jig get to the bottom and sit for a few seconds, then making 2-3 really light twitches with the rod tip, then let it settle again. After a couple of those, I may make one slow smooth lift of the rod. About half the fish are hitting while the bait is sitting on bottom after being twitches, and about half are hitting on the first lift. When youâ€™re fishing like that, a single cast lasts quite a while. Be patient. Iâ€™ve caught many a fish within maybe 15 feet of my rod tip lately. I get the feeling that some of these fish are following the slowly bouncing jig for a while before biting.

On sunnier days, when the water warms, Iâ€™ve been catching some better fish up in knee to waist deep water â€“ usually just down the shore where heavy shell reef or points give way to mixed sand/shell. Iâ€™ve caught very few fish over mud so far this winter, but that will probably change when it cools off just a little bit more. A fair number of those fish have fallen to a simple slow, steady retrieve. The deeper-water fish have mostly been bunched, but these warm-day trout have been strung out along the shorelines. Those days are usually so nice that it doesnâ€™t really feel like a grind.

Overall, trout have been pretty plentiful. Most days Iâ€™ll catch 20-30 fish, with 7-8 of them being legal. Most of the limits look like the picture below. Of the five, a couple being just over the limit, and the rest ranging up to around 18-19. I havenâ€™t caught a trout in a month bigger than 21â€, and a five fish limit of filets is usually not much more than a quart zip lock full. But the action is steady, and Iâ€™m pretty happy with it. The one big exception was yesterday (Wed. 12/12). There was no wind, no current, and no sun. Still, it looked like such a nice day, but I never got so much as a tap. Fortunately, there haven't been many days like that since it cooled off.

This morning was sunny, with a pleasant SSW wind. The water was around 61 degrees, and had just a nice bit of color to it. I threw a 5 1/2â€ sand eel all morning, on a 3/8 oz. jig head. I didnâ€™t step into the water until around 9:00, and I only caught one fish in the first hour. Even with the warming sun, all the fish were caught over solid shell, in generally waist-deep water. It was a pretty typical trip for the month â€“ I caught in the neighborhood of 30 trout, most of them being within an inch of legal. I kept my five, and let go 3 that were legal.

One important thing is that a lot of the fish Iâ€™ve been catching (including today) would be impossible without using braided line. The fish are â€œpeckingâ€ at the bait, and timing a hook set is difficult even with the extra feel of braid. I usually feel like I could do just about as well with mono, but right now there is just no way I would be catching half as many fish with it. The water is cold, but not that cold, and the fish are plenty active once hooked. But even some of the bigger fish are almost indistinguishable from bumping a small oyster shell.

Iâ€™m no fan of fishing in the teeth of a norther anymore. But if youâ€™re getting the itch, just about any other day will do right now.

One last note about floundering. I sold the flounder boat, and picked up a small beater. The wind was crazy in late October, and I just didn't feel much like getting beaten up. When the season opened back up in December, I didn't feel like going through all that for just two fish. I took three walk-in trips. I never saw a single flounder. Floundering has been such a big part of my life, and it's kind of depressing. I understand that we have to protect the fish during the run, but floundering on Thanksgiving night was a ritual for decades, and I really miss it. But not gigging a single flounder in early December? Like I said... kind of depressing. The good trout fishing has at least helped.


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## puddyTat240 (Aug 10, 2017)

Keep up the reports man i love reading them u do such a great job at writing them and nice fish


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## taylork555 (Sep 5, 2013)

Great report. The smaller trout were thick around Thanksgiving - glad to hear their numbers are still high despite the cold.

We will be down for a good chunk of time between Christmas and New Years. I will check back in to see how the bite is closer to end of the month. Perhaps we can wet a line if schedules line up.

Thanks again for the reports!!!


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## mccain (Oct 20, 2006)

good stuff!


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## WillieT (Aug 25, 2010)

Good to see another report from you. I always enjoy your posts. Nice report as usual.


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## barronj (Sep 30, 2013)

Good try with the modesty, you have a very nice boat. Hope all's well and Merry Christmas to you and your family, sir!


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## tamucc04 (Jun 21, 2011)

Great report and much appreciated. It has definitely been a year for fishing in Rockport. I fished last week in the wind and excited to head back down this weekend. 

One interesting note for me last friday was watching the tides. Im notorious for throwing a top water way to much when I need to work the water deeper with a tail and know it. I have always watched tides a bit but this was the first time it was REALLY noticeable for me. I was slowly drifting a lake with not a single blow up. The tide fell early morning then with a lul till raising fast about 9ish I believe. But when the tide moved again I started getting steady blow up and hook up. Was lots of small 10-14 inch trout but still lots of fun and action and great way to break in a new boat. 

Tight Lines and hopefully the weather agrees for the weekend and can get out and make some walks for some flatties.


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## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

I thought this was worthy of a follow-up, since it might help some people catch a few more fish.

Today (Sunday, 12/16), I left the house around 3:00 to make a late-afternoon walk in wade. The spot I was planning on fishing was overrun. I think there were eight wade fishermen, pluse a boat anchored up, on a relatively small section of shoreline. I decided not to fight that, and drove to another spot. It had people on it too. I can't blame them, since it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. So I decided to go to another spot where nobody wanted to be.

