On This Water

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 2026-10-21. No wind forecast that far out — score is tide, moon, and season. Not a copper day.
8.7OF 10

Tide + moon

low confidence

Forecast brief for Wednesday, October 21. Back to this morning

Morning line

Baffin 8.7 on Wednesday, October 21 — tide, moon, and season only. No wind forecast that far out. YOLO day is Monday, August 31. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.

Mail it
-0.4-0.2-0.00.20.3LHLHLHLHWed 7 AMThu 7 AMFri 7 AMSat 7 AM
incoming · -0.04 ft · drag or hover for the clockModeled M2 clock — no NOAA gauge on this water. Not a buoy.

Wind

NWS

NESWMPH

No wind reading

Sky

NWS

Sky not in

Sky not in

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

Moon

78% lit

Waxing gibbous

mid range · 78%

Water

No gauge

Water

48°92°

Today’s range 0.4 ft

incoming

-0.04 ft modeled

Wind vs table

No live gauge

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

Clock

NOAA 8776604

  • LowWed 5:00 AM · -0.20
  • HighWed 11:00 AM · 0.20
  • LowWed 6:00 PM · -0.19
  • HighThu 12:00 AM · 0.19
  • LowThu 6:00 AM · -0.19

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

Monthly YOLO day

Monday, August 31 · 8.1

Best remaining dry day this month with a real wind forecast. waning gibbous · mid · tide range ~0.3 ft · wind to 16 mph · 8% 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.

  • 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 a 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 a 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 a 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 a 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 a 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 a incoming tide is a classic match.
    • In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish.
    skiffkayakwadeflyspin

When

When is moving water in a good hour — not the day. 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

    9.4

    Wed 8:00 AMWed 1:00 PM

    Moving water in the right part of the day.

  • Outgoing water

    9.1

    Wed 1:00 PMWed 7:00 PM

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

  • Incoming water

    9.1

    Wed 7:00 PMThu 1:00 AM

    Moving water in the right part of the day.

  • Outgoing water

    8.0

    Thu 1:00 AMThu 7:00 AM

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

  • Incoming water

    9.4

    Thu 8:00 AMThu 1:00 PM

    Moving water in the right part of the day.

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).
  • Waxing gibbous moon — mid tide range. Sight water often prefers a moderate range and clean water over a huge spring.

Redfish

Sciaenops ocellatus

8.4

Thermal window

48°92°

In peak season for this water. 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

8.4

Thermal window

44°90°

In peak season for this water. 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

5.8

Thermal window

64°94°

Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. Present, not peak. 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 7 days. Texas bag and season roll every September 1. The stamp is the book we cited, not a license.