Airport Flats (Copano) - Apr 25th, 2020

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Neumie
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Airport Flats (Copano) - Apr 25th, 2020

Post by Neumie »

A quick trip down to Rockport with my wife and parents so Loaded up the kayak gear and tools for some fishing and small projects around the cabin. Forecast wasn't looking too hot with strong NE to E winds all weekend. Best window was Saturday morning for fishing with my dad.

Initially, I had planned on kayaking and launching from Howard Murph Memorial Park and my dad wading the reef area, but the park was closed so we drove down to Airport Rd. We were first to arrive around 7 and I decided to ditch the kayak and wade with my dad. We waded out with a light east wind and started working to the left.

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We were greeted with pods of mullets and a couple of slicks; the signs were looking good. The grass has really grown in since I was there the first of March. My dad was throwing a Strawberry sand shad jr. and started plugging with a spook jr. I had one fish swipe at my topwater and that was it. Several other anglers showed up toting bait buckets. I saw one group land what looked like a keeper black drum. The front hit around 7:45 and was blowing hard. That forced several anglers off the water.

Before the front:
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I switched the grasswalker without a hit and then a pumpkin sand eel jr. I landed a 12" trout on the sand eel, but that would be it. We were off the water by 8:45. One of the many small projects that needed to be done was adding kayak hooks at our boat storage. Hopefully with our cabin rebuilt my wife and I will be making more trips to the coast.

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Meteorological Observations
Time: 7:00 am - 8:45 am
Air Temp: 77°F
Wind: E 5-8 kn swinging to N 10-15 (Gusting 20+)
Barometric Pressure: 1013 mb (rising)
Sky: Mostly Sunny
Water Clarity: 0-2 feet
Water Temp: 81°F
Structure: Sand & Grass

Solunar
Sunrise/set: 6:52 am/7:59 pm
Moonrise/set: 8:38 am/10:30 pm
Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent (4.6%)

Predicted Tides @ Rockport (MLLW)
Low @ 2:46 am (0.17 ft)
High @ 5:14 pm (0.52 ft)

Lures
Silver Mullet Spook Jr.
Bone Diamond TS Grasswalker
Pumpkin Sand Eel Jr. on 1/8 oz jighead
Strawberry Silver Glitter Sand Shad Jr. on 1/8 oz jighead

Fish
Trout: 1 undersized

I recently bought a used Garmin Fenix 3 (because holy heck new ones are stupid expensive) with GPS and was able to record my track of the wade. Pretty neat.

Image
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Ron Mc
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Re: Airport Flats (Copano) - Apr 25th, 2020

Post by Ron Mc »

thanks for your always detailed report, and sharing nice photos
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TexasJim
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Re: Airport Flats (Copano) - Apr 25th, 2020

Post by TexasJim »

Hey, Josh: I fished there right before they closed all parks, beaches , kayak launches. I fished with my sail line and a dozen live mullet. I set it out at noon, checked it at 1 PM, 2PM, 3 PM, with not even one bait touched. At 3:45, I called it off, and when I reeled in, the very last leader had a 21" flounder on it! Amazing. I was fishing just north of your trajectory, and about 200 yards offshore. First time I have gone with 12 mullet and never even lost one bait to hardheads or junior reds. Oh, well.

I didn't know that we could legally launch kayaks yet. I called just after the lockdown and they told me no kayak launching was legal in Aransas County. A neighbor said he talked to two kayakers at Copano Bridge South, and they had been ticketed because their D.L. residence showed San Antonio! Maybe "local" residents get a pass? He said there lots of kayak fishermen in St. Charles Bay, Saturday. Guess I'll have to call again.

Glad to see your cabin is being used again, after the rebuild. TexasJim
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Neumie
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Re: Airport Flats (Copano) - Apr 25th, 2020

Post by Neumie »

TexasJim wrote:I didn't know that we could legally launch kayaks yet. I called just after the lockdown and they told me no kayak launching was legal in Aransas County. A neighbor said he talked to two kayakers at Copano Bridge South, and they had been ticketed because their D.L. residence showed San Antonio! Maybe "local" residents get a pass? He said there lots of kayak fishermen in St. Charles Bay, Saturday. Guess I'll have to call again.

Glad to see your cabin is being used again, after the rebuild. TexasJim
I had emailed Aransas Pathways before coming down to see if launching a kayak was allowed at Aransas Pathway locations and was told it was ok as long as you were practicing social distancing. I know boat ramps and parks are closed until the end of the moth, so I just wanted confirmation. Howard Murp Memorial Park was closed even though it's an Aransas Pathways location.

That's some BS about the tickets. There's nothing in the Aransas County stay at home order which stops out of town residence from fishing. Not to mention it goes against the governor's EO. Maybe they physically used the boat ramp and went around the barriers? That's the only way I can think of them getting a ticket.
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YakRunabout
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Re: Airport Flats (Copano) - Apr 25th, 2020

Post by YakRunabout »

Congrats on getting out amid all the confusion and thanks for the report. Too bad the fish seem to be taking a break as well!!
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