Summer is in full swing in Rockport. Weekends are totally nuts but great for the local economy. Monday through Thursday is fairly light in boat traffic but Friday through Saturday and 1/2 a day on Sunday are stupid busy, again great for the local fishing retailers and bait shops. I have not fished weekends for a few years and now I am thinking about not fishing on Friday during June through about September the 15th. Already booked just about every Friday already way out so won't do that this year but definitely on the "think about list" for 2026.

Fishing for me was tougher this week than I expected it to be. A couple of days of just terrible bite and lots of small fish. Even the Dolphin were not around me this week, probably means I was in the wrong place, or I was in the right place at maybe the wrong time. Water temperatures are reaching the 86-to-87-degree mark in some area of the flats by the noon hour so it's already hot and going to get hotter by the day. We have had some rain, and any is welcome this time of year. More sharks this year than I have seen in many years. Not bother us but definitely seeing them on a daily basis. Gong early is the key right now seems to be the ticket on the best trout bite. However, my best trout, are coming later in the morning and even closer to the noon hour. Had a 27 1/2-inch fish this week and 3 over 25/26 1/2. Two were skinny fish and one of the 26 1/2-inch fish was a toad for her length.

I am throwing mostly all soft plastic ( Mirrolure LIL JOHN XL, 5" PROVOKERS and the NEW 6th SENSE PARTY PADDLE) right now, but I never do not have a Double D in my wading box. 2 weeks or more ago that is all they better trout wanted, the past two weeks that has not been the case.

Leader Maintenace is very important this time of year due to HOT WATER, HEAVY TURTLE GRASS as well as FLOATING grass that wears on the strength of your leader. Retie often and look and feel up and down your leader line after every fish. I use OSPREY PREMIUM LEADER material in 20 POUND MONO. Some use 17 pound and have great luck with that as well.

Alright, hope to see some of you around the dock or on my boat.

Our summer is in crazy mode in Rockport with all the schools out now and many wanting the Rockport experience. No doubt in my mind that Rockport Texas is the jewel of the Texas coast and can boast that it had the best to offer visitors wanting a waterfront community experience. H.E.B., ALL our restaurant's, fast food establishments, boat launches, dry stack storage and of course ROCKPORT TACKLE TOWN are jam packed most every day and especially on the weekends. I expect to see crowds increase through the July 4th weekend and then we will start to see a slow down until the Labor Day weekend. I primarily fish during the weekdays so crowds although increased are still less than Friday through mid-day on Sunday.

Trout fishing is consistent and red fish still really good on most days if you are strictly targeting red fish. We seem to have a good population of 2 to 3 1/2-pound trout, despite 82-degree water. Some 4-to-5-pound fish here and there and the occasional 6 plus. No 7 plus pound fish for me since I got home from Mansfield in April. Trout fishing to our South in Baffin is good as well and there, anglers are enjoying some larger trout from time to time I am hearing.

I continue to be very busy, and I am thankful for that. The air and water temperatures will continue to rise, and our days will become shorter in the fishing department. I t will be about getting out there in the gray light and getting the job done before 11pm if you are looking to catch trout. Reds are a little different and can actually be caught throughout the day and even better during periods of FALLING tides that coincide with rapidly rising water temperatures. In my younger days, I would often run a trout trip in the morning and then run clients interested in catching red fish in the late afternoon hours. This days of running doubles are over but I am not opposed to running late afternoon trips during low tide periods for red fish.

I hope to see many of you around the docks or on my boat over the next 3 months. Be safe and as always, keep only the fish you want for a meal or two and release the rest. KEEP LESS, FISH MORE.

Heavy rainfall has delayed our departure for the past two mornings. We definitely need the rain so no complaints on my end. The early morning rains cool the surface water temperatures slightly, but every bit helps this time of year. Water temperature in the bay is starting the day at around 79 degrees and by days end we are looking at 82 degrees in the flats and along the barrier island shorelines. Summer heat is just around the corner, and we have already seen so signs of it being a very hot summer.

Our fishing continues to show signs of much improvement in our trout populations. This week I have had a few clients catch legit 5 to 5 1/2-pound fish and I have even seen a few trout in the shallows that look to be larger. Dolphin and more sharks than normal are still something we have to deal with on a daily basis. Yesterday was not bad in that department and I honestly can't tell you why these changes from time to time, but I am thankful when they decide to let us catch and release the trout.

