Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay, TX Fishing Guide

Species at Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay

• Redfish (Red Drum)

  Tails on flats; bull reds stage at passes to spawn fall

  Season: Mar–Jun, Sep–Dec · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 60–82°F

• Speckled (Spotted Sea) Trout

  White-shrimp exodus over shell and grass at mid-70s

  Season: Mar–Jun, Sep–Nov · Tide: moving water · Light: low light · Water: 65–78°F

• Southern Flounder

  Fall run stacks fish in passes migrating out to spawn

  Season: Sep–Oct · Tide: the outgoing tide · Light: any light · Water: 62–75°F

• Black Drum

  Late-winter spawn run; big drum chew crab in passes

  Season: Jan–Apr · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 55–72°F

• Sheepshead

  Pre-spawn fish school tight on structure late winter

  Season: Jan–Apr, Dec · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 58–72°F

• Spanish Mackerel

  Schools chase glass minnows along jetties once water hits 70

  Season: May–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: bright daylight · Water: 70–86°F

• Bull Redfish (Big Reds)

  Fall spawn migration jams big reds in passes and surf

  Season: Aug–Nov · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 68–84°F

• Whiting (Gulf/Southern Kingfish)

  Bottom-feeds first gut on fresh dead shrimp; winter staple

  Season: Jan–May, Nov–Dec · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 58–80°F

• Jack Crevalle

  Summer schools blitz bait along jetties and beachfront

  Season: May–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 70–88°F

• Ladyfish (Skipjack)

  Warm-season schools crush small jigs around structure

  Season: May–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 72–88°F

• Gray (Mangrove) Snapper

  Summer-fall spawn schools tight to hard structure

  Season: Jun–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 74–88°F

• Snook

  South-Texas warm-water predator; ambushes at passes

  Season: May–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: low light · Water: 74–88°F

• Tripletail

  Floats shaded under structure, eats sight-cast shrimp

  Season: May–Sep · Tide: moving water · Light: bright daylight · Water: 74–88°F

What's biting at Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay, month by month

Typical seasons for this stretch of coast — a warm or late year shifts them by a few weeks. The live forecast scores today's actual conditions.

Coastal runs that pass Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay

These species travel the coast with the seasons, so they show up on a schedule rather than living here year-round.

• Redfish (red drum)

  bull-red fall surf run cascades by latitude: Mid-Atl Sep–Oct → FL Oct–Nov → Gulf Nov–Dec

  Timing: southbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: falling temps trigger the nearshore spawn run · Pace: cold-front-latency tide more than fish-following-fish

• Pompano

  the strongest, cleanest cascade we have — FL Treasure Coast winter run; Gulf spring run hits Pensacola ~April

  Timing: southbound Oct–Dec · northbound Feb–May · Driven by: sand fleas & the 68–75°F edge on the move · Pace: cold-front driven; ~2–4 wk lag NC→Miami in fall

• Spanish mackerel

  Gulf stock — E→W in spring (FL Gulf → AL/MS → TX), back E→S in fall

  Timing: westbound Feb–Jun · eastbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: warm water expanding west in spring · Pace: reaches TX late Mar–May

• King mackerel

  Gulf stock — splits in fall: eastern group back down FL, western group W down the TX coast

  Timing: northbound Mar–Sep · westbound Oct–Dec · Driven by: temp + bait near the river plume · Pace: summers in the northern Gulf near the MS Delta

How Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay fishes

Open water lies to the southeast of Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay. A wind out of the southeast is onshore here — it stacks swell and chop into the mouth and pushes stirred-up water inshore, while a northwest wind flattens the surface and tends to clean it up.

This is an inshore station — bay, river or lagoon water rather than an open ocean mouth. Tide stage and water temperature drive the bite here far more than swell does.

Tides here are read from NOAA station 8773896 at 28.3645, -96.5803 — see it on NOAA CO-OPS.

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Common questions about Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay

What fish can you catch at Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay?

Redfish (Red Drum), Speckled (Spotted Sea) Trout, Southern Flounder, Black Drum, Sheepshead, Spanish Mackerel, Bull Redfish (Big Reds), Whiting (Gulf/Southern Kingfish), Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish (Skipjack), Gray (Mangrove) Snapper, Snook and 1 more. Each has its own season, preferred tide and water-temperature window at Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay.

When is the best time to fish Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay?

September has the most species in season (10 of 13) — Redfish (Red Drum), Speckled (Spotted Sea) Trout, Southern Flounder, Spanish Mackerel, Bull Redfish (Big Reds), Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish (Skipjack), Gray (Mangrove) Snapper. Seasons shift by a few weeks in a warm or late year.

What tide is best for fishing Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay?

12 of the 13 species here feed best on moving water. Moving water is what pulls bait through the mouth, so the hours either side of a tide change usually beat dead slack.

Which wind is bad for Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay?

Open water lies to the southeast, so a southeast wind is onshore — it stacks swell and chop into the mouth and pushes dirty water inshore. A northwest wind flattens and cleans it up.

Do migrating fish run past Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay?

Yes — Redfish (red drum) (southbound Sep–Nov); Pompano (southbound Oct–Dec · northbound Feb–May); Spanish mackerel (westbound Feb–Jun · eastbound Sep–Nov); King mackerel (northbound Mar–Sep · westbound Oct–Dec). These travel the coast with the seasons rather than living here year-round.

Where are the tides for Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay measured?

NOAA CO-OPS station 8773896, at 28.3645, -96.5803. What Inlet? scores the live tide, current, solunar and weather for that station.

Inlets near Shoalwater Flats, Espiritu Santo Bay

• Barroom Bay 7 mi
• Port O'Connor, Matagorda Bay 13 mi
• Matagorda Bay Entrance Channel 16 mi
• Copano Bay 32 mi
• Bayside, Copano Bay 43 mi
• Aransas, Aransas Pass 46 mi
• Conn Brown Harbor, Aransas Pass 46 mi
• Portland, Nueces Bay 57 mi

Fishing a different inlet today? Every one has its own species roster and bite pattern.

Browse every inlet in Texas, or the full inlet directory.