Texas · Upper Laguna / Baffin

Speckled trout should be the day — sight the grass and serpulid — do not fish Baffin like Rockport.

Hypersaline, clear, seagrass and serpulid rock. Trophy trout water. Land Cut, Nine Mile Hole, Badlands. Not Rockport — do not fish it like Rockport.

⚠ This brief is for 2025-01-12, not this morning. Wind is a forecast. Observed water versus the table is a today-only instrument.

Tide · modeled — NOAA 8776604 quiet
NDBC BABT2 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

low confidence

Forecast brief for Sunday, January 12. Back to this morning

Morning line

Baffin 8.3 on Sunday, January 12. 6 mph SSW. Clear. YOLO day is Monday, August 31. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.

Mail it

incoming · -0.09 ft · drag or hover for the clockModeled M2 clock — no NOAA gauge on this water. Not a buoy.

Wind

OPEN-METEO

From SSW · gust 8

Buoy

NDBC BABT2

Quiet

Baffin Bay 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

29.96 inHg

1015 mb · no 3-hour change yet

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

Moon

96% lit

Waxing gibbous

spring range · 96%

Water

No gauge

Water

—

Today’s range 0.3 ft

incoming

-0.09 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 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 8776604

LowSun 6:00 AM · -0.14
HighSun 1:00 PM · 0.13
LowSun 7:00 PM · -0.13
HighMon 1:00 AM · 0.13
LowMon 7:00 AM · -0.12

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

Monthly YOLO day

Monday, August 31

Best remaining dry day this month with a real wind forecast. waning gibbous · mid · tide range ~0.3 ft · wind to 20 mph · 3% chance of rain

8.1

Stay or drive · Baffin vs LLM Open the calendar Morning dispatch

Next two weeks

Look at the water, not the table

Full calendar

Thu

Δ0.2ft

Fri

Δ0.2ft

Next two weeks

Pulling the 14-day strip…

Where

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

Nine Mile Hole
grass flat · field manual · skinny
8.4
Named water. Sight if the wind lays down. Do not treat it like a Rockport drain.
- — grass flat on an incoming tide is a classic match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
skiffflyspin
TX - Bird Island Basin (PINS)
grass flat · saved map · mid
8.4
Camp ON the Upper Laguna flats. Kayak launch on site. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — grass flat on an incoming tide is a classic match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
Nine Mile Hole / upper Laguna back country
grass flat · saved map · skinny
8.4
Remote ULM sight-casting. Shallow, skinny, low pressure. APPROX. · 4 - FLATS ZONES - NO WADE REQUIRED (green) · Texas coast — corridors, jetties, flats
- — grass flat on an incoming tide is a classic match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
TX - Mustang Island SP
pass jetty · saved map · mid
8.1
Reservable beach sites; Fish Pass jetty 1 mi up-beach; bayside kayak trail. · camp-surf · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — pass jetty on an incoming tide is a classic match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
structurespinwade
TX - PINS South Beach miles 0-5
pass jetty · saved map · mid
8.1
Free primitive w/ park pass. 2WD-friendly first 5 miles. · camp-surf · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — pass jetty on an incoming tide is a classic match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
structurespinwade
TX - Yarborough Pass (PINS mile 15.5)
pass jetty · saved map · mid
8.1
4WD primitive camp + cross-island Laguna access. Graduate trip. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — pass jetty on an incoming tide is a classic match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
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.

Incoming water
10.0
Sun 8:00 AM → Sun 2:00 PM
Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.
Last light · outgoing
10.0
Sun 2:00 PM → Sun 8:00 PM
Last light on outgoing water.
Last light · incoming
8.1
Sun 9:00 PM → Mon 2:00 AM
Last light on incoming water.
First light · outgoing
8.1
Mon 3:00 AM → Mon 8:00 AM
First light on outgoing water.
Incoming water
10.0
Mon 9:00 AM → Mon 2:00 PM
Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.

Same fish

Nets

Dock

Same fish · Upper Laguna Madre · Speckled trout

9.7/ set

In the nets. 87% of sets had one.

4.5/ trip

Across the dock · 17.6 in. 60% of speckled trout-seeking parties had one.

Different units. The nets count what is in the water. The dock counts the fish they named, on the clipboard — not expanded landings.

Late file: 12.6/set · 2.5/trip. Flip the years to put that file in the tables.

Long record · Upper Laguna Madre · gill nets

158,886 fish in 1,709 overnight sets

Spring nets (April–June) 1982–2019. Random shoreline grids in this bay system — not a mark on your map. Baffin / Land Cut. Clear water. Not Corpus.

In the nets	Per set	Counted	Sets
Black drum	47.4	81,061	95%
Speckled trout	9.7	16,538	87%
Redfish	7.8	13,252	92%
Sheepshead	1.0	1,707	37%
Southern flounder	0.4	680	23%

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 · Upper Laguna Madre · dock counts

19,772 fish on 5,345 interviews

Low-use dock (Nov 21–May 14) 1991–2023. Public ramps and wet slips in this bay system — the bay they launched from, not a honey hole. Baffin / Land Cut. Clear water. Not Corpus.

Across the dock	Per trip	Counted	With fish
Speckled trout	4.5	18,154	60%
Redfish	1.1	1,412	35%
Red snappergulf	6.9	206	97%

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

Sabine Lake Galveston Bay Matagorda Bay Aransas Bay Corpus Christi BayUpper Laguna MadreLower Laguna Madre

Launch and beach access

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

Packery Channel County Park
Nueces County / TPWD-listed launch
Ramp both sides of the cut. Wade the bars on a moving tide.
Official source
Malaquite Visitor Center — PINS
NPS Padre Island National Seashore
South Beach driving is 4WD, NPS permit, tires aired down. Closed sections shift after storms. Confirm nps.gov/pais before you drop a tire.
Official source
PINS North Beach
NPS Padre Island National Seashore
North Beach is the easier drive. Still NPS rules, not a county 2WD corridor.
Official source
Padre Balli Park / Bob Hall Pier
Nueces County / GLO beach access
Packery neighborhood. Pier, beach, county park. Confirm pier status after storms.
Official source
Kaufer-Hubert Memorial Park / Loyola Beach
Kleberg County / TPWD-listed launch
The Baffin door from land. Ramp on the Laguna. King's Inn is the fried-shrimp shrine, not a waypoint.
Official source
Bird Island Basin — PINS
NPS Padre Island National Seashore
Laguna-side campground and ramp. NPS fee. Windsurf and kayak water. Not the Gulf beach drive.
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 incoming (modeled — NOAA 8776604 Baffin Bay did not answer).
— Clear. Sky is workable.
— Wind 6 mph SSW. Castable. Sight-fishing is on if the sun is out.
— Waxing gibbous moon — spring tide range. Sight water often prefers a moderate range and clean water over a huge 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

6.6

Thermal window

—

Present, not peak. This tide stage (incoming) 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

6.6

Thermal window

—

Present, not peak. This tide stage (incoming) 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.

Jack crevalle

Caranx hippos

4.8

Thermal window

—

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

Generally unregulated. Still, do not leave a pile.

Regs citedTPWD Outdoor Annual · Sep 1, 2025–Aug 31, 2026 · rolls in 5 days. Texas bag and season roll every September 1. The stamp is the book we cited, not a license.