Texas · Aransas / Copano / Redfish

Redfish should be the day — pole the remaining water; slack here is short.

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

⚠ This brief is for 2027-11-05, not this morning. Wind is a forecast. Observed water versus the table is a today-only instrument.
⚠ Texas flounder season is closed Nov 1–Dec 14. Catch-and-release only if you hook one.

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, November 5. Back to this morning

Morning line

Rockport 8.3 on Friday, November 5. 7 mph SE. Clear. YOLO day is Wednesday, August 26. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.

Mail it

high slack · 0.69 ft · drag or hover for the clockNOAA tide gauge 8774770 · Rockport · ft MLLW · not a weather buoy

Wind

OPEN-METEO

From SE · gust 7

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

30.00 inHg

1016 mb · no 3-hour change yet

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

Moon

38% lit

Waxing crescent

neap range · 38%

Water

No gauge

Water

—

Today’s range 0.3 ft

high slack

0.69 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 7:12 AM · 0.70
LowFri 7:08 PM · 0.37
HighSat 7:41 AM · 0.66
LowSat 7:44 PM · 0.39
HighSun 6:51 AM · 0.62

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 12 mph · 4% 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

Next two weeks

Pulling the 14-day strip…

Where

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

Copano Bay reefs
oyster reef · public structure · mid
8.1
NOAA 8774513 nearby. Winter trout and mixed drum. Shell that still has water on a blowout.
- — oyster reef on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish, Black drum.
skiffwadeflyspin
TX - Army Hole, Matagorda Island WMA
grass flat · saved map · mid
8.1
Boat-in designated campsite; TPWD LPU permit. Expedition base. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — grass flat on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
TX - Pringle Lake (boat-in via POC)
grass flat · saved map · skinny
8.1
Storied clear sight-casting backlake. The one guide-trip splurge. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — grass flat on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
TX - Goose Island State Park
grass flat · saved map · mid
8.1
Camp base; kayak St. Charles/Copano. Winter reds + whoopers. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — grass flat on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
TX - Mustang Island SP bayside launch
serpulid reef · saved map · skinny
8.1
Shamrock Cove reds year-round. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — serpulid reef on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
Pringle Lake / Matagorda Island backlakes
grass flat · saved map · skinny
8.1
Storied clear-water sight-casting backlake. Gin-clear, grass bottom, reds pushing wakes. Boat/towed-kayak via Port O'Connor. THE one guide-trip splurge. · 4 - FLATS ZONES - NO WADE REQUIRED (green) · Texas coast — corridors, jetties, flats
- — grass flat on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin

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 1:00 PM → Fri 7:00 PM
Last light on outgoing water.
Last light · incoming
8.7
Fri 10:00 PM → Sat 2:00 AM
Last light on incoming water.
Last light · outgoing
9.7
Sat 3:00 PM → Sat 8:00 PM
Last light on outgoing water.
Last light · incoming
8.7
Sat 11:00 PM → Tue 1:00 AM
Last light on incoming water.

Long record · Aransas Bay · gill nets

136,974 fish in 1,710 overnight sets

Fall nets are in (September–November) 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	16.2	27,756	94%
Redfish	13.8	23,623	96%
Speckled trout	5.1	8,767	87%
Sheepshead	2.0	3,475	47%
Southern flounder	0.8	1,367	43%

Late file (2015–2019): Black drum 12.6/set · Redfish 11.2/set · Speckled trout 4.5/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 ends Nov 20. 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 high slack from NOAA 8774770 Rockport.
— Clear. Sky is workable.
— Wind 7 mph SE. Castable. Sight-fishing is on if the sun is out.
— Waxing crescent moon — neap 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

6.6

Thermal window

—

Present, not peak. This tide stage (high slack) matches how they hunt.

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

Jack crevalle

Caranx hippos

3.7

Thermal window

—

Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. Off-season here.

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.