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 2027-07-02, not this morning. Wind is a forecast. Observed water versus the table is a today-only instrument.
  • Tide · modeled — NOAA 8775792 quiet
  • 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
7.1OF 10

Forecast

low confidence

Forecast brief for Friday, July 2. Back to this morning

Morning line

Corpus 7.1 on Friday, July 2. 16 mph SSE. Mostly clear. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.

Mail it
-0.3-0.20.00.20.3LHLHLHLHFri 7 AMSat 7 AMSun 7 AMMon 7 AM
high slack · -0.17 ft · drag or hover for the clockModeled M2 clock — no NOAA gauge on this water. Not a buoy.

Wind

OPEN-METEO

NESW16MPH

From SSE · gust 21

Buoy

NDBC ANPT2

Quiet

Aransas Pass did not report. Witness only — not the tide clock.

Sky

OPEN-METEO

Clouds

Mostly clear

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

Moon

3% lit

Waning crescent

spring range · 3%

Water

No gauge

Water

48°92°

Today’s range 0.3 ft

high slack

-0.17 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

USGS 08211000

78 cfs

Nueces Rv nr Mathis, TX

Discharge into this bay. High water stains the flat.

Wind vs table

No live gauge

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

Clock

NOAA 8775792

  • LowFri 8:00 AM · -0.17
  • HighFri 2:00 PM · 0.16
  • LowFri 8:00 PM · -0.15
  • HighSat 2:00 AM · 0.14
  • LowSat 9:00 AM · -0.14

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

Next two weeks

Pulling the 14-day strip…

Where

This pip is that mark on this tide — not the day on the ring.

  • TX - Kaufer-Hubert Park (Baffin doorway)

    serpulid reef · saved map · mid

    7.8

    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, Tarpon, Speckled trout, Mangrove / gray snapper.
    skiffkayakwadeflyspin
  • Baffin Bay - TROPHY TROUT, MIND THE ROCKS

    serpulid reef · saved map · mid

    7.8

    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, Tarpon, Speckled trout, Mangrove / gray snapper.
    skiffkayakwadeflyspin
  • TX - Goose Island State Park

    grass flat · saved map · mid

    7.1

    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, Tarpon, Speckled trout, Mangrove / gray snapper.
    skiffkayakwadeflyspin
  • TX - Mustang Island SP bayside launch

    serpulid reef · saved map · skinny

    7.1

    Shamrock Cove reds year-round. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH

    • serpulid reef on a high slack tide is a workable match.
    • In-play: Redfish, Tarpon, Speckled trout, Mangrove / gray snapper.
    skiffkayakwadeflyspin
  • TX - Bird Island Basin (PINS)

    grass flat · saved map · mid

    7.1

    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, Tarpon, Speckled trout, Mangrove / gray snapper.
    skiffkayakwadeflyspin
  • Nine Mile Hole / upper Laguna back country

    grass flat · saved map · skinny

    7.1

    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, Tarpon, Speckled trout, Mangrove / gray snapper.
    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.

  • Incoming water

    8.5

    Fri 9:00 AMFri 3:00 PM

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

  • Last light · outgoing

    9.4

    Fri 4:00 PMFri 9:00 PM

    Last light on outgoing water.

  • Last light · incoming

    9.4

    Fri 10:00 PMSat 4:00 AM

    Last light on incoming water.

  • First light · outgoing

    9.4

    Sat 4:00 AMSat 10:00 AM

    First light on outgoing water.

  • Incoming water

    7.1

    Sat 11:00 AMSat 4:00 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.

  • 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 (modeled — NOAA 8775792 Packery Channel did not answer).
  • Mostly clear. Sky is workable.
  • Wind 16 mph SSE. Work the leeward shore. Fly gets harder.
  • Waning crescent moon — spring 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.

Tarpon

Megalops atlanticus

7.3

Thermal window

68°94°

In peak season for this water.

Texas: treat as catch-and-release.

Mangrove / gray snapper

Lutjanus griseus

7.3

Thermal window

64°92°

In peak season for this water.

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

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.

Black drum

Pogonias cromis

4.8

Thermal window

46°88°

Off-season here. 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.

Jack crevalle

Caranx hippos

5.8

Thermal window

64°94°

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

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.