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Port Aransas Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Where the deep Gulf meets the flats: tarpon history, jetty fishing and the clearest redfish water in Texas.

3/5
Fair. Fish early or late.Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.
Next tide
High 4:18 AM
Air / High
89 / 90 F
Wind
ESE 14 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8775237, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish early or late.Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.

Port Aransas serves up more heat: the productive hours are the dim ones. Today brings a mixed sky, wind ESE around 14 mph, steady pressure near 1013 hPa and a high of 90. Tides: high 3:31 AM, low 3:35 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 85 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Redfish (red drum)Excellent

Dawn topwater over grass flats and shorelines, then follow them to deeper guts and channel edges with gold spoons and paddletails. Look for wakes and nervous bait.

Speckled troutGood

First light topwater over grass and shell, then deeper: free-lined live shrimp or croaker over 4-8 ft structure. The bite dies with the sun; night lights fish well.

Tomorrow: Similar at 90 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 8775237 (Port Aransas). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
HIGH3:31 AM1.4 ft
LOW3:35 PM0.0 ft
Sat
HIGH4:18 AM1.5 ft
LOW4:45 PM0.0 ft

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp89 F
High / Low90 / 82 F
WindESE 14-16 mph
Pressure1012.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain27% cloud, 3%
Sunrise / Sunset07:08 / 19:45
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~85 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Overcast, 90/82 F, wind 16 mph, rain 3%

Fair or better. A 16 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Port Aransas: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Redfish (red drum) illustration

Redfish (red drum)

Best: Sep-Nov bull run

The copper-flanked king of the flats and surf: tailing in inches of water, schooling by the hundred in fall. Dawn topwater over grass flats and shorelines, then follow them to deeper guts and channel edges with gold spoons and paddletails. Look for wakes and nervous bait.

Speckled trout illustration

Speckled trout

Best: spring and fall

The Gulf coast's everyday obsession: soft mouths, violent topwater strikes and a fishery that lives by tide and bait. First light topwater over grass and shell, then deeper: free-lined live shrimp or croaker over 4-8 ft structure. The bite dies with the sun; night lights fish well.

When to come: the Port Aransas calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Redfish (red drum)
Speckled trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 85 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~85 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Port Aransas today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 90 F, wind to 18 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 90 F, wind to 17 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 93 F, wind to 14 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Texas requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Texas saltwater endorsement. Middle-coast trout and redfish slots per TPWD. Tarpon are effectively catch-and-release only.

Access

South Jetty (walkable), Horace Caldwell Pier, ferry-side bulkheads, and kayak launches into Lighthouse Lakes.

About this water

Mustang Island at Aransas Pass, Texas middle coast. Gateway between the Gulf and the Redfish Bay / Corpus Christi Bay systems.

Fishing Port Aransas: the full guide

The pass that made a town

Port Aransas guards Aransas Pass: the deep cut connecting the Gulf to the middle-coast bays. That geography concentrates everything: bull reds and tarpon at the jetties, trout and slot reds on the nearby flats (Lighthouse Lakes, Brown & Root), kings and ling just offshore. The town has fished for a living since the 1800s.

Flats and granite

The shallow game: pole or wade the back lakes and spoil islands for tailing redfish in knee-deep clarity, fly or soft plastics. The jetty game: free-lined croakers and live mullet along the rocks with the tide, from big trout to oversized reds. Fall stacks bull redfish at the pass in numbers that make first-timers doubt their eyes.

The winter secret

Port A's quiet season is a working fishery: December-February sheepshead stack every jetty rock and piling, black drum school the channels, and the surf's whiting-and-pompano bite feeds patient bait soakers. Boat traffic evaporates, lodging halves, and the fish keep office hours: the insider's window on a town that summer crowds think they know.

Common questions

Is there still a tarpon run at Port Aransas?

Smaller than the 1930s heyday that named the Tarpon Inn, but real: late-summer pods roll along the beachfront and passes. Dawn patrols with big baits get shots at 100-plus-pound fish every year.

Is the Port Aransas jetty walkable?

Yes: the south jetty extends nearly a mile of flat granite: reds, trout, sheepshead, and Spanish mackerel in season. Free access, serious fish: the town's best budget trip.

Is fishing good at Port Aransas right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.

Nearby waters

Rockport13 miCorpus Christi20 miBaffin Bay49 miChoke Canyon Reservoir88 miMatagorda89 miPort Mansfield92 mi
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