Redfish
Sciaenops ocellatus
Thermal window
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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.
Texas · Lower Laguna Madre
Redfish are the hunt — wait for a push — skinny clear water at slack is a walk.
The clear-water classroom. South Bay, spoil banks, Brazos Santiago. Sight-casting reds in inches. Often the warmest Texas winter water.
- ⚠ This brief is for 2027-02-26, not this morning. Wind is a forecast. Observed water versus the table is a today-only instrument.
- Tide · modeled — NOAA 8779770 quiet
- NDBC PTIT2 quiet
- No salinity probe on this desk
- No river gauge on this desk
- Red-tide check failed — not all-clear
- Sargassum check failed — not all-clear
- Water temp quiet
Forecast
low confidence
Forecast brief for Friday, February 26. Back to this morning
Morning line
LLM 7.5 on Friday, February 26. 15 mph SE. Clear. YOLO day is Monday, August 31. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.
high slack · 0.57 ft · drag or hover for the clockModeled M2 clock — no NOAA gauge on this water. Not a buoy.
Wind
OPEN-METEO
From SE · gust 22
Buoy
NDBC PTIT2
Quiet
Port Isabel did not report. Witness only — not the tide clock.
Sky
OPEN-METEO
Clear
Clear
A 20% shower chance is not a cancel. A soaker is.
Moon
71% lit
Waning gibbous
mid range · 71%
Water
No gauge
Water
—
Today’s range 1.3 ft
high slack
0.57 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
No gauge
No gauge
No USGS discharge gauge on this desk. Wind and the table still tell the color story.
Wind vs table
No live gauge
—
No live gauge this hour — the printed tide is the forecast.
Clock
NOAA 8779770
- HighFri 7:00 AM · 0.58
- LowFri 2:00 PM · -0.60
- HighFri 8:00 PM · 0.62
- LowSat 2:00 AM · -0.63
- HighSat 8:00 AM · 0.64
Bahamas tides are modeled from lunar M2. Use them for windows, not a bar crossing.
Monthly YOLO day
Monday, August 31
Best remaining dry day this month with a real wind forecast. waning gibbous · mid · tide range ~0.9 ft · wind to 20 mph · 8% chance of rain
Next two weeks
Pulling the 14-day strip…
Where
This pip is that mark on this tide — not the day on the ring.
- 7.5
South Bay
grass flat · field manual · skinny
USGS GNIS 1376184 (Cameron). Clear-water classroom. Inches of grass. Sight-casting reds. Deep-south snook on warm years.
USGS GNIS 1376184
- — grass flat on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout.
skiffwadekayakflyspin - 7.5
TX - Fred Stone County Park (Port Mansfield)
grass flat · saved map · mid
Camping + kayak launch at the LLM mecca. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — grass flat on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin - 7.5
TX - Adolph Thomae Jr. Park (Arroyo City)
grass flat · saved map · mid
Camp + ramp to LLM west side. Snook begin. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — grass flat on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin - 7.5
TX - Isla Blanca Park (South Padre)
grass flat · saved map · mid
Camp at island tip; launch to South Bay + Mexiquita. · flats · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
- — grass flat on a high slack tide is a workable match.
- — In-play: Redfish, Speckled trout.
skiffkayakwadeflyspin - 7.5
LLM mecca. Fred Stone County Park = camping + kayak launch o
grass flat · saved map · mid
LLM mecca. Fred Stone County Park = camping + kayak launch on the edge of the most famous flats water in Texas. · 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.
structurespinwade - 7.5
LLM west side - Green Island / Rattlesnake
grass flat · saved map · mid
Arroyo Colorado feeds this. Adolph Thomae Jr. Park = camp + ramp. Snook start appearing this far south. · 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.
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.
Outgoing water
9.5Fri 9:00 AM → Fri 3:00 PM
Moving water in the right part of the day.
Last light · incoming
9.2Fri 3:00 PM → Fri 10:00 PM
Last light on incoming water.
Last light · outgoing
8.1Fri 9:00 PM → Sat 4:00 AM
Last light on outgoing water.
First light · incoming
9.5Sat 3:00 AM → Sat 10:00 AM
First light on incoming water.
Outgoing water
9.5Sat 9:00 AM → Sat 4:00 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.
Isla Blanca Park
Cameron County / GLO beach access
South end of SPI. Ramps, jetties, Brazos Santiago. County beach plan governs 2WD/4WD.
Official sourceAndy Bowie Park
Cameron County / GLO beach access
North SPI. County beach plan. 2WD/4WD posted at the entrance.
Official sourceAdolph Thomae Jr. County Park
Cameron County / TPWD-listed launch
Arroyo Colorado into the Lower Laguna. Ramp and park. The LLM classroom starts here.
Official sourcePort Mansfield public ramps
Willacy County / TPWD-listed launch
Basin and cut. NOAA 8778490. Laguna skinny a mile inside.
Official sourceBoca Chica / Beach Access 6
Cameron County beach-access plan / Texas GLO
South of SPI. County plan is the 2WD/4WD law here. Closures shift with SpaceX and storms — confirm before you drop a tire.
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 8779770 Port Isabel did not answer).
- — Clear. Sky is workable.
- — Wind 15 mph SE. Work the leeward shore. Fly gets harder.
- — Waning gibbous moon — mid tide range. Sight water often prefers a moderate range and clean water over a huge spring.
- — No USGS 00480 well on this desk. Do not read another bay’s river as this water.
- — No USGS discharge gauge on this desk. Wind and the tide table still tell the color story.
5.5
Speckled trout
Cynoscion nebulosus
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.
Snook
Centropomus undecimalis
Thermal window
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Off-season here.
Texas: 1/day, 24–28 in. Rare this far west — verify before you keep one.
Mangrove / gray snapper
Lutjanus griseus
Thermal window
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Off-season here.
Texas: typically 12 in, 4/day under snapper rules — verify TPWD.
Jack crevalle
Caranx hippos
Thermal window
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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.