Texas · Aransas / Copano / Redfish

Redfish should be the day — get off the skinny and sit the reefs.

Grass-and-oyster working water. Lydia Ann, Copano reefs, Redfish Bay. The mid-coast skiff and wade theater.

⚠ This brief is for 2025-05-09, not this morning. Wind is a forecast. Observed water versus the table is a today-only instrument.

Tide · NOAA 8774770
NDBC ANPT2 quiet
No salinity probe on this desk
No river gauge on this desk
Red-tide check failed — not all-clear
Sargassum check failed — not all-clear
Glass · modeled
Water temp quiet

Forecast

medium confidence

Forecast brief for Friday, May 9. Back to this morning

Morning line

Rockport 8.0 on Friday, May 9. 12 mph SE. Clear. YOLO day is Wednesday, August 26. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.

Mail it

low slack · 0.42 ft · drag or hover for the clockNOAA tide gauge 8774770 · Rockport · ft MLLW · not a weather buoy

Wind

OPEN-METEO

From SE · gust 15

Buoy

NDBC ANPT2

Quiet

Aransas Pass did not report. Witness only — not the tide clock.

Sky

OPEN-METEO

Clear

A 20% shower chance is not a cancel. A soaker is.

Glass

Open-Meteo modeled

29.94 inHg

1014 mb · no 3-hour change yet

Modeled mean sea level. Not a dock barometer. The glass is not a bite.

Moon

90% lit

Waxing gibbous

mid range · 90%

Water

No gauge

Water

—

Today’s range 0.3 ft

low slack

0.42 ft MLLW

Coast

No live coast layer

Red-tide check failed. That is not all-clear — open the agency page before you wade.

Sargassum check failed. Not a GPS pin. Not all-clear.

Salinity / color
No USGS 00480 well on this desk. Do not borrow another bay’s river.

River

No gauge

No USGS discharge gauge on this desk. Wind and the table still tell the color story.

Wind vs table

Observed − predicted

—

No live gauge this hour — the printed tide is the forecast.

Clock

NOAA 8774770

HighFri 2:28 PM · 0.46
LowSat 12:17 AM · 0.20
HighSat 2:13 PM · 0.50
LowSun 12:50 AM · 0.17
HighSun 2:10 PM · 0.53

Monthly YOLO day

Wednesday, August 26

Best remaining dry day this month with a real wind forecast — and it is a copper day. waxing gibbous · spring · tide range ~0.4 ft · wind to 10 mph · 2% chance of rain

8.9

Stay or drive · Rockport vs Corpus Open the calendar Morning dispatch

Next two weeks

Look at the water, not the table

Full calendar

Wed

Δ0.3ft

YOLO

Thu

Δ0.3ft

Fri

Δ0.2ft

t-storm

Sat

Δ0.1ft

t-storm

Sun

Δ0.1ft

Mon

Δ0.2ft

Tue

Δ0.3ft

Wed

Δ0.4ft

Thu

Δ0.4ft

Fri

Δ0.5ft

Sat

Δ0.5ft

Sun

Δ0.5ft

Mon

Δ0.4ft

Tue

Δ0.8ft

Next two weeks

Pulling the 14-day strip…

Where

This pip is that mark on this tide — not the day on the ring.

Lydia Ann Channel
channel gut · field manual · mid
7.3
Working water. Edges and bars. Grass-and-oyster, not Laguna clarity.
- — channel gut on a low slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout.
skiffflyspin
TX - Mustang Island SP bayside launch
serpulid reef · saved map · skinny
7.2
Shamrock Cove reds year-round. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — serpulid reef on a low slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
Copano Bay reefs
oyster reef · public structure · mid
7.1
NOAA 8774513 nearby. Winter trout and mixed drum. Shell that still has water on a blowout.
- — oyster reef on a low slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
skiffwadeflyspin
Mustang Island bayside / Shamrock Cove
sand dropoff · saved map · mid
6.9
Reds year-round. Camp beach side, fish bay side - the same-park combo. · 4 - FLATS ZONES - NO WADE REQUIRED (green) · Texas coast — corridors, jetties, flats
- — sand dropoff on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
TX - Mustang Island SP
pass jetty · saved map · mid
6.8
Reservable beach sites; Fish Pass jetty 1 mi up-beach; bayside kayak trail. · camp-surf · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — pass jetty on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout.
structurespinwade
TX - Port Aransas IB Magee Beach Park
pass jetty · saved map · mid
6.8
County campground at the south jetty. Family venue. · camp-surf · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — pass jetty on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout.
structurespinwade

When

When is moving water in a good hour — not the day. First light and last light are named when the clock is the story. Today’s ring mixes the best mark, the lead fish, and the best window, then taxes the sky. A strong incoming can sit under a weak day if the wind or the fish is off. Calendar cells are a third recipe: range, moon, and the day’s forecast.

