Look for places people don’t go it’s the same down south towards Baffin area. All the popular spots are loaded with boats. Try the areas that are just away where the vast majority don’t think there are any fish. Yes the fish are less but there are still fish and they adapt to us as the predator. I have found this to work out well.

 

Glad I don’t have that problem when I ramble on down towards Rockport. Never fished it that far back, only since about 2018. And only on occasion. But a limit of 5 trout, has yet to become a difficult task.

Have a buddy that lives there full time, fishes almost every day. He catches more keeper trout, than anyone I know.

I agree about more people and more pressure, but I disagree about less fish.
They just ain’t where they used to be. Sometimes hiding in plain sight.

 

Yeah, we primarily fish Rockport area, more so Carlos/Mesquite Bay area, but catching trout limits is pretty well expected these days.

 

I’ve been fishing the same area since late 90’s and, yeah it’s definitely harder fishing. Last year on Memorial Day weekend (I usually don’t fish holidays) I ran from Lydia Ann channel north along San Jose for well over 5 miles and there wasn’t one place to stop and fish. It was literally lined with boats and people fishing. Baring anything catastrophic it’s only going to get worse. I’m glad I can still do it though. It’s good medicine for me.

 

I do think better days are ahead. With CB back and no more freezes, I sure hope it will get the whole bay system back in order. Those knuckleheads at the TPWD set us back a year or two with how long they took to implement the RIGHT limits/slots, but I think the ecosystem should get right to where it will get healthy again.

 

I have fished there for 50 plus years and the numbers and size has dwindled. If you fish every week you can stay on some but they are not plentiful. Reds have decreased dramatically also along with drum. It’s definitely pressure from guides and rec fisherman.

 

Lot of boats on the water in Rockport these days. The spots I was catching fish on just a couple of years ago are now boating highways. Don’t even get me started on the idiots running them. Good advice above, the weather in April is unpredictable. Expect the wind to be blowing for sure. Find a good guide, Jay Nichols, Brennen Nguyen, etc and you won’t have anything to worry about.

 

Same here in AP. Today Conn Brown Harbor looked like a boat trailer convention was taking place. Crazy. No place to park at the ramp on Ransom rd. either. Going to have to learn Nueces bay and the back of Copano and Mission bay. The reefs and Oil field debris in these bays scares a lot of people off. Kind of like the rocks in Baffin.

 

Same in Galveston! I don't think the weekend crowd does that much damage of all those boats few if any fish are caught. I don't have a dog in this hunt so I'lkl say it.Guides and Tournament fishermen ar 10k times more successful than any weekend warrior! If the state is serious about the fishery,limit the number of guides and limit them to four days a week. Limit the number of tournaments ! If more action is required,, give the Bay a rest for two years. Including shrimping and oysters!!

 

I would think that post freeze recovery would be fully underway at this point. Any of y’all seeing significant improvement this year compared toto the last 2 years?

 

There are definitely fewer fishermen up north in Ayers, Mesquite and San Antonio bays. Though you can still get skunked (like me this past Saturday), it's not hard to catch three legal trout on a day with helpful tides. San Antonio Bay is full of rebounding oyster reefs where keeper trout and drum are abundant. Did I hear correctly that the oyster boats hit Aransas Bay this past season?

 

Yep, this is the area we fish, and to be honest, if we don't catch our 3 trout when we go, we're disappointed these days. Granted, the last time we went out the wind was gusting at 30, but we still managed a few trout. But we'll be wading somewhere in this area Sat morning, and winds are looking just right for a good day.

 

There’s more people, but if you watch them most have no idea how to catch fish.

Like has been mentioned…. Think outside the box a little. You will get drifted over or ran over on most summer mornings before 9:00am (ANNOYING) but catching fish hasn’t been an issue for me yet.

 

This topic is specifically fishing in the Rockport area, I'll ask away...
We have a trip planned for 4th of July weekend and will be renting a boat (just sold our current one, looking for another) on the 5th.

I've only ever fished this area once, with my (future) SIL and he launched off the ramp at Lamar Beach and we mainly fished in Carlos Bay and Ayers Bay. We did ok.

But for this upcoming trip I'm looking for additional options to look at. Focus would be trout and/or reds & drum. Any other suggestions?

ETA: We'll be staying at a condo South of the Rockport Beach Park, so close to that is good launching, but not a necessity.