Redfish
Sciaenops ocellatus
Thermal window
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Present, not peak.
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.
Texas · Upper Laguna / Baffin
Speckled trout are the hunt — Nine Mile and the Badlands guts, not a wade across the flat. The wind is the tide. Work the leeward shore.
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 2026-02-01, 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
- Water temp quiet
Forecast
low confidence
Forecast brief for Sunday, February 1. Back to this morning
Morning line
Baffin 7.4 on Sunday, February 1. 18 mph ESE. Clear. YOLO day is Tuesday, August 25. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.
low slack · -0.11 ft · drag or hover for the clockModeled M2 clock — no NOAA gauge on this water. Not a buoy.
Wind
OPEN-METEO
From ESE · gust 22
Buoy
NDBC BABT2
Quiet
Baffin Bay did not report. Witness only — not the tide clock.
Sky
OPEN-METEO
Clear
Clear
A 20% shower chance is not a cancel. A soaker is.
Moon
99% lit
Full
spring range · 99%
Water
No gauge
Water
—
Today’s range 0.2 ft
low slack
-0.11 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 8776604
- LowSun 7:00 AM · -0.12
- HighSun 2:00 PM · 0.11
- LowSun 8:00 PM · -0.11
- HighMon 2:00 AM · 0.10
- LowMon 9:00 AM · -0.10
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. waxing gibbous · mid · tide range ~0.3 ft · wind to 17 mph · 2% 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.
- 7.3
Land Cut
channel gut · public structure · deep
Deep cut through the Laguna. Winter and heat refuge. Current seams.
- — channel gut on a low slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
skiffspinfly - 7.2
Baffin Bay rocks
serpulid reef · field manual · mid
Serpulid rock — unique on this coast. Trophy trout water. King's Inn is the fried-shrimp shrine at Loyola Beach, not a waypoint.
- — serpulid reef on a low slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
skiffflyspin - 7.2
TX - Mustang Island SP bayside launch
serpulid reef · saved map · skinny
Shamrock Cove reds year-round. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — serpulid reef on a low slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin - 7.2
TX - Kaufer-Hubert Park (Baffin doorway)
serpulid reef · saved map · mid
County camping + ramp on Cayo del Grullo. Trophy trout; mind the rocks. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — serpulid reef on a low slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin - 7.2
Baffin Bay - TROPHY TROUT, MIND THE ROCKS
serpulid reef · saved map · mid
Trophy trout capital of Texas. Hypersaline, serpulid ROCK FORMATIONS WILL EAT A LOWER UNIT - drift it or run with someone who knows them. Kaufer-Hubert Park = county camping + ramp on Cayo del Grullo. · 4 - FLATS ZONES - NO WADE REQUIRED (green) · Texas coast — corridors, jetties, flats
- — serpulid reef on a low slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin - 6.9
TX - PINS Bird Island Basin
sand dropoff · saved map · mid
Laguna-side campground: camp ON the flats, kayak at tent flap. · camp-surf · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — sand dropoff on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
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.
Incoming water
9.5Sun 9:00 AM → Sun 3:00 PM
Moving water in the right part of the day.
Last light · outgoing
9.2Sun 4:00 PM → Sun 9:00 PM
Last light on outgoing water.
Last light · incoming
8.1Sun 10:00 PM → Mon 3:00 AM
Last light on incoming water.
First light · outgoing
9.5Mon 5:00 AM → Mon 9:00 AM
First light on outgoing water.
Incoming water
8.1Mon 11:00 AM → Mon 4:00 PM
Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.
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 sourceMalaquite 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 sourcePINS North Beach
NPS Padre Island National Seashore
North Beach is the easier drive. Still NPS rules, not a county 2WD corridor.
Official sourcePadre Balli Park / Bob Hall Pier
Nueces County / GLO beach access
Packery neighborhood. Pier, beach, county park. Confirm pier status after storms.
Official sourceKaufer-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 sourceBird 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 low slack (modeled — NOAA 8776604 Baffin Bay did not answer).
- — Clear. Sky is workable.
- — Wind 18 mph ESE. This is a spin / structure / stay-home call.
- — Full 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.
5.5
Speckled trout
Cynoscion nebulosus
Thermal window
—
Present, not peak.
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
Thermal window
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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 7 days. Texas bag and season roll every September 1. The stamp is the book we cited, not a license.