Yesterday morning I ran into one of the guides at the ramp. This guy is well respected. I asked him how the fishing was. He said it has been off. I agree. Things are slow.
Whats up? Rain. It has been a wet summer so far, and more rain is on the way. Damn. Large doses of rain negatively impact the fishing in two ways. Rain lowers the salinity, and raises the turbidity. The former can force fish to drop back down toward the Gulf, especially when rain arrives in large sudden downpours. And turbidity makes fly fishing harder. The fish are harder to see. And the fish have a harder time seeing the fly.
There is also a third consequence of hard rain, although frankly I do not know how much it affects the fishing. Pollution! Rain brings agricultural runoff. As well as pollution from other point and nonpoint sources. For example, recently some beaches have been temporarily closed because of high fecal counts. Not a good thing.