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Texas · Galveston Bay

Redfish should be the day — slide to guts and the ship-channel edges until it moves.

Largest Texas estuary. Trinity, East, West, and Christmas bays. Wind often moves more water than the tide table. Home water for drum, sheep, trout, and reds.

  • ⚠ This brief is for 2027-03-13. No wind forecast that far out — score is tide, moon, and season. Not a copper day.
  • Tide · modeled — NOAA 8771450 quiet
  • NDBC 42035 quiet
  • Salinity probe quiet or stale
  • River · USGS 08066500
  • Red-tide check failed — not all-clear
  • Sargassum check failed — not all-clear
  • Water temp quiet
8.1OF 10

Tide + moon

low confidence

Forecast brief for Saturday, March 13. Back to this morning

Morning line

Galveston 8.1 on Saturday, March 13 — tide, moon, and season only. No wind forecast that far out. YOLO day is Wednesday, August 26. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.

Mail it
-1.1-0.5-0.00.51.1HLHLHLHLSat 6 AMSun 7 AMMon 7 AMTue 7 AM
low slack · 0.69 ft · drag or hover for the clockModeled M2 clock — no NOAA gauge on this water. Not a buoy.

Wind

NWS

NESW—MPH

No wind reading

Buoy

NDBC 42035

Quiet

Galveston did not report. Witness only — not the tide clock.

Sky

NWS

Sky not in

Sky not in

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

Moon

31% lit

Waxing crescent

neap range · 31%

Water

No gauge

Water

—

48°92°

Today’s range 1.5 ft

low slack

0.69 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
Trinity River at Wallisville is quiet or stale. Not a color reading.

River

USGS 08066500

1,400 cfs

Trinity Rv at Romayor, 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 8771450

  • HighSat 8:00 AM · 0.69
  • LowSat 2:00 PM · -0.72
  • HighSat 8:00 PM · 0.74
  • LowSun 3:00 AM · -0.75
  • HighSun 9:00 AM · 0.76

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

Monthly YOLO day

Wednesday, August 26

Best remaining dry day this month with a real wind forecast. waxing gibbous · spring · tide range ~1.4 ft · wind to 20 mph · Clouds · 5%

Stay or drive · Galveston vs MatagordaOpen 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.

  • East Bay reefs / Hanna's

    oyster reef · field manual · mid

    7.7

    Home-water trout and winter mixed schools. Shell next to mud. Do not invent a Tuesday — this is the bay.

    • — oyster reef on a low slack tide is a workable match.
    • — In-play: Speckled trout, Redfish, Black drum.
    skiffwadeflyspin

  • Galveston North Jetty

    pass jetty · public structure · deep

    7.3

    Winter sheep on granite. Fall bulls. Midday tide on the rocks.

    • — pass jetty on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
    • — In-play: Sheepshead, Redfish, Speckled trout.
    structurespinfly

  • Bolivar Roads Channel

    pass jetty · public structure · deep

    7.3

    USGS GNIS 1384775. The ship-channel throat between Galveston and Bolivar. Current over granite. Not a wade.

    USGS GNIS 1384775

    • — pass jetty on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
    • — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Sheepshead.
    structureskiffspinfly

  • TX - Bolivar Peninsula west end / North Jetty

    pass jetty · saved map · mid

    7.3

    $10 annual sticker, camp anywhere. Wide sand near Rettilon Rd; walk to North Jetty. · camp-surf · GULF ATLAS! - FISH

    • — pass jetty on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
    • — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum, Sheepshead.
    structureskiffspinfly

  • TX - Follets Island CR 257 (free camping)

    pass jetty · saved map · mid

    7.3

    Free, no permit, 14-day max. Fish San Luis Pass gulf-side at dawn. · camp-surf · GULF ATLAS! - FISH

    • — pass jetty on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
    • — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum, Sheepshead.
    structurespinwade

  • Bolivar Peninsula beach - drivable/campable

    pass jetty · saved map · mid

    7.3

    $10 annual sticker, camp anywhere along ~27 mi. West end near Rettilon Rd is widest and house-free. NOTE: Rollover Pass was filled in - gone. · 1 - BEACH CORRIDORS (yellow=2WD, orange=4WD, red=Big Shell) · Texas coast — corridors, jetties, flats

    • — pass jetty on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
    • — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout, Black drum, Sheepshead.
    structurespinwade

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.

  • Outgoing water

    9.4

    Sat 9:00 AM → Sat 4:00 PM

    Moving water in the right part of the day.

  • Last light · incoming

    9.1

    Sat 3:00 PM → Sat 10:00 PM

    Last light on incoming water.

  • Last light · outgoing

    8.0

    Sat 9:00 PM → Sun 5:00 AM

    Last light on outgoing water.

  • First light · incoming

    9.4

    Sun 4:00 AM → Sun 11:00 AM

    First light on incoming water.

  • Outgoing water

    9.4

    Sun 10:00 AM → 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.

  • Seawolf Park

    TPWD / Galveston Parks — public ramp & pier

    Pelican Island. Ramp, pier, jetty-adjacent. County park fees.

    Official source

  • San Luis Pass County Park

    Brazoria County / GLO beach-access system

    Follets Island. Ramp and beach. Current at the pass — wade with respect.

    Official source

  • Galveston East Beach

    City of Galveston / Texas GLO beach access

    Drive-on beach. 2WD when packed; 4WD after rain. GLO + city plan, not a TPWD ramp.

    Official source

  • Galveston 61st Street / Offatts Bayou

    City of Galveston / TPWD-listed launch

    West Bay and Offatts. Trailer traffic. The bay side of the island.

    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 8771450 Galveston Pier 21 did not answer).
  • — Waxing crescent moon — neap tide range. Marsh and passes usually want the extra current of a spring.
  • — USGS salinity well Trinity River at Wallisville is quiet or stale — not all-clear, not a color reading.

Redfish

Sciaenops ocellatus

7.3

Thermal window

—

48°92°

In peak season for this water.

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

7.3

Thermal window

—

44°90°

In peak season for this water.

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

7.3

Thermal window

—

46°88°

In peak season for this water.

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

Sheepshead

Archosargus probatocephalus

7.3

Thermal window

—

48°84°

In peak season for this water.

Texas: 5/day, 15 in minimum.

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.