Port Aransas, Texas Fishing Guide

Port Aransas offers jetty, bay, surf, pier and offshore fishing from one small island town. The jetties and Redfish Bay's grass flats hold redfish, speckled trout, black drum and sheepshead, and tarpon show in summer and fall. Offshore boats fish reefs and rigs for red snapper and kingfish and run to blue water for mahi, sailfish, tuna and wahoo.

📍 Port Aransas, on Mustang Island on the middle Texas coast. The rock jetties at the pass (the South Jetty is a popular spot) reach into the Gulf; Redfish Bay, Aransas Bay and the Lydia Ann Channel lie inside. Offshore charters run from about 20 to more than 100 miles out.

📅 Texas Fishing Calendar — best months, closed seasons, bait & rigs →

Map: spots, ramps and marinas

★ Fishing hot spot · ● Boat ramp · ● Marina · ▭ Protected area (solid red = no fishing, dashed = fishing with rules)

Open the full Northern Gulf (Alabama to Texas) map →

Quick facts

The Deep Sea Roundup began in 1932 as the Texas Tarpon Rodeo and is billed as the Gulf Coast's oldest fishing tournament; the 90th was held July 9-12, 2026.
Redfish Bay was made a State Scientific Area in June 2000; it covers 32,000 acres, about 14,000 of them seagrass, and uprooting seagrass there has been illegal since May 1, 2006.
TPWD lists the Lone Star and Boatman's artificial reef sites near Port Aransas; its Corpus Christi nearshore reef is about 8 nautical miles out in 70 feet of water.
The wreck of the WWII tanker SS John Worthington lies 1.5 nautical miles up the Lydia Ann Channel from Port Aransas in about 25 feet of water (TPWD).
More than 140 old oil and gas platforms have been turned into fish habitat through the Texas Artificial Reef Program.

What you can catch

Redfish (red drum)
All year in the bays and at the jetties; bull reds peak Sep-Oct.
Speckled trout
Busiest Feb-Apr and Jun-Aug; 15-20 inch slot, 3 per day.
Sheepshead
Jetties and piers, best Jan-Apr.
Tarpon
Jul-Oct around the jetties and pass; 85-inch minimum to keep, 1 per day.
Flounder
Oct-Dec in the bays, but closed Nov 1 - Dec 14.
King mackerel
Most active May-Sep; 27-inch minimum, 3 per day.
Red snapper
Offshore reefs and rigs; state and federal waters have different rules.
Mahi-mahi and sailfish
Blue-water targets Jul-Sep.

Month by month

January	Sheepshead at the jetties and piers; winter trout best at night.
February	Black drum; trout bite picks up.
March	Jack crevalle show; sheepshead and trout good.
April	Cobia arrive; trout and sheepshead still good.
May	Kingfish active. 2026 federal-water red snapper season opened May 22 for private anglers.
June	Mahi, sailfish and tuna offshore; federal charter red snapper season opened Jun 1, 2026.
July	Deep Sea Roundup tournament; tarpon and offshore pelagics.
August	Kingfish, sharks, blackfin tuna and mahi offshore; summer trout.
September	Bull redfish peak begins; tarpon and sailfish still around.
October	Bull reds and tarpon; flounder gigging best late Sep to early Nov.
November	Flounder closed Nov 1 - Dec 14. Offshore tuna and kingfish.
December	Flounder reopens Dec 15; trout bite slowest of the year, but redfish and snapper still possible.

Tips

Bring your own license; the town's piers do not sell them.
Trim up and idle when crossing grass flats in Redfish Bay; uprooting seagrass is illegal.
Use circle hooks with natural bait for red snapper, and keep a venting tool or descending device ready for reef fish.
Use the TPWD artificial reef map to find the Lone Star, Boatman's and Corpus Christi reef sites before running offshore.
Log your red snapper in the Texas Hunt & Fish app; TPWD uses these reports to manage the federal season.

Rules and license

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD); NOAA Fisheries / Gulf Council in federal waters · Official rules page ↗

Texas fishing license with saltwater endorsement required to land fish from state or federal water. Limits shown are TPWD's Sep 1, 2026 - Aug 31, 2027 rules.
Red snapper, state waters (out to 9 nautical miles): open all year, 4 per day, 15-inch minimum. Federal waters, private anglers: opened May 22, 2026, 2 per day, 16-inch minimum; still open as of Oct 5, 2026. Federally permitted charter boats: Jun 1 - Oct 26, 2026.
Redfish 20-28 inch slot, 3 per day (plus tagged oversize fish). Speckled trout 15-20 inch slot, 3 per day (plus tagged fish over 28).
Flounder: 15-inch minimum, 5 per day; closed Nov 1 - Dec 14.
Tarpon: 1 per day, 85-inch minimum. Cobia: 1 per day, 40-inch minimum. Sheepshead: 5 per day, 15-inch minimum.
Redfish Bay State Scientific Area: uprooting seagrass prohibited (since 2006); statewide ban on uprooting seagrass since 2013.
Reef fish in Texas state waters: a venting tool or rigged descending device must be used on fish showing barotrauma.

Rules change. Always check the official page before you fish.

Boat ramps and marinas

The map above shows 8 boat ramps and 1 marinas from OpenStreetMap. Tap any dot for directions.

Boat ramp near Port Aransas Pass
Boat ramp near Turtle Cove
Port Aransas Marina

Sources

Checked October 2026. BigJoe does not invent facts: every number on this page comes from the sources listed above.