Texas · Upper Laguna / Baffin

Speckled trout should be the day — slide to Land Cut and the holes; trophy trout leave the skinny.

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 2026-07-29, 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 Wednesday, July 29. Back to this morning

Morning line

Baffin 7.9 on Wednesday, July 29. 17 mph ESE. Clear. YOLO day is Tuesday, August 25. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.

Mail it

outgoing · -0.08 ft · drag or hover for the clockModeled M2 clock — no NOAA gauge on this water. Not a buoy.

Wind

OPEN-METEO

From ESE · gust 19

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.

Moon

100% lit

Full

spring range · 100%

Water

No gauge

Water

—

Today’s range 0.2 ft

outgoing

-0.08 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

HighWed 3:00 AM · 0.11
LowWed 9:00 AM · -0.10
HighWed 4:00 PM · 0.10
LowWed 10:00 PM · -0.10
HighThu 4:00 AM · 0.10

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

Monthly YOLO day

Tuesday, August 25 · 8.1

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

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

Next two weeks

Look at the water, not the table

Full calendar

Tue

Δ0.3ft

YOLO

Wed

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.

Land Cut
channel gut · public structure · deep
8.4
Deep cut through the Laguna. Winter and heat refuge. Current seams.
- — channel gut on a outgoing tide is a classic match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
skiffspinfly
TX - Mustang Island SP
pass jetty · saved map · mid
8.4
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: Speckled trout, Redfish.
structurespinwade
TX - PINS South Beach miles 0-5
pass jetty · saved map · mid
8.4
Free primitive w/ park pass. 2WD-friendly first 5 miles. · camp-surf · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — pass jetty on a outgoing tide is a classic match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
structurespinwade
TX - Yarborough Pass (PINS mile 15.5)
pass jetty · saved map · mid
8.4
4WD primitive camp + cross-island Laguna access. Graduate trip. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — pass jetty on a outgoing tide is a classic match.
- — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
Mustang Island beach - SP to Packery
pass jetty · saved map · mid
8.4
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: Speckled trout, Redfish.
structurespinwade
PINS South Beach - miles 0-5 (2WD hard pack)
pass jetty · saved map · mid
8.4
Free primitive with park pass. First 5 miles are 2WD-friendly. The starter overnight. NO DRONES (NPS ban). · 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: 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.

Outgoing water
8.6
Wed 8:00 AM → Wed 10:00 AM
Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.
Incoming water
7.2
Wed 12:00 PM → Wed 5:00 PM
Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.
Last light · outgoing
9.5
Wed 6:00 PM → Wed 11:00 PM
Last light on outgoing water.
First light · incoming
9.5
Thu 12:00 AM → Thu 5:00 AM
First light on incoming water.
First light · outgoing
9.5
Thu 7:00 AM → Thu 12:00 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.

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 outgoing (modeled — NOAA 8776604 Baffin Bay did not answer).
— Clear. Sky is workable.
— Wind 17 mph ESE. Work the leeward shore. Fly gets harder.
— 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.

Redfish

Sciaenops ocellatus

6.6

Thermal window

—

Present, not peak. 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

6.6

Thermal window

—

Present, not peak. 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.

Jack crevalle

Caranx hippos

5.8

Thermal window

—

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