I am still mainly throwing MIRROLURE LIL JOHN XL's, 5" PROVOKERS, 6TH SENSE PARTY PADDLE and TEXAS CUSTOM DOUBLE D's. I have had a few clients catch some nice trout to 4 to 5 pounds on Mirrolure Top Dog Jr and She Dogs. Golden Bream and PISTACHIO or CROWN ROYAL have been my best color choices in the LIL JOHN XL and DOUBLE D categories and then with the 6th SENSE PARTY PADDLE the Spanish Bone and Chartreuse Pearl have worked great over the shallow grass flats for both trout and reds. Rockport Tackle Town has a good supply of ALL of these name brand lures in stock. I will be at TACKLE TOWN with Texas Customs and Custom Corky owner Lowell Odon on Saturday the May 31st from 11am until 2pm so if you are in town stop by and see me.

Summer books are open online now and my 2025 Fall and Winter dates are filling faster than expected so if you are interested in learning better ways find and catch more fish, reserve your dates today.

Despite, less than favorable weather conditions our fishing has been really good in Rockport. It is true that we have been prevented from fishing some of our best trout water from time to time due to 25 to 40 mph SE and NE winds but on the rare occasions when I have been able to get my groups in the proper areas, we have caught some really solid trout. Yesterday was one of those morning that when we woke the winds were SE at less than 15mph, tides were low but incoming all day and we were able to access some of my favorite springtime areas. We had a really good morning catching trout of all sizes, with the biggest being a few fish in the 4 to 4 1/2-pound class. The trout continue to hold tight to prominent grass edges and areas of sand where we find scattered individual grass beds. My Brown Booby's are gone for the most part, so I am thinking the Menhaden have moved into other sections of our bay system. I am seeing bird activity in the areas that I am trout fishing and for the most part where I find Royal Terns or Brown Pelicans, I am finding trout.

Texas Custom Double D's, Mirrolure Lil John XL's and 6TH Sense's New Party Paddle are getting heavy use each day. I am not much of a Paddle Tail guy but really love the 6th Sense paddle tail.

I have been throwing a lot of Chartreuse the past two weeks in the clear water. Both the trout and reds seem to be a little more attracted to this color right now. It's bright and has DRAW POWER that gets them up and looking at it when they might not necessarily be wanting to feed. The old standby colors such as WATERMELON, PLUM, BLUE MOON and WHITE or PEARL continue to be great choices for us. I dip my own OPENING NIGHT LIL JOHN XLs in SPIKE IT to dye them Chartreuse. You don't want to use but just a tiny bit of the Spike it. This stuff goes a long way. Rockport Tackle Town has it. In the Texas customs's Double D, I am throwing, CROWN ROYAL, PLUM NASTY, JOSE, BAY MISTRESS, PISTACHIO or SEA GRASS color patterns. Make a note when in Tackle Town of the lure pegs that have no lures and check the color. That's what they are eating ha ha.

I continue to be excited about our fishing in Rockport as the hotter month's get closer at hand. When the winds lay, I am going to be able to get my people on MID-BAY structures(reefs) and I believe we are going to see some great trout fishing.

My SUMMER SEMIANR series SOLD out in less than 24 hours so pay close attention to my ONLINE calendar for the Fall seminar to be announced and get your seats reserved. TRUST ME, Rockport fishing is on its way back up in the trout department. We won't ever be Baffin or Port Mansfield; never have been, but I remember catching 50-to-60-pound 10 trout bags a few years after Harvey and just prior to the 2021 freeze. That was less than 10 years ago. It takes trout about 3 1/2 years to get to 15-inches. If we lost 60 to 70 percent of the trout in 2021, just do the math. 2026/27 could be really good if Mother Nature allows.

At nearly 68 years of age, I continue to push myself to stay current and grow in my knowledge of everything fishing so that I can continue to pass this along to all of you. I feel great and look forward to seeing many of you around the docks or on my boat this year.

Nice cool down this morning and throughout the day with the latest front that pushed into the Coastal Bend around 2am this morning. 76 DEGREES outside right now at 3pm so about 8 to 10 degees drop in air temperatures. Windy week over-all but not too bad on the catching end despite the strong winds. As long as tides remain high, we will be able to move around and find some fish on our grass flats and if tides increase even more, in our back lakes as well. Wind forecast for next week looks to be similar in direction and velocities, but I don't see any of the 35 to 40 gusts days right now. We do have a really good chance of rain starting on Sunday and continuing through Thursday. We need rain as does the water shed for our areas which is Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon. Choke is at 17 percent right now!!!!!

We had a pretty good week on the Texas Custom's Double D series of lures (Crown Royal, Pearl Harbor, Truth) yesterday, that was about the only thing we could get the trout to eat. Reds still preferred the Mirrolure Lil John XL or the 5"Provoker series, (Watermelon,Molton, Chartreuse Ice, Purple Demon). Trout are still holding on Singular shoreline grass beds, parallel grass edges and underwater grass points. It is critical that you be able to see the grass beds and make accurate cast to these areas. Multiple casts per piece of structure are also required. Looking forward to the summer months as well and lighter winds so we can start fishing the North Country and our many mid-bay reefs.

