Redfish are running the show in Rockport heading into the first days of September, and the bay is about as calm as it gets. Rockport is hot.

Bay water is holding at 88.9°F at the Rockport gauge. Light south to southeast winds of five to ten knots run Tuesday through Thursday with smooth bay and inland waters, and no advisories are in effect — only a slight chance of storms Tuesday. Tides are gentle, from a morning high near 0.5 feet to a late-afternoon low near 0.1 feet.

The best window is Thursday evening, roughly 5:45 to 7:45 PM, when the moon’s underfoot transit lines up with the strongest tidal drain of the three days. Tuesday’s moonset window, about 10:40 AM to 12:10 PM, is the backup.

Redfish are the standout, feeding hard in one to four feet across Estes Flats, the San Jose Island shorelines and the Aransas Bay sand pockets on soft plastics, gold spoons and live shrimp. Speckled trout are eating well at first light on the Aransas Bay grass flats, the Copano Bay reefs and the ICW channel edges. Flounder are staging on the Redfish Bay sand bars, the Estes Flats drains and the Lydia Ann Channel edges.

Also active: black drum and sheephead are chewing crab and shrimp around channel structure, pilings and rock.

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