On This Water

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 2027-01-16, not this morning. Wind is a forecast. Observed water versus the table is a today-only instrument.
7.9OF 10

Forecast

medium confidence

Forecast brief for Saturday, January 16. Back to this morning

Morning line

Corpus 7.9 on Saturday, January 16. 11 mph SSE. Clear. YOLO day is Tuesday, August 25. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.

Mail it
-0.7-0.5-0.2-0.00.2LHLHLHLHFri 6 PMSat 6 PMSun 6 PMMon 6 PMTue 6 PM
high slack · -0.36 ftNOAA hourly · ft MLLW

Wind

OPEN-METEO

NESW11MPH

From SSE · gust 13

Sky

OPEN-METEO

Clear

Clear

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

Moon

63% lit

Waxing gibbous

neap range · 63%

Water

No gauge

Water

48°92°

Today’s range 0.3 ft

high slack

-0.36 ft MLLW

River

USGS 08211000

69 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

  • LowSat 8:23 AM · -0.36
  • HighSat 9:28 PM · -0.06
  • LowSun 9:10 AM · -0.41
  • HighSun 10:12 PM · -0.01
  • LowMon 10:10 AM · -0.46

Monthly YOLO day

Tuesday, August 25 · 7.8

Best remaining dry day this month with a real wind forecast. waxing gibbous · mid · tide range ~0.4 ft · wind to 19 mph · Clouds · 1%

Next two weeks

Pulling the 14-day strip…

Where

  • 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

  • Incoming water

    10.0

    Sat 1:00 PMSat 7:00 PM

    Moving water in the right part of the day.

  • Outgoing water

    8.1

    Sun 1:00 AMSun 9:00 AM

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

  • Incoming water

    10.0

    Sun 1:00 PMSun 9:00 PM

    Moving water in the right part of the day.

  • Outgoing water

    8.1

    Mon 2:00 AMMon 10:00 AM

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

  • Incoming water

    10.0

    Mon 1:00 PMMon 11:00 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.
  • Clear. Sky is workable.
  • Wind 11 mph SSE. Castable. Sight-fishing is on if the sun is out.
  • Waxing gibbous moon — neap tide range. Marsh and passes usually want the extra current of a spring.

Black drum

Pogonias cromis

8.4

Thermal window

46°88°

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

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.

Tarpon

Megalops atlanticus

3.7

Thermal window

68°94°

Off-season here.

Texas: treat as catch-and-release.

Mangrove / gray snapper

Lutjanus griseus

3.7

Thermal window

64°92°

Off-season here.

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

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.