# Rockport 12/19



## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

StabbinFlatties said:


> 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.


That was Tuesday's trip with StabbinFlatties. This morning (Wed. 12/19) I went back to the same spot (of course), expecting the same results. There were a few differences in conditions, though. The water level has come up a lot since that big blow emptied the bay. Today was a little bit deeper than yesterday. The water was nice yesterday with about a foot and a half of visibility - today it was much clearer. I could easily see my feet in waist deep water. The big thing was that there wasn't any wind. People are always attracted to windless days, but it usually isn't the best for fishing. I still expected to find plenty of fish on this spot.

I caught two just undersized fish on my first two casts, before I reached the exact area I wanted to fish. But a pair of young dolphins moved in. I hooked another small fish, which eventually shook off, and they both showed a lot of interest. A couple of minutes later, they moved in on me and sent me a clear message that I was I their spot. They were swimming slow, more like a person slowly walking up to me, with their dorsal fins sticking out of the water. One of them came up within 4-5 feet of me. It's very strange having one approach that slowly, and I really did start thinking that it was going to get close enough for me to reach out and touch. When it got close, it made sort of a swimmer flip-turn, snapped its tail, and shot a big wave at me. A couple of minutes later, the other one did the exact same thing. They moved away very slowly, and began just tearing up the water around me, chasing down fish. I tried to keep fishing but they were thrashing like crazy. I tried to move down a bit, but never got more than a couple of bites, and the dolphins sort of shadowed me. I finally picked up and headed to another spot.

It was now later in the morning, the sun was out and it was very warm for this time of year. There wasn't a breath of wind, and not a ripple on the water. Definitely not my favorite fishing conditions. I waded to a series of spots that I thought might hold some fish, and only got a couple of other taps for my trouble. Disgusted, I was walking in with my skunk. About halfway back, I saw a spot and I can't even tell you what made me think it would be holding fish. Instinct or luck I guess. But I walked a way out of my way to it, took a cast and hooked a nice trout. Next cast, same story. I'm casting to an area about the size of the great room in my house. I took 12 casts, caught 7 nice trout and lost 3 - one of which I think was the best fish of the day. They were all a respectable 18-20" fish. I snagged a hunk of shell, and had to walk up into the area to retrieve my lure. Rather than walking back to see if I could catch more, I decided that I had caught enough and headed in. It was a good decision after looking in the mirror later - I completely forgot sunblock.

This is one time I can't give any information on why I caught these fish. I was still using a sand eel. On the warmer days, I've been doing the most good with a slow steady retrieve, and that's how I caught them today. I didn't see any signs of bait activity, at least not consciously. I didn't see any swirls that would have hinted at feeding fish below. What looked fishy about that one spot? I got nothing.

The two dry casts I made there were both just outside of the area I picked out - one left and one right, sort of bracketing the spot itself. And I got no interest on either cast. There was clearly a group of fish working one small spot, and if I hadn't gone there I would have come home without a single fish. The difference between the two days is pretty amazing.

If there's a lesson to this, it's to remember sunblock even on winter days that start out cloudy. But I can't count the number of times I've failed to learn that lesson in the past.


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## mccain (Oct 20, 2006)

i used to hit rockport often yrs ago and dolphins were always near by no matter where we went. sounds like that one was trying to tell you something . glad you got on some fish.


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## RammerJammer (Oct 11, 2009)

Great report, interesting about them dolphins!


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## taylork555 (Sep 5, 2013)

Thanks for the report.

Hopefully the bite continues through next week and the New Year!


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## WillieT (Aug 25, 2010)

Great report. Very interesting.


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## NOCREEK (Jan 18, 2012)

I heard if your having any line twist issues you can just foul hook one of those dolphins to get rid of them. 


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## SolarScreenGuy (Aug 15, 2005)

Dolphins have been thick down there as long as I can remember. Seems like as you go north from Aransas Pass They begin to thin out. They have become a nuisance IMO. They love specks. Can you imagine how many they eat in a day?

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## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

mccain said:


> i used to hit rockport often yrs ago and dolphins were always near by no matter where we went. sounds like that one was trying to tell you something . glad you got on some fish.


Two summers ago, just before Harvey, I had a pod that started potlicking me. I swear they learned the noise signature of my boat, and every time I fished the St. Joe shoreline they would make a beeline. If I cranked up the engine and ran down the shore, they double-timed after me. Went on for a long time.

I've had dolphins thrash the area I was fishing. But I've never had one come straight up to me so slowly and deliberately. The dorsal was bobbing up and down, like they were really working at moving that slowly. It was like having a person come walking up to you and stopping a few feet away. When they were stalking fish, they moved at a normal smooth pace. And when they were hunting they just exploded. But they were really intentional about coming up to me slowly - like maybe they didn't want to startle me? I've never seen anything like it.

The thing I love about being in/on the water is that you never stop seeing new things.