Last light · outgoing
9.7
Fri 6:00 PM → Sat 1:00 AM
Last light on outgoing water.
First light · incoming
8.7
Sat 3:00 AM → Sat 7:00 AM
First light on incoming water.
Last light · outgoing
9.7
Sat 5:00 PM → Sun 2:00 AM
Last light on outgoing water.
First light · incoming
10.0
Sun 3:00 AM → Sun 11:00 AM
First light on incoming water.
Last light · outgoing
9.7
Sun 5:00 PM → Mon 2:00 AM
Last light on outgoing water.

Long record · Aransas Bay · gill nets

138,386 fish in 1,710 overnight sets

Spring nets are in (April–June) 1982–2019. Random shoreline grids in this bay system — not a mark on your map. Copano and Redfish sit in this system. San Antonio Bay is the next grid west.

In the nets	Per set	Counted	Sets
Black drum	14.4	24,572	90%
Redfish	11.8	20,102	93%
Speckled trout	9.5	16,279	92%
Sheepshead	1.2	2,020	37%
Southern flounder	0.4	692	27%

Late file (2015–2019): Black drum 12.3/set · Redfish 9.8/set · Speckled trout 9.5/set. Same gear, last years in the public compilation.

TPWD still sets spring (Apr–Jun) and fall (Sep–Nov). This public file ends in 2019. It does not update with the tide.

BCO-DMO 1982–2019 Ask TPWD for years after 2019

Long record · Aransas Bay · dock counts

109,984 fish on 22,897 interviews

High-use starts May 15. Showing the high-use record. 1991–2023. Public ramps and wet slips in this bay system — the bay they launched from, not a honey hole. Copano and Redfish sit in this system. San Antonio Bay is the next grid west.

Across the dock	Per trip	Counted	With fish
Speckled trout	7.8	84,736	71%
Redfish	1.9	21,716	47%
Red snappergulf	6.7	3,532	79%

Late file (2019–2023): Speckled trout 3.9/trip · Redfish 1.5/trip · Red snapper 5.5/trip. Same ramps, last years in the public extract.

TPWD still interviews year-round, 10:00–18:00, about 1,000 survey-days and 14,000 interviews a year. This public extract is targeting trips, 1991–2023. It does not update with the tide.

PLOS One 1991–2023 How the creel works Ask TPWD for expanded landings

Launch and beach access

Cited to TPWD, Texas GLO beach-access plans, and NPS. 2WD/4WD is the county plan, not a guess.

Goose Island State Park
TPWD state park
Ramp, pier, wade shore. Copano / St. Charles.
Official source
Packery Channel County Park
Nueces County / TPWD-listed launch
Ramp both sides of the cut. Wade the bars on a moving tide.
Official source
Fulton Harbor
Aransas County / TPWD-listed launch
Copano and Aransas. Goose Island is the other public door.
Official source
Rockport Beach
City of Rockport / GLO beach access
Bay beach, pier, and park. Not a Gulf drive-on corridor.
Official source
Indian Point Park
San Patricio County / TPWD-listed launch
Corpus / Nueces. Pier and ramp. Winter drum water from the bank.
Official source
Port Aransas Beach Access 1A
City of Port Aransas / Texas GLO beach access
Typical 2WD when packed. City + GLO plan. Jetties are a short walk north.
Official source

Legal water

No-take and closed water cited to the agency that owns it. Only the Keys box is FKNMS.

No FKNMS polygon in this box. Mainland Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico, and the Bahamas are not Keys sanctuary closures.

Why — and who

— Tide is low slack from NOAA 8774770 Rockport.
— Clear. Sky is workable.
— Wind 12 mph SE. Castable. Sight-fishing is on if the sun is out.
— Waxing gibbous moon — mid tide range. Marsh and passes usually want the extra current of a spring.
— No USGS 00480 well on this desk. Do not read another bay’s river as this water.
— No USGS discharge gauge on this desk. Wind and the tide table still tell the color story.

Redfish

Sciaenops ocellatus

7.3

Thermal window

—

In peak season for this water.

Texas (Sep 1 2025–Aug 31 2026): 3/day, 20–28 in slot. One over 28 in per license year with a Red Drum Tag.

Speckled trout

Cynoscion nebulosus

7.3

Thermal window

—

In peak season for this water.

Texas: 3/day, 15–20 in slot. One over 28 in per license year with a Spotted Seatrout Tag (plus bonus). Soft mouth + slot = measure every fish.

Black drum

Pogonias cromis

3.7

Thermal window

—

Off-season here.

Texas: 5/day, 14–30 in. One over 52 in allowed as part of the bag.

Jack crevalle

Caranx hippos

5.8

Thermal window

—

Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. In peak season for this water.

Generally unregulated. Still, do not leave a pile.

Regs citedTPWD Outdoor Annual · Sep 1, 2025–Aug 31, 2026 · rolls in 6 days. Texas bag and season roll every September 1. The stamp is the book we cited, not a license.