Fall has officially arrived on our calendars, but it feels like summer here in Rockport. 93 degrees and zero wind here as I update all of you. The past 6 weeks have proven to be tough trout fishing. For that matter, the red fish bite has not been very good either. It's the heat and fishing pressure and that is all it is. As we cool down in the fall and get cold in the winter, fishing will improve dramatically I promise. I am having to work to catch 12 to 15 slot trout per day and if we catch red fish in the area where I am trout fishing that is a bonus. I am continuing to see a few really good trout each week, fish to 4 1/2 and near 5 pounds at times' More tough days like I said than good ones right now.

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Its hot enough these days to force us to fish less hours due to the hot water and air temperatures. Add to this the fact that at 68 years of age the heat creates somewhat of a problem in the energy level. I feel great and still have no health issues that I can see so I have no plans on slowing down too much. I do believe that the OLDER ME is smart enough to realize that the cooler months of the year will be the focus of my days on the water. I continue to love to fish and love to teach those willing to learn. I look forward to seeing some of you on the boat over the next 5 months. August and September are super-hot, so early mornings are typically easier fishing conditions, and the bite tends to be better over-all. This is especially true for speckled trout. I have seen a few small schools of reds beginning to bunch up so that will be a good second choice for me on some days. I stay focused on catching the best size trout that I can find for my clients as I have for most of my career.

I see great signs of the recovery of our trout populations in the ARANAS BAY COMPLEX. If we continue to see ample rainfall and no real freezing temperatures for a pro-longed period of time, we will be back to a new normal which just might be better than many of you have seen in years. I will never see trout fishing as it was in the 70's and early 80's. Just too many people on the water doing all kinds of on the water activities besides fishing. The new trout regulations are helping and will change the face of he trout fishery in Texas.

It is hot along the middle to lower Texas Coast, as it should be this time of year. I am headed to the mountains to trout fish for 7 days starting the 24th of July. Looking forward to lows in the 50's and highs in the lower 80'f for a change. Mainly looking for downtime and some recovery time after a busy 7 months in preparation for the next 5 months. An abundance of rainfall in May and June and a little in July has helped the estuaries around the Rockport and Port O Connor area for sure and I believe you will see some of the best quality trout fishing that our area has seen since the 202 1 freeze. I know I am excited about our trout prospects in October through December in Rockport. I have some days in October and a few left in November of 2025 for the Rockport area. You can look online and see the opening.

Crowds on the weekdays have diminished significantly after the after the 4th of July weekend. By mid-August we will see even more of a slow down during the Monday through Friday time frames. Weekends in Rockport are always busy just where we are these days. Great for the local businesses, not so great for the fish. I do see way more catch and release of all species of game fish today than what we have ever seen in the history of saltwater fishing in Texas, so that is helping tremendously. Just keep a few when you need them is my new midn=set.

The past 3 weeks has seen a good early morning bite on trout for just over-all numbers but for me, the larger trout are still coming during the mid-day hours over scattered grass beds and elongated submerged grass edges. It is sight casting to the structure specific, as the larger trout are sticking close on in the grass itself. Finding quality red fish for ME, has been an issue. Just not catching them where I normally see them along the edges of the flats or in the flats when the tides allow me access. Have seen some scattered but quality fish on 'the shell in the NORTH COUNTRY on the days that I have fished in this area.

TEXAS CUSTOM JAY WATKINS SERIES soft plastics, Mirrolure Lil Johns, DOUBLE D'S and the NEW TEXAS CUSTOM or MIRROLURE SHALLOW DIVER SOFT DINES are also still very affective.

OS Bay Mistress in the SOFT DIN and DOUBLE D and Pistachio, Brown Shrimp and Bone/Pearl have been great color choices for us in the JAY WATKINS SERIES, soft plastics. Stop by ROCKPORT TACKLE TOWN, WATERLOO PRO SHOP or ROYS BAIT and TACKLE when in my area and pick upo what you need. These fine stores have it all.

Good afternoon. I know it has been months since I updated the BLOG portion of the website. Totally my bad but to be honest I use my Instagram (offical_jaywatkinssrfishing)ACCOUNT for most of my TIPS and advertising these days.

The weather the past 3 days has been pretty bad, too bad for me to fish, which means dangerously bad. We have received just under 6 inches of rain over the past 3 days which is terrific. More in the forecast for Thursday and through the middle of next week they tell us, so this is even better. I do not mind losing fishing days to rain event at this point in the game. Water I think is the NEW OIL in South Texas.

Our trout bite has been pretty good when the weather has allowed. I am able to move around in both the Southern end of ARANASAS BAY and CORPUS CHRISTI BAY as well as the NORTH COUNTRY of MEQUITE and San Antonio Bays. On calm days I have seen some decent trout sizes and numbers on the shell reefs in the NORTH COUNTRY. There are definitely more trout and better-quality trout this year than in the previous two years. My red fish bite has been slower than in previous Springs, but we are still able to find some decent fish when I put my mind to searching for them. I am letting a few clients keep a few trout this year, but most are still wanting to give the trout one more full year of spawning before beginning to keep trout on a regular basis. I always explain it like this. Freeze events and fish kills are going to happen. We get lucky and sometimes go 8 to 10 years without a killer freeze, giving fish population time to rebuild. With today's fishing pressure, we see that it takes longer for the populations to rebuild if restricts are not put into place by the state as well as the anglers themselves. When bot work together, things happen a double the rate. Say you had a trout population on the MIDDLE COAST of 10 million trout and during a freeze event you lost 50 percent of the population. 5M left right? What is the percentage of spawning size fish left in that 5M, say 10 percent. See where I am going. Say the population prior to the freeze is 20m. What does the survival rate at 50 percent leave us. See the logic here. More over-all population equates to a higher survival rate which leads to faster recovery. This is exactly why we wish for our clients to keep only a few fish per trip or go to complete catch and release when the fishery demands it of us. I believe we can control our own destiny as anglers no matter what the fishing regulations might be.