The water got totally blown out from the high winds, and the water level is the lowest I have ever seen it in the years we've lived here. The bay was totally flat, and had been since Saturday. The sky was clear and the sun was out, and it was pretty warm at mid-day, although it had started cooling a bit by the time I went out. Always remember that clouds act like insulation, so when the sky is clear it gets much colder at night. So the water temperature dipped down to below 55 degrees last night, then the extra-shallow flats warmed up quickly during the day.

I decided to fish an area with knee-deep water adjacent to a dropoff. My first two casts brought two adequate keeper trout. Not big fish, but adequate, fat, and feisty. Then nothing. I worked that general area and got a couple of taps, but could't catch another fish. I moved, thinking that I might run into more fish, but the short story is that I went completely dry except for two dinks caught about half hour apart.

_Then I realized the mistake I had made, and that's really the point of this whole post._ After catching two fish on the first two casts, I got excited thinking that I was going to wear them out. I guess a little adrenalin started pumping, but I started reeling faster and twitching the rod tip harder trying to hurry up and catch the next fish. I was still letting the bait sink to the bottom in between heavy twitches, but I totally abandoned the pattern that I have been catching fish with lately. I moved back to the first spot, and went back to fishing very, very slowly with only a couple of very light twitches of the rod. Bam. Bam, bam, bam. I caught my remaining three, and then released 6 or 7 more before the sun started getting low and I headed for the truck. It wasn't every single cast, but it was pretty steady action.

I really had walked up on a bunch of decent fish to begin with. And like a total rookie, I got excited and started rushing the retrieve. I was still bouncing the jig off the bottom, but the difference was (obviously) night and day. So I thought I should come back here and do a better job of explaining the retrieve that has been working so well:

I'm making the cast, and the moment the lure hits the water I'm pulling the rod tip back and letting some slack run off the spool before I engage the handle. That gives the lure time to get all the way to the bottom. I let it sit for 2-3 seconds. Then, with just a little slack in the line, I give a couple of really light twitches that don't do much more than take the slack out. It's almost like the way you work a topwater. (In my mind, I picture the lure dancing or jittering just off the bottom.) If that still doesn't make sense, think about shaking maracas. You use quick but small jitters of your hand and wrist - just enough to pull out the slack and give the jig a tiny movement.

I let it sit dead still, and then repeat - twitching just enough to pull the slack out plus a tiny bump. I usually give two or three "wiggles" to the jig, and then let it settle again. It takes a long time to finish a whole retrieve that way, so you have to be patient. Sometimes I'll feel a little bump or rub on the line several times before the fish finally picks it up. If you're not confident in using this technique to locate fish, then wait until you get a bump or two and then try it. The jig wiggles, but doesn't travel very far, so if you're in a spot with fish, you'll stay in the strike zone.


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## POC Fishin' Gal (Nov 20, 2009)

Couldn't be more explicit........like having you standing beside me. Thanks for taking the time to post.


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## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

On the way home from that fishing trip, I pulled over to let a fire truck go by. I was cleaning the fish in the picture when I got the call that our friends' house was on fire.


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## Jleinneweber (Aug 11, 2018)

Sorry about your friends house, great reports.


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## NOCREEK (Jan 18, 2012)

Lots of good info poc, as always! The little things really matter sometime, we had a similar situation Sunday. I by chance had a 1/8oz jig head on and my buddy had a 1/4oz, fishing within talking distance with the same plastic. I had four on a stringer and getting bit steady and he had one and not getting bit near as much. He re-tied with a 1/8oz and immediately started hooking up. We were in yaks in 6-7â€™ of water just twitching along bottom. Donâ€™t really know why it made such a difference but it sure did. Had we both been throwing the bigger jig head we may have been fishing through those fish all morning only catching a couple having no idea they were stacked in there. 


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## Puddle_Jumper (Jun 30, 2014)

ALWWAYS look forward to your reports.. Thanks again for taking the time !!!


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## chad (Sep 7, 2006)

Nice report!


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## blackjack runner (Feb 24, 2015)

Always enjoy reading your informative posts. 

Thanks for taking the time.


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## Moochy (Sep 13, 2014)

This is probably a good a place to add a follow up report since Scott did all of the scouting.

This is one of those trips that make up for the least productive ones (4 in a row to be exact) that POC and I had together. I had less then a 2 hour window to fish and we were able to get it done in 30 minutes. None of the fish were trophy’s for the wall but they were perfect size for the dinner plate. I don’t think color, presentation, or depth mattered. Location was the key and they were stacked on top of each other in a small area. We beat on them for well over 30 minutes with a hookup on about every cast. This was definitely one of those days Scott talked about where you can catch 100 fish in one spot. I bet between the two of us we landed at least 60. Definitely good times.


