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Texas · Upper Laguna / Baffin

Speckled trout are the hunt — Nine Mile and the Badlands guts, not a wade across the flat.

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 2027-01-21, not this morning. Wind is a forecast. Observed water versus the table is a today-only instrument.
7.4OF 10

Forecast

low confidence

Forecast brief for Thursday, January 21. Back to this morning

Morning line

Baffin 7.4 on Thursday, January 21. 16 mph ESE. Clear. YOLO day is Tuesday, August 25. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.

Mail it
-0.3-0.1-0.00.10.3LHLHLHLHThu 6 AMFri 6 AMSat 6 AMSun 6 AM
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

NESW16MPH

From ESE · gust 18

Sky

OPEN-METEO

Clear

Clear

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

Moon

98% lit

Waxing gibbous

spring range · 98%

Water

No gauge

Water

—

48°92°

Today’s range 0.2 ft

low slack

-0.11 ft modeled

Wind vs table

No live gauge

—

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

Clock

NOAA 8776604

  • LowThu 7:00 AM · -0.13
  • HighThu 1:00 PM · 0.12
  • LowThu 8:00 PM · -0.11
  • HighFri 2:00 AM · 0.11
  • LowFri 8:00 AM · -0.11

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 LLMOpen the calendarMorning dispatch

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

    7.3

    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

  • Baffin Bay rocks

    serpulid reef · field manual · mid

    7.2

    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

  • TX - Mustang Island SP bayside launch

    serpulid reef · saved map · skinny

    7.2

    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

  • TX - Kaufer-Hubert Park (Baffin doorway)

    serpulid reef · saved map · mid

    7.2

    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

  • Baffin Bay - TROPHY TROUT, MIND THE ROCKS

    serpulid reef · saved map · mid

    7.2

    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

  • TX - PINS Bird Island Basin

    sand dropoff · saved map · mid

    6.9

    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. 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

    9.5

    Thu 9:00 AM → Thu 2:00 PM

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

  • Outgoing water

    9.5

    Thu 3:00 PM → Thu 8:00 PM

    Moving water in the right part of the day.

  • Incoming water

    7.5

    Thu 10:00 PM → Fri 3:00 AM

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

  • Outgoing water

    7.5

    Fri 4:00 AM → Fri 9:00 AM

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

  • Incoming water

    9.5

    Fri 10:00 AM → Fri 3:00 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 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 low slack (modeled — NOAA 8776604 Baffin Bay did not answer).
  • — Clear. Sky is workable.
  • — Wind 16 mph ESE. Work the leeward shore. Fly gets harder.
  • — Waxing gibbous moon — spring tide range. Sight water often prefers a moderate range and clean water over a huge spring.

Redfish

Sciaenops ocellatus

5.5

Thermal window

—

48°92°

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.

Speckled trout

Cynoscion nebulosus

5.5

Thermal window

—

44°90°

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

3.7

Thermal window

—

64°94°

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.