Texas · Corpus Christi Bay

Redfish are the hunt — wait for the next push through the jetties.

Packery, Shamrock, Nueces, Mustang backside. Pass water at Port Aransas. Bull reds on the jetties in fall.

⚠ This brief is for 2026-12-16, not this morning. Wind is a forecast. Observed water versus the table is a today-only instrument.

Tide · NOAA 8775792
NDBC ANPT2 quiet
No salinity probe on this desk
River · USGS 08211000
Red-tide check failed — not all-clear
Sargassum check failed — not all-clear
Water temp quiet

Forecast

medium confidence

Forecast brief for Wednesday, December 16. Back to this morning

Morning line

Corpus 7.1 on Wednesday, December 16. 15 mph ESE. Clear. YOLO day is Wednesday, August 26. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.

Mail it

high slack · 0.17 ft · drag or hover for the clockNOAA tide gauge 8775792 · Packery Channel · ft MLLW · not a weather buoy

Wind

OPEN-METEO

From ESE · gust 15

Buoy

NDBC ANPT2

Quiet

Aransas Pass 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

47% lit

First quarter

neap range · 47%

Water

No gauge

Water

—

Today’s range 0.3 ft

high slack

0.17 ft MLLW

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

USGS 08211000

64 cfs

Nueces Rv nr Mathis, TX

Discharge into this bay. High water stains the flat.

Wind vs table

Observed − predicted

—

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

Clock

NOAA 8775792

LowWed 5:30 PM · 0.01
HighThu 2:52 AM · 0.15
LowThu 1:14 PM · 0.03
HighFri 12:47 AM · 0.14
LowFri 10:37 AM · -0.03

Monthly YOLO day

Wednesday, August 26 · 7.8

Best remaining dry day this month with a real wind forecast. waxing gibbous · spring · tide range ~0.3 ft · wind to 18 mph · Clouds · 4%

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

Next two weeks

Look at the water, not the table

Full calendar

Tue

Δ0.4ft

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.

TX - Goose Island State Park
grass flat · saved map · mid
8.1
Camp base; kayak St. Charles/Copano. Winter reds + whoopers. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — grass flat on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
TX - Mustang Island SP bayside launch
serpulid reef · saved map · skinny
8.1
Shamrock Cove reds year-round. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — serpulid reef on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
TX - Bird Island Basin (PINS)
grass flat · saved map · mid
8.1
Camp ON the Upper Laguna flats. Kayak launch on site. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — grass flat on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
TX - Kaufer-Hubert Park (Baffin doorway)
serpulid reef · saved map · mid
8.1
County camping + ramp on Cayo del Grullo. Trophy trout; mind the rocks. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — serpulid reef on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
Nine Mile Hole / upper Laguna back country
grass flat · saved map · skinny
8.1
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 high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin
Baffin Bay - TROPHY TROUT, MIND THE ROCKS
serpulid reef · saved map · mid
8.1
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 high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum.
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.

First light · outgoing
7.5
Sat 4:00 AM → Sat 10:00 AM
First light on outgoing water.
Last light · incoming
9.5
Sat 2:00 PM → Sat 9:00 PM
Last light on incoming water.
First light · outgoing
8.6
Sun 3:00 AM → Sun 11:00 AM
First light on outgoing water.
Incoming water
9.5
Sun 2:00 PM → Sun 5:00 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.

Goose Island State Park
TPWD state park
Ramp, pier, wade shore. Copano / St. Charles.
Official source
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
Fulton Harbor
Aransas County / TPWD-listed launch
Copano and Aransas. Goose Island is the other public door.
Official source
Rockport Beach
City of Rockport / GLO beach access
Bay beach, pier, and park. Not a Gulf drive-on corridor.
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 high slack from NOAA 8775792 Packery Channel.
— Clear. Sky is workable.
— Wind 15 mph ESE. Work the leeward shore. Fly gets harder.
— First quarter moon — neap tide range. Marsh and passes usually want the extra current of a spring.
— No USGS 00480 well on this desk. Do not read another bay’s river as this water.

Black drum

Pogonias cromis

8.4

Thermal window

—

In peak season for this water. This tide stage (high slack) matches how they hunt.

Texas: 5/day, 14–30 in. One over 52 in allowed as part of the bag.

Redfish

Sciaenops ocellatus

5.5

Thermal window

—

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

—

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.

Tarpon

Megalops atlanticus

3.7

Thermal window

—

Off-season here.

Texas: treat as catch-and-release.

Mangrove / gray snapper

Lutjanus griseus

3.7

Thermal window

—

Off-season here.

Texas: typically 12 in, 4/day under snapper rules — verify TPWD.

Jack crevalle

Caranx hippos

3.7

Thermal window

—

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.