The NEW TEXAS CUSTOM'S JAY WATKINS SERIES soft plastics are doing well considering the amount of competition we have in the soft plastic bait industry. We have 23 great colors so check them out at any of your favorite tackle stores in Texas. TEXAS CUSTOM'S DOUBLE D sales are solid because it's an awesome lure of course.

Congratulations to the DONALDSON GIRLS on winning their SECOND babes on the Bay, Unguided Artificial division. Note. they also beat the GUIDED DIVISION teams. Hard work always pays a dividend in the long haul.

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Been a few weeks since I have updated the BLOG section of my website. I am working on my last two groups of the 2026 winter season in PORT MANSFIELD. It is hard to believe that the winter months have passed as fast as they have. I have not been staying in Port as much this year due to needing to be in Rockport more. I don't mind the 2 1/2-hour drive to be honest. Mostly ranch land for the most part so lots of time to look at wildlife and think. Fishing is really good most days with lots of trout this year over 6/7 pounds for my guys and then the 3-to-5-pound fish remain plentiful most days. Mix some days with upper to oversized red fish in the mix with the trout and it makes me look pretty good at times. Just so you know, it's the ranch not so much the hunter in Port Mansfield.

The fishing in Rockport is so much better than it was last winter. Tides are super low all along the middle to lower Texas Coast, so trout and reds alike are concentrated along drop-off, in shoreline guts and along the deeper edges of our oyster reefs in the North Country. Any type of signs of bait fish present should be investigated. Where you find any bait activity or even just presence, there will be trout. I am excited about our spring fishing in Rockport. I will also be taking a few 1-to-2-day trips to the UPPER LAGUNA and BAFFIN areas this spring as well.

Two things are helping our NORTH COUNTRY fishing in Rockport. Restricted limits on trout and the slow return and repair of our oyster reefs due to the NEW regulations and some buy out of oyster license's. Huge shout out to our club members, John Eads and Craig Bunk for their part in this process and then of course Chuck Naiser and his relentless pursuit of the protection of the oyster reefs.

Sales on the NEW TEXAS CUSTOM'S JAY WATKINS SERIES soft plastics are going well they tell me. I love all of our colors in both the straight tail and the tail baits. I am also having good luck with the NEW 6TH SESNES PARTY PADDLE and SHINDO SERIES of soft plastics. I am not a paddle tail guy, but the PARTY PADDLE is the real deal guys and so is the SHINDO, which is a much larger forked tail bait.

Still having a few issues with my eyes but getting them. tweaked a little this month and I am hopeful that this gets me back to where were a few months back. I love my WATERLAND CO. I love the WATERLAND mineral glass lenses. Light, clear, and durable.

Hope this finds everyone doing well and enjoying a new year. First week in PORT MANSFIDELD is in the books and it was incredible. I had unbelievably good anglers with the SPECKLED TRUTH owners and influencers. Kyle, Chris, Shane and ED are all really seasoned anglers. 3 are from Mississippi / Louisiana and Chris the one from LA., now lives in the San Antonio area. With seasoned anglers, my job is pretty easy. All I really need to do is stab us down on the right part of the ranch and put the dogs on the ground and let them go to work. For three days we caught trout to 7 pounds and reds to 9 and 10 pounds in numbers that for some, maybe many, might be difficult to believe. I am seasoned angler as well so just imagine what the combined numbers of trout and reds could possibly be if each angler brought to hand 20 to 25 fish per day. I know for sure on Day 1 and Day 2 this was the absolute truth.

Wide variety of lures worked for us. All in the group are Mirrolure, Custom Corky, Texas Customs, 6TH Sense and Down South enthusiasts, so these were the major brands that were thrown. Custom Corky floaters, Pro Series and Soft Dine XL series in GRINGO, PISTACHIO, TEXAS TURNIP, OS PEARL HARBOR and PURE SILVER produced for us. In the TEXAS CUSTOMS DOUBLE D series, it was Pistachio, Plum Nasty and Crown Royal that we all did the best on. We also caught some trout to 5 pounds on the NEW TEXAS CUSTOMS JAY WATKINS series SOFT PLASTICS in WATERMELON RED GLITTER. PISTACHIO, BROWN SHRIMP and JUNE BUG.

Long range winter weather forecast is calling for a mild winter, and I certainly hope that is true. Freezing temperatures overnight are not a problem, its 2 to 3 days of freezing temperatures that put the fishery in a bad place. Rockport trout fishing is much improved and IF we can get just a couple of more years without killing freezes, we will be in a great place.

Be sure to visit your local tackle dealers to stock up on the products that I have recommended.