Rockport is biting, and redfish are carrying the week. Reds have pushed into shin-deep water across the shallows, chasing the shrimp hatches that come with August heat — the fish are there in numbers, but they’re spooky, and a clean first cast matters more than anything.

Bay water is running 88.7°F at the Rockport gauge, so early and late hours are doing the heavy lifting. Wind is the deciding factor across the three days: south at 13–16 mph Thursday with gusts to 23, easing to 9–13 mph Friday, then settling to a southeast 8–11 mph on Saturday. No marine advisories are posted for Aransas, Copano or Redfish Bays.

The best window of the stretch is Saturday from 3:01 to 5:01 PM, when the moon rides overhead on the calmest water of the week and the afternoon low turns to incoming. Thursday from 1:28 to 3:28 PM is the backup — water climbs steadily toward the highest tide of the window at 5:25 PM.

Redfish are best on the skinny grass and sand of Redfish Bay, Estes Flats and the Aransas Bay ICWW edges. Speckled trout are hit-or-miss but big, holding on ICWW edge flats and around the Port Aransas jetty. Flounder are scattered, with the Lydia Ann Channel the most reliable bet. Black drum and sheephead are steady on structure and reef with dead shrimp and cut crab.

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