On This Water

Texas · Aransas / Copano / Redfish

Redfish should be the day — drain Lydia Ann and the oyster edges, not a Galveston jetty program.

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

  • This brief is for 2027-03-23. No wind forecast that far out — score is tide, moon, and season. Not a copper day.
  • Tide · modeled — NOAA 8774770 quiet
  • 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
  • Water temp quiet
8.9OF 10

Tide + moon

low confidence

Forecast brief for Tuesday, March 23. Back to this morning

Morning line

Rockport 8.9 on Tuesday, March 23 — tide, moon, and season only. No wind forecast that far out. YOLO day is Tuesday, August 25. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.

Mail it
-0.5-0.20.00.30.5HLHLHLHLTue 7 AMWed 7 AMThu 7 AMFri 7 AM
outgoing · -0.07 ft · drag or hover for the clockModeled M2 clock — no NOAA gauge on this water. Not a buoy.

Wind

NWS

NESWMPH

No wind reading

Buoy

NDBC ANPT2

Quiet

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

Sky

NWS

Sky not in

Sky not in

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

Moon

99% lit

Full

spring range · 99%

Water

No gauge

Water

48°92°

Today’s range 0.4 ft

outgoing

-0.07 ft modeled

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 gauge

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

Wind vs table

No live gauge

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

Clock

NOAA 8774770

  • HighTue 4:00 AM · 0.21
  • LowTue 10:00 AM · -0.20
  • HighTue 5:00 PM · 0.21
  • LowTue 11:00 PM · -0.22
  • HighWed 5:00 AM · 0.22

Bahamas tides are modeled from lunar M2. Use them for windows, not a bar crossing.

Monthly YOLO day

Tuesday, August 25

Best remaining dry day this month with a real wind forecast — and it is a copper day. waxing gibbous · mid · tide range ~0.6 ft · wind to 12 mph · 1% chance of rain

Next two weeks

Pulling the 14-day strip…

Where

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

  • TX - Mustang Island SP

    pass jetty · saved map · mid

    9.0

    Reservable beach sites; Fish Pass jetty 1 mi up-beach; bayside kayak trail. · camp-surf · GULF ATLAS! - FISH

    • pass jetty on a outgoing tide is a classic match.
    • In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
    structurespinwade
  • TX - Port Aransas IB Magee Beach Park

    pass jetty · saved map · mid

    9.0

    County campground at the south jetty. Family venue. · camp-surf · GULF ATLAS! - FISH

    • pass jetty on a outgoing tide is a classic match.
    • In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
    structurespinwade
  • TX - Lighthouse Lakes Trail (SH 361)

    mangrove edge · saved map · skinny

    9.0

    THE Texas kayak flats: mangrove lakes over Redfish Bay grass. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH

    • mangrove edge on a outgoing tide is a classic match.
    • In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
    skiffkayakwadeflyspin
  • Mustang Island beach - SP to Packery

    pass jetty · saved map · mid

    9.0

    Reservable SP beach sites; Fish Pass jetty remnants ~1 mi up-beach; bayside kayak trail behind. The training beach. · 1 - BEACH CORRIDORS (yellow=2WD, orange=4WD, red=Big Shell) · Texas coast — corridors, jetties, flats

    • pass jetty on a outgoing tide is a classic match.
    • In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
    structurespinwade
  • Packery Channel jetties (N)

    pass jetty · saved map · mid

    9.0

    TIER 2 and the best structure-to-effort ratio on the coast. Reopened 2006, 20 min from Corpus. START HERE for jetty work. · 2 - JETTY STRUCTURES (white) · Texas coast — corridors, jetties, flats

    • pass jetty on a outgoing tide is a classic match.
    • In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
    structureskiffspinfly
  • Packery Channel jetties (S)

    pass jetty · saved map · mid

    9.0

    South side of the same cut. · 2 - JETTY STRUCTURES (white) · Texas coast — corridors, jetties, flats

    • pass jetty on a outgoing tide is a classic match.
    • In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
    structureskiffspinfly

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.

  • Outgoing water

    9.4

    Tue 8:00 AMTue 12:00 PM

    Moving water in the right part of the day.

  • Incoming water

    9.1

    Tue 12:00 PMTue 6:00 PM

    Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.

  • Last light · outgoing

    9.1

    Tue 6:00 PMWed 1:00 AM

    Last light on outgoing water.

  • First light · incoming

    8.0

    Wed 1:00 AMWed 7:00 AM

    First light on incoming water.

  • First light · outgoing

    9.4

    Wed 7:00 AMWed 1:00 PM

    First light on outgoing water.

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 outgoing (modeled — NOAA 8774770 Rockport did not answer).
  • Full moon — spring 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

8.4

Thermal window

48°92°

In peak season for this water. This tide stage (outgoing) matches how they hunt.

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

8.4

Thermal window

44°90°

In peak season for this water. This tide stage (outgoing) matches how they hunt.

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

8.4

Thermal window

46°88°

In peak season for this water. This tide stage (outgoing) matches how they hunt.

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

Jack crevalle

Caranx hippos

4.8

Thermal window

64°94°

Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. Off-season here. This tide stage (outgoing) matches how they hunt.

Generally unregulated. Still, do not leave a pile.

Regs citedTPWD Outdoor Annual · Sep 1, 2025–Aug 31, 2026 · rolls in 7 days. Texas bag and season roll every September 1. The stamp is the book we cited, not a license.