Rockport is hot this week, and speckled trout are leading it. Reports across the Coastal Bend have trout stacked over grass flats and drop-offs, with the first couple of hours after sunrise producing the fastest action of the day.

Bay water is still running 87.3°F at the Rockport harbor gauge — full late-summer warm. Winds stay workable across the window: south to southeast 5 to 15 knots Tuesday, southeast 5 to 10 knots Wednesday with smooth bays, and east 5 to 15 knots Thursday as rain moves in. No small craft advisories are posted for Copano, Aransas or Redfish Bays, though showers are likely Thursday morning and thunderstorms are possible.

The best window of the week is Wednesday afternoon, 4:42 to 6:42 PM, where the lunar major lands on the calmest water in the forecast. Tuesday’s late-morning window, 10:48 AM to 12:18 PM, is the backup, riding falling water off the morning high under sunny skies.

Trout are the play over the grass in Aransas Bay and along the Redfish Bay drop-offs, on popping-cork shrimp and soft plastics. Redfish are working shallow sand pockets and mangrove edges in Redfish Bay and Copano Bay, taking cut mullet, live shrimp and topwater early. Flounder are showing around Rockport Harbor pilings and Aransas Pass structure.

Also active: black drum and sheepshead are holding on deeper shell, channel edges and pilings, taking shrimp fished on the bottom.

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