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.

Today I POSTED on my WEBSITE (JayWatkins.com) online CALENDAR open dates for JULY through November for fishing in ROCKPORT. Port Mansfield dates for January through February are currently already booked. I will post December dates for Rockport area next week after I see what I have. There are a few Saturdays and Sunday's that I have made available to those of you that still have real jobs and cannot fish during the week. Understand, Saturday is the busiest day of the week on the water so finding undisturbed waters after the first wade can be difficult at time. Guess that means I had better put you on the juice right out of the gate huh? I can do that!!!!

Summer Seminar is MAY the 23rd (a Friday). TEXT me to get on the seating list. 361 463 1074. Payment in advance is required to reserve your seat.

Fishing is better in Rockport and the Spring, Summer and Fall period os 2025 look very promising.

I have one more 3-day group arriving in Port Mansfield on Sunday the 23rd to fish through the 26th. Weather looks good and hopefully the substantial rainfall that local weather forecasters are predicting will hit us late Wednesday and into Thursday. We need rain in Rockport in a terrible way so hoping to see some rain next week.

Good season in Port Mansfield with some clients catching some really good trout in the 8 TO 8 3/4-pound class. We are weighing our fish on digital scales now, so we know exactly what they weigh. My largest was an 8.77 that one of my guys caught early in the winter season. I personally have only had 1 trout over 7 1/2 pounds so far. Maybe the last week will bring a big fish to everyone in the group. In 2026 I WILL ONLY FISH THE MANSFIELD area the last week of December through the last week of February. Going to suck for some on the March groups but Port Mansfield has some great guides from all up and down the coast as well as the locals so finding the right fit won't be hard. I will still enjoy the groups of guys that have been with me from day one in this endeavor, but we will work a little smarter and not as long, I am thinking.

Rockport fishing is quickly returning to a quality fishery. Not a trophy trout fishery per-say, but we are coming back. I am excited to get home and get back the waters that I began my guiding career back in the late 70's. Jay Ray has been home a month and feels very good about what he is seeing day in and day out.

On FRIDAY MAY the 23RD I will host my 2025 JAY WATKINS SUMMER FISHING SEMINAR. As is always the case, seating needs to be reserved, Payment in advance and seating is limited to 40 anglers. FIRST, 30 to pay and sign up will receive special TREAT from Rockport Tackle TOWN. There will be INSTAGRAM POST (official_jaywatkinssrfishing) as well this BLOG SITE on JayWatkins.com. You can also contact me at 361 463 1074 for more details and payment options. If we get some rain, this summer could offer some of the best summertime fishing Rockport has seen in about 5 years.

I am looking forward to the coming weeks in Port Mansfield as I finish up my WINTER 2025 season in this special place. Jay Ray went home on the 28th of February, so I am missing the daily communication at the dock as well as on the water. Last week we finished up strong with some 8 1/2 plus pound fish. With the Full Moon approaching, the next 3 to 4 days has tremendous possibilities for this week's group of guys. Tides are very low today, and wind is gusting to 25 out of the NE right now. Forecast is for the air temperatures to drop and winds to decrease as well.

Look for the trout to wanting to eat SUSPENDING types of lures as water temperatures begin to rise. Mirrolure LIL JOHN and LIL JOHN XL will on be great choices. As always, I want you to throw what you have confidence in throwing. Placing yourself in the proper area; areas with preferred structure and an ample food supply. Jay Ray has been having good success in Rockport since he got home so that is very good news. His EXACT WORDS TO ME AFTER HI9S FIRST WADE WERE,"WE ARE GOING TO BE GOOD BUDDY". Plenty of nice reds and trout from 16 to just over 20-inches as well as the occasional 4-to-6-pound fish. That is really great news, and I am excited to get home the last week of March and begin the search with some of you guys.

We survived another year without a freeze and with the NEW 3 trout limit we should be well on our way back to a very healthy fihsery in Rockport.