Texas Gulf Coast Fishing Report: Snapper, Reds, and Trout on the Bite

Artificial Lure here, bringing your boots-on-the-deck Gulf of Mexico, Texas fishing report for Monday, November 17th, 2025. We kicked off the morning with a brisk sunrise at 6:46 AM, and we’ll see sunset at 5:26 PM. The forecast calls for clear skies and light winds settling out of the north—ideal fall weather in coastal Texas. Waters are running cool, down into the low 70s, with the air crisp and dry, giving fish a good reason to feed up during daytime warming. Tide-wise, it’s a lively cycle today. Over in Freeport and the upper coast, we’ve got a low tide at 7:14 AM (0.3 ft) and high tide running in at 3:11 PM (1.9 ft), while Texas City is set for a low at 8:52 AM and the afternoon high at 4:22 PM, peaking around 1.5 ft according to Tide-Forecast and Tides4Fishing. It’s a moving water kind of day, with solunar charts rating bite activity “high” into the late afternoon—a sure sign to be on the water, especially when those tides flip. The state red snapper season’s still open, but federal waters will close this Friday, November 21st, per Texas Parks & Wildlife. So if you’re looking for that snapper dinner, get after those rigs and nearshore wrecks now. Most snapper boats this past weekend reported decent numbers—keepers averaging 7–12 pounds, with plenty of action on cut menhaden and squid dropped to bottom structure. Inshore, Corpus Christi and Galveston reports are stacking up redfish cruising the flats at first light. Limits were pulled near Bird Island and Packery Channel under popping corks rigged with live shrimp, and there’s a good flounder push happening around channel edges and marsh drains. Black drum and sheepshead hung tight to pilings and rocky shoreline, especially at the jetties and harbor cuts. Speckled trout have been active, especially early and late. Trout hit best over grass beds and potholes, hitting soft plastics—white and chartreuse paddle tails do the job on a 1/8–¼ oz jighead. Topwater plugs turned magic at dawn when the wind dropped. Most trout caught this week were nice “keeper” size, with some slabs measuring up to 25 inches in the lower bay. If you’re surf-fishing, the Port Aransas and Bolivar jetties have seen a steady run of bull reds in the outgoing tide. They’re crushed finger mullet and cut shad—try an 8/0 circle hook under a sliding sinker for those big boys. Best baits: Inshore, you can’t go wrong with live shrimp, finger mullet, or soft plastic jerkbaits. For reds, a gold spoon or paddle tail worked along shorelines is classic. Offshore, snapper are striking cut bait and squid. The bayou bass and drum are hot on shrimp-tipped jigs and cut crab. Hot spots to hit today: - Packery Channel and JFK Causeway spoil islands for prime redfish and flounder. - The Freeport jetties and Galveston Channel, where trout and sheepshead are stacked. - South-side Bird Island flats for topwater trout and tailing reds at sunrise. Quick tip: Watch for birds working near channels and spoil banks—that always means bait, and This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.