FINALLY, a cold front with a little punch. 58 DEGREES here this morning and currently it is 65 degrees outside. I will be in waders for the first time since late March and honestly excited to be back in them. The summer heat was brutal this year on not just me but the fish as well. Over the past week, I saw an increase in the size of the trout that we are catching versus a few weeks ago. Lots of 20 plus inch fish the past 5 days with a few in the 24-inch class. We will definitely see some larger fish with the cooler temperatures and as we get into late November and December. It has not been cold enough long enough to make me believe that a good Corky bite, but I do believe that this week we will see an increase in the numbers of trout that we will be catching on the Custom Corky Soft Dine and NEW soft dine floaters (they do not float just sink much slower. Last season they really worked well for us and this season they have some new color patterns. Last week the TEXAS CUSTOM'S soft plastics and the Mirrolure Lil John XL series were good baits for us as well. JUNE BUG, PLUM NASTY, WATERMELON RED GLITTER, BONE PEARL and BAY AID were good color choices in the TEXAS CUSTOM JAY WATKINS series and in the LIL JOHN, WATERMELON RED GLITTER, GOLDEN BREAM and MOULTON were the tickets. Chartreuse Ice in the MIRROLURE LIL JOHN series was great for red fish over the grass flats.

I have a JAY WATKINS FISHING SEMINAR at WATKINS LANDING on NOIVEMBER the 13TH, a FRIDAY. Class in on FALL and WINTER fishing. Cost is 225.00 per person and seating is limited. I only have 10 spots left I believe. Class will be from 6pm until 9pm. Free lure packs and a light meal and soft drinks will be provided as always. Text me at 361 463 1074 to make arrangements.

I just wanted to send out a short Blog to let everyone know what is happening in the ARANSAS BAY COMPLEX. MY trout bite continues to be tough with more small and undersized trout than the ones I really want my clients to catch. Water temperature is still 84 to 85 degrees and despite a favorable weather forecast last week that called for substantial rainfall and cooler temperatures, we did not see this. Today; Saturday, it is cooler with mid 80's as high temperatures so that feels much better, but it won't change the water temperatures much at all. Fall is coming and it cannot get here fast enough for me.

Look for cooler water temperatures to kick off what I refer to as a "feeding up " period with the game fish in our bays systems. Due to fewer hours of daylight and dropping water temperatures, game fish begin to feel as if they need to eat whenever food is present. I notice longer hours of steady feeding periods during the fall months as winter patterns become evident to them. As we cool down, small bait fish will migrate to deeper waters and some to the actual Gulf passes and beach fronts. The LACK of 3-to-5-inch bait fish will decrease in the fall and early winter months with the passing of strong fronts. Its the smaller bait fish that our game fish prefer so this is one of the reasons lure fishing becomes so much better during these two seasons if the year.

Don't equate tough fishing with a lack of, I promise much better times are ahead for the lure fishing community.

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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