The trout fishing in Rockport continues to impress me. Nothing big like 7-pound or larger fish but I am seeing 4-to-5-pound fish and Jay Ray had a guy catch one over 6 and I caught one right at 6 pounds a few weeks back prior to the Full Moon. The things that are exciting me are the numbers of places that I am once again catching trout. Weather patterns have not been the greatest, but the conditions are typical for springtime conditions. Winds typically blow 17 to 22 mph on a daily basis out of the ESE here in the spring. This average is obtained by the fact that we have some days where it blows 30 plus at times. We have received about 5 inches of rain over the past 2 weeks which is always good news. Still slightly under our annual average but we have some rain in future forecast so we could catch up in a hurry.

I have added my July through November 2025 booking calendar to the website and there are plenty of summertime days available at this time. Summer fishing water and air temperatures can get hot no doubt but if you start early, you can usually get on some nice fish prior to the hottest times of the day. I anticipate a lot of time being spent this year in the North Country after June the 1st, working mid-bay reefs on days when the winds allow. Right now, there is little to no fishing pressure around the majority of the mid bay reefs in any of the ARANSAS BAY complex due to high winds. This creates a surplus of fish around the reefs that are not getting pressured or caught on a daily basis. This will change once winds drop and allow us to start working these deeper water structures. I love fishing reefs, the reef structures provide cover, a food source and deep-water access to drop off into when water temperatures get too hot. Many or the days when only 1 or 2 stops are needed in order to get the day off to a great start.

Hope to see some of you on my boat or around the docks this summer.

The trout fishing in Rockport is much improved over the past couple of years. With new bag and size limits all we need is for Mother Nature to give us a few more winters without a killer freeze and some decent spawning conditions and we will be back to normal. This is great news if you are looking for good fishing in the Rockport area. I am enjoying some really good days right now on both trout and red fish. Tides are extremely low, and this is concentrating the bait and the game fish in the same areas. Makes guiding a little easier no doubt. My books are pretty full, but I have a day here and there in June. July through September still have plenty of open days abut then I get really busy again from October through December.

Mirrolure Lil John XL's and the 5"Provokers are producing well for us right now. Using Molten, Watermelon Red Glitter, Golden Bream and Blue Moon or Clear Gold/Red Glitter. Couple the soft plastic with Texas Custom's 1/16th oz 2/0 jig heads for the best action and casting combination. I am also catching some really nice trout and reds on the Texas Custom's Double D in CROWN ROYAL, PLUM NASTY, TRUTH and BAY MISTRESS color patterns. 1 knocker spook top waters are also producing some good trout and reds. I am not a top water go to guy but that certainly does not mean that they do not work.

SE WINDS are going to crank the next few days so be careful if out on the water.

Winds finally switched the NE here today around3:00pm. Cooler temperatures forecast for this coming week and that will be nice. Good week here, lots of solid trout to 25 inches (about 4 1/2 pounds) and plenty of red fish most days. I don't concentrate on red fish, but they are day savers for us many times. Say what we want but red fish can still be fun to catch, and the smaller reds are good table fare. I am staying in the Southern most parts of Aransas Bay and Corpus Christi Bay through about June the first. This has been my MO from day one so no reason to alter to much at this point in the game, right?

Small Menhaden making their way into the bays now so the focus for me and our resident trout population is to locate areas where the WIND or TIDAL movement pulls and pushes Menhaden in close enough to our barrier island shorelines and spoils so that we can reach them. With higher-than-normal tides my reduced height hurts my efforts at times.

I am throwing Custom Corky soft dines and some Custom Corky Floaters as well a heavy dose of the DOUBLE D and of course Mirrolure Lil John and Lil John XL models. Opening Night, Clear Red Glitter, Watermelon and Molten are my go-to colors right now in Soft Plastics and then OS PERAL HARBOR, Crown Royal, Truth, GRINGO and PISTACHIO in the CUSTOM Corky soft dine and Double D series of suspending/ floating lures. Winds have been brutal but not at all uncommon for the spring along the middle to Lower Texas Coast.

Summer Seminar at WATKINS LANDING (1622 W TWELFTH STREET, Rockport, Texas 78382) YOU MUST SPELL TWELFTH or GOOGLE will send you to LAMAR somewhere ha ha. on MAY the 23rd (a Friday). Seating is limited to 40. TEXT ME at 361 463 1074 for more details and payment instructions. Payment must be made in FULL prior to MAY 23RD.

I have a few days here and there over the next two months and then I now have my Summer and Fall/Winter online calendar dates posted. Plenty of days for everyone right now but they still go fast so if you're planning a trip you might want to go ahead and book it while there are some good choices.