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South Padre Island Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

South Padre Island: the southern end of the Lower Laguna Madre at Brazos Santiago Pass, where TPWD biologists say snook, gray snapper and pompano add to the seatrout and red drum.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 8:44 PM
Air / High
79 / 79 F
Wind
ESE 13 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8779724, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 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 the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

South Padre Island offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. Today brings clear skies, wind ESE around 13 mph, steady pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 79. Tides: high 1:44 AM and 2:43 PM, low 8:01 AM and 8:44 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 78 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:06 AM-12:06 PM and 10:33 PM-12:33 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Redfish (red drum)Excellent

Spring and early summer put redfish on grass flats, shorelines and oyster bars; on the Gulf, fish below spawning age stay inside the bays (TPWD). Sight-cast to tailing and cruising fish or drift live shrimp under a popping cork.

Speckled troutExcellent

Spring brings seatrout back over shallow seagrass, and the spawning season (April to September in Louisiana and South Carolina) keeps them feeding. Popping corks with live shrimp, free-shrimping on the drift and casting to working birds are the main tools.

Tomorrow: Similar at 79 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Texas requires a fishing licence from age 17, from $30.00 for residents, and salt water needs its own licence here. What a Texas licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing redfish (red drum) here? Check the size and bag limits with TPWD before you keep anything. The season dates for Texas, read off the agency, are on the Texas seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 8779724 (Queen Isabella Causeway). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
HIGH1:44 AM1.6 ft
LOW8:01 AM0.9 ft
HIGH2:43 PM1.6 ft
LOW8:44 PM1.0 ft
Sat
HIGH1:28 AM1.4 ft
LOW8:19 AM0.6 ft
HIGH4:00 PM1.7 ft
LOW10:15 PM1.1 ft

South Padre Island tide chart: the week and the month β†’

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp79 F
High / Low79 / 79 F
WindESE 13-14 mph
Pressure1017.5 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain9% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:32 / 18:53
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~78 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish South Padre Island this week

The best day on South Padre Island this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:06 AM-12:06 PM and 10:33 PM-12:33 AM
Minor period
4:28 AM-5:28 AM
Sun
07:32 to 18:53
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 16 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

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

Redfish (red drum) illustration

Redfish (red drum)

Best: late-summer and fall bull run; inshore all year

Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), called redfish across the South, is a bronze inshore drum with a black spot near the tail, fished on grass flats, oyster bars, marsh creeks and beaches from the Chesapeake around Florida to Texas. Spring and early summer put redfish on grass flats, shorelines and oyster bars; on the Gulf, fish below spawning age stay inside the bays (TPWD). Sight-cast to tailing and cruising fish or drift live shrimp under a popping cork.

Speckled trout illustration

Speckled trout

Shallow bays spring and summer; deeper water in winter

Speckled trout is the anglers' name for the spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), a spotted member of the drum family that lives in shallow bays and estuaries from the Chesapeake to Texas. Spring brings seatrout back over shallow seagrass, and the spawning season (April to September in Louisiana and South Carolina) keeps them feeding. Popping corks with live shrimp, free-shrimping on the drift and casting to working birds are the main tools.

When to come: the South Padre Island 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 78 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~78 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 South Padre Island today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 79 F, wind to 14 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 79 F, wind to 15 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 80 F, wind to 17 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 fishing license with saltwater endorsement. TPWD limits valid Sept. 1, 2026-Aug. 31, 2027: spotted seatrout 3 a day, 15-20 in. (one over 28 in. per license year with a tag, plus one with a bonus tag); red drum 3 a day, 20-28 in. (one oversized fish with a Red Drum Tag); snook 1 a day, 24-28 in.; black drum 5 a day, 14-30 in.

Access

Isla Blanca Park on the island is one of Cameron County's coastal parks; check the county parks office for hours and fees.

About this water

Barrier island on the Lower Laguna Madre and Brazos Santiago Pass, Cameron County, Texas. Tide predictions come from NOAA's Queen Isabella Causeway (east end) station.

Fishing South Padre Island: the full guide

The bay behind the island

TPWD coastal biologists describe the Laguna Madre as a long, narrow bay running about 130 miles from Corpus Christi to the Rio Grande, split into upper and lower bays by the Saltillo Flats and joined since 1949 by the Land Cut. They call it the only hypersaline coastal lagoon in North America and say about 80 percent of the remaining seagrass habitat in Texas is in the Laguna Madre system.

What TPWD says the lower bay holds

In the same TPWD article, spotted seatrout top the list of Laguna Madre fisheries and red drum populations in both the upper and lower bay are described as at record highs. The two bay-Gulf passes of the lower Laguna Madre, Brazos Santiago Pass at the south end of this island being one, offer snook, gray snapper, Florida pompano and barracuda that are not found in the upper bay or most other Texas bays.

Seagrass rules

TPWD says it is illegal to uproot seagrass in Texas and warns that boat propellers scar shallow seagrass meadows, so idle or pole across the shallow grass flats behind the island.

Common questions

Can you catch snook at South Padre Island?

TPWD biologists list snook among the fish found at the two bay-Gulf passes of the lower Laguna Madre, and Brazos Santiago Pass is one of them. The TPWD limit is 1 snook a day between 24 and 28 inches.

What is the speckled trout limit at South Padre?

From September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027, TPWD allows 3 spotted seatrout a day from 15 to 20 inches, plus tagged fish over 28 inches. The old Lower Laguna-only rule is not in the current TPWD table.

Is it legal to run a boat over the seagrass?

Running is not banned outright, but TPWD says uprooting seagrass is illegal and propellers scar shallow meadows, so trim up, idle or pole in the shallows.

Is fishing good at South Padre Island 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 the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Port Mansfield35 miBaffin Bay85 miCorpus Christi102 miPort Aransas120 miRockport133 miFalcon Lake135 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 8779724 β€” Queen Isabella Causeway
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 11 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 26.1040, -97.1660 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.