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## ol billy (Jun 14, 2005)

pocjetty said:


> Two summers ago, just before Harvey, I had a pod that started potlicking me. I swear they learned the noise signature of my boat, and every time I fished the St. Joe shoreline they would make a beeline. If I cranked up the engine and ran down the shore, they double-timed after me. Went on for a long time.
> 
> I've had dolphins thrash the area I was fishing. But I've never had one come straight up to me so slowly and deliberately. The dorsal was bobbing up and down, like they were really working at moving that slowly. It was like having a person come walking up to you and stopping a few feet away. When they were stalking fish, they moved at a normal smooth pace. And when they were hunting they just exploded. But they were really intentional about coming up to me slowly - like maybe they didn't want to startle me? I've never seen anything like it.
> 
> The thing I love about being in/on the water is that you never stop seeing new things.


Thanks for sharing that. There really is something sort of magical about those creatures. They are brimming with an intelligence and curiosity I've never quite seen in an animal.


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## mccain (Oct 20, 2006)

pocjetty said:


> Two summers ago, just before Harvey, I had a pod that started potlicking me. I swear they learned the noise signature of my boat, and every time I fished the St. Joe shoreline they would make a beeline. If I cranked up the engine and ran down the shore, they double-timed after me. Went on for a long time.
> 
> I've had dolphins thrash the area I was fishing. But I've never had one come straight up to me so slowly and deliberately. The dorsal was bobbing up and down, like they were really working at moving that slowly. It was like having a person come walking up to you and stopping a few feet away. When they were stalking fish, they moved at a normal smooth pace. And when they were hunting they just exploded. But they were really intentional about coming up to me slowly - like maybe they didn't want to startle me? I've never seen anything like it.
> 
> The thing I love about being in/on the water is that you never stop seeing new things.


i've had them come fairly close up here in galvez but not like you're talking. that would kinda freak me out. i cant say i've heard of any dolphin attacking or ramming a wade fisherman but there's a 1st time for everything


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## [email protected] (Dec 1, 2018)

Nice trout! We had dolphins hanging out with us in the Boat Hole. Fun to watch but not so good for the trout!


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## Dick Hanks (Aug 16, 2007)

Another awesome report Scott. Your detailing of the events of an outing are so much more interesting than the reports that are just "Look what I caught". Much appreciated!


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## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

*Old Year's Afternoon*

*Old Year's Afternoon*

Well I wrote up a longer report, but it didn't go through. I'll keep this short. I finished out 2018 in style. Left the house at 2:00, and I found some decent fish early - those are the ones in the picture, and they range up to 21". I moved and saw some big fish cutting swirls on the surface, and knew I was in for a rush. I caught about a dozen that I released. Two were very nice 24" fish (I have 25" marked on my rod, so I had a good measure of them.) I released several in the 22" range, and the rest were like the ones in the picture.

I finally had to leave, because the wife and I have a date tonight. I'm right on the edge of getting in trouble right now, if I don't go take a shower.

Be careful out there tonight, and I'll talk to you all next year.


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## WillieT (Aug 25, 2010)

Nice catch. Itâ€™s fun when you get in good fish like that.


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## Dick Hanks (Aug 16, 2007)

Happy New Year Scott...... That was a great way to end the fishing year. Hopefully, the date with your wife turned out even better!:smile:


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## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

WillieT said:


> Nice catch. Itâ€™s fun when you get in good fish like that.


Two of my favorite things: when I can see the swirls of a big fish that's under the surface, so I know that she's there and active. And when I'm reeling in a fish, and see others following the hooked one up to a few feet away from me. It never gets old.



Dick Hanks said:


> Happy New Year Scott...... That was a great way to end the fishing year. Hopefully, the date with your wife turned out even better!:smile:


Thanks, Dick. It was great. We really are best friends.

You are two of the good guys. I hope this new year treats you well.


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## Spot Remover (Jul 11, 2013)

Speaking of dolphin, a couple of years ago I was wading the east end of Mud and had one speck on my stringer. While casting out, I was suddenly jerked backward by the stringer (never heard a sound). First thought was a bull shark had bit the trout and might be eyeing me next. 

After going backwards a couple of feet the stringer went slack and a dolphin slowly brought his head up a few feet from me, then turned and swam away. Scared the #%&t out of me until I realized what had happened. He did leave the trout lips on the stringer though....

They are plentiful around the southern part of Aransas bay. We saw quite a few this week around Cal hole. Just as POCJetty said, all you can do is pick up and move to another part of the bay.


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## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

Spot Remover said:


> Speaking of dolphin, a couple of years ago I was wading the east end of Mud and had one speck on my stringer. While casting out, I was suddenly jerked backward by the stringer (never heard a sound). First thought was a bull shark had bit the trout and might be eyeing me next.
> 
> After going backwards a couple of feet the stringer went slack and a dolphin slowly brought his head up a few feet from me, then turned and swam away. Scared the #%&t out of me until I realized what had happened. He did leave the trout lips on the stringer though....
> 
> They are plentiful around the southern part of Aransas bay. We saw quite a few this week around Cal hole. Just as POCJetty said, all you can do is pick up and move to another part of the bay.


Okay, I'm not to proud to admit that would have spooked me. I've had sharks snag my stringer any number of times, and I squeak like a schoolgirl. (With apologies to schoolgirls everywhere.) If I had something pull me backwards, it would look and sound like Curly in a Stooges movie. WoopWoopWoop.

Don't anyone tell me that it's illogical. It's not about logic. Something grabs my stringer, and I'm outa there.


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