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## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

StabbinFlatties said:


> This is probably a good a place to add a follow up report since Scott did all of the scouting.
> 
> This is one of those trips that make up for the least productive ones (4 in a row to be exact) that POC and I had together. I had less then a 2 hour window to fish and we were able to get it done in 30 minutes. None of the fish were trophyâ€™s for the wall but they were perfect size for the dinner plate. I donâ€™t think color, presentation, or depth mattered. Location was the key and they were stacked on top of each other in a small area. We beat on them for well over 30 minutes with a hookup on about every cast. This was definitely one of those days Scott talked about where you can catch 100 fish in one spot. I bet between the two of us we landed at least 60. Definitely good times.


If you ever get a chance to go fishing with Kevin (StabbinFlatties), I recommend it. He's a good guy, he doesn't talk too much, and you don't have to worry about him showing you up by catching more fish than you.

That last bit is a joke. He's a good fisherman, and good to fish with. He can also stand up to my smart-*** sense of humor, and he can dish it out just as well as he can take it. Note that he had to get the dig in about the bad trips back when the water was all stained, before he could mention that we caught a crazy number of fish this trip, even though we only had a two hour window? :biggrin:

We were fishing heavy shell. There is a reef a ways out from shore. We walked through belly deep water, then up onto that reef in thigh deep water. It was cloudy, and a bit of wind blowing directly into the shoreline we were fishing. It was a little chilly to us, but fish don't feel wind chill. Like I said before, clouds insulate, and the water wasn't super cold. The fish were mostly up on the crown of that shell reef. If it had been clear the night before, I would have expected them to be out on the deep water side, rather than right on top.

We basically caught fish every cast. There were a few times when we didn't get the hook set, but there were almost no casts where we didn't get bit at least once.

I fished a 5 1/2" Norton Sand Eel, and I'm going to keep fishing them as long as I'm catching this many fish on them. Kevin fished a Hogie rigged weedless. As he said, color didn't seem to matter. Mine was bone colored and his was pumpkin seed with a chartreuse tail. He jigged his, but I was getting all the bites I could handle with a slow steady retrieve, so I didn't even bother. I rarely had to make more than about two turns of the reel handle to get the first bite. It's fun when you find fish that aggressive and plentiful.

As usual, I cleaned all the fish, packaged them, and gave him all the fillets plus a bag of ice to get them home. At least we caught a lot of fish this time, so I didn't have to call his wife and assure her that we really did go fishing. That part is always a little embarrassing for me.

Kidding aside, it was a fun trip. We beat up on them pretty good, without any wasted motion.


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## Moochy (Sep 13, 2014)

Ha! That second to the last parag has been on my mind. Good thing she knows who you are. On a second note I think you clean and package fish almost as good as you catch fish because so far, I haven’t found one single bone. I may have to video you in action. Almost reminds me of the Asian seafood markets.


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## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

StabbinFlatties said:


> Ha! That second to the last parag has been on my mind. Good thing she knows who you are. On a second note I think you clean and package fish almost as good as you catch fish because so far, I havenâ€™t found one single bone. I may have to video you in action. Almost reminds me of the Asian seafood markets.


My sense of humor has gotten me into trouble my whole life. Just to be clear.

I never had to call Kevin's wife to make excuses for him.
I clean all the fish because there is only room for one at my cleaning table.
I supply the ice because I get free ice.
I only joke that way with people I like.

And one of these days I'm sure he really will show me up by catching more fish than me. :biggrin:

BTW, Kevin - I decided to go out this morning as that front hit. Before I quit, there were gusts to 30. The water was roaring out of that little lake like rapids on a river. In calf-deep water I had to walk carefully to keep from losing my footing. It was kind of fun to observe some specifics of wind and water flow, watching bait fighting to keep from being sucked out, etc. But I don't recommend fishing in 30 knot winds. I know "duh" right?


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## Swampa11 (Sep 12, 2016)

These are great reads! You should write a book and sell it. Iâ€™d buy a couple copies

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## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

*Rockport - Christmas Eve Day 2018*

Looks like there are problems again? So I'll just add it here:

*Rockport - Christmas Eve Day 2018*

We got our Christmas preparations done by about noon on Monday. It was a beautiful sunny day, with a nice breeze out of the NE. The water cleared up, but not too clear. A beautiful day for fishing. But it's Christmas Eve Day, and we have church at 6:00. There's no way I could go, so I just stared out the window a lot.

My wife said, "You look restless."
"Yes I am."
"I think you need to go fishing."
"Yes I do."
So I grabbed my stuff and took off.

The short story about the fishing is that I caught about 15 fish, kept my 5, and released the rest. The water is still way down. The fish were all caught off the end of a shell point. Same sand eels I've been using, slow-bumped off the bottom. I was back home, fish fileted, and washed up by 3:30. Enough time to take a short nap before getting ready for the Christmas Eve service at church.

But that's not the best part:

It's December 24, and I was wearing shorts under my waders and a t-shirt. I got buzzed by a couple of mosquitos on the way out. The air was pleasant, and the fish were active. My hands weren't turning blue when I rinsed them in bay water after catching my fish. Down the shore some dolphins were crashing into something. And a pair of osprey cruised over head, with that signature cry. Standing there, I couldn't help thinking, "God bless Texas."

And God bless each of you.
Merry Christmas.


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## Dick Hanks (Aug 16, 2007)

Christmas gifts from Mother Nature..... Life is good.


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