Gulf Coast Fishing Forecast: Late Fall Bounty in the Texas Bays

Artificial Lure here with your Gulf of Mexico, Texas fishing report for Friday, November 21, 2025. We’re looking at classic late-fall conditions on the coast, and the bite’s kicking up just in time for those pre-Thanksgiving trips. Let’s start with the tides: According to Tides4Fishing, today at Freeport we have a low tide peaking around 8:58 AM and a high tide hitting 6:06 PM. That means you’ll want to target moving water late morning and then again as that tide starts pushing hard in the evening. The sunrise rolled in at 6:49 AM, and sunset will clock out at 5:24 PM, so plan your outings with that early window if you want the topwater action. Weather this morning is cool and crisp, with highs around the upper 60s to low 70s—bring a jacket, but you’ll be peeling layers as the day goes on. Winds are expected to be light to moderate out of the north, switching east through the afternoon—a perfect setup for jetty and bay fishing, especially with those clean skies and stable barometer. Now, for what’s biting: The Port Aransas and Corpus Christi area is lighting up with big redfish—both slot-size and oversized bulls. Texas Fishing Tips reports a flurry of action near the jetties; a mix of bull reds, slot reds, plus sand trout and the occasional black drum are in the cards. There’s steady croaker action too, so if you’re after big golden croaker, it’s a good time to tangle with them. The back docks and marshy corners are piled with mullet, and anywhere you find that bait, redfish and black drum are hanging close beneath. Over at Klein’s Landing and all along the East Flats, you’ll find lots of pods of feeding reds and drum, especially on the outgoing tide as the sun gets higher. Recent catches around the jetties and bay systems have included solid numbers of upper-slot reds, with a few pushing into the “over 30-inch” range. Sand trout and speckled trout are also mixed in, especially around deeper channels and near oyster reefs. The brown roof flats and Estes area have seen robust numbers of redfish, and both live and cut baits are turning heads. Captain Monte Graham specifically notes live shrimp and cut mullet as best bets, but folks are also doing well cutting up ladyfish and fishing those chunks near the bait schools—simple but effective. On the lure front, a gold or chartreuse spoon is always a reliable bet for reds right now, and soft plastic paddletails in natural mullet or newpenny colors are getting a lot of takes. If you’re hunting speckled trout, opt for a suspending twitchbait or a 5" soft plastic in white or glow when the water’s clear, with a little added scent for bonus attention. For bait, live shrimp is the ticket for mixing drum and reds, but don’t overlook cut mullet or cut ladyfish if you’re targeting something bigger or want to fish the bottom around current. Hot spots to check out today: Hit the Port Aransas jetties (but watch for ship traffic—it’s picking up with the low tides), especially near Klein’s Landing and those gr This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.