Redfish Charters on the Port Aransas Flats
Redfish are the fish most people book us for, and Port Aransas is about as good a place to chase them as the Texas coast offers. Shallow water, moving tide, and a fish that will eat in ankle-deep water if you put something in front of it properly.
This page covers how we fish for them and what to expect. How we run a day sets out the wider picture, and there is more on the other three species if redfish are not the whole plan.
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Why redfish work so well here
The bays around Port Aransas are shallow, grassy, and cut through with drains. When the tide runs, bait gets funnelled through those cuts and redfish set up on the outflow to eat it. That’s a predictable pattern, and predictable is what makes a species catchable rather than lucky.
They’ll also feed in water shallow enough that you can watch them do it. A redfish working a flat pushes a wake, and one feeding head-down in a foot of water will stick its tail clear of the surface. That behaviour’s called tailing, and spotting it is the difference between casting hopefully and casting at a fish you can actually see.
The third thing in their favour is temperament. A redfish will forgive a cast that lands a bit long or a retrieve that is slightly too quick, in a way a speckled trout won’t. That’s why we lean on them when there are beginners aboard.
Where we find them
Redfish Bay and Estes Flats carry most of our redfish trips. Grass, potholes, shell points, and the drains between them, all within a few minutes of the harbour on Cotter Ave, so you’re fishing rather than riding.
Shorelines matter more than open water. We work the edges where grass meets sand, the points where bait gets pinned, and the mouths of drains on a falling tide. On higher water we’ll push back into the marsh edges; on lower water we sit on the cuts and let the current bring fish to us.
Bigger fish behave differently. Bull reds gather in and around the passes and the jetty rocks, particularly through late summer and autumn, and those are a heavier proposition on heavier tackle. Worth asking about if that’s what you’re after, because it changes the plan and the gear.
How we fish for them
It depends on the water and on you, and we’ll ask before we leave the dock. In clear conditions with decent light we sight-cast, which means running the boat quietly or poling, spotting fish, and putting a lure or bait ahead of them. It’s the most satisfying way to catch one and it’s the most demanding.
When the water is stirred up or the light is flat, we fish blind but methodically. Soft plastics worked slowly across the grass, gold spoons where we need to cover ground, or bait under a popping cork when we want the fish to find it by sound and scent. None of it’s complicated, and we’ll rig it and show you how.
Tackle is provided and it is matched to the water rather than to what looks impressive. Light enough that a slot fish feels like something, heavy enough that a bull red on the wrong side of a shell bank doesn’t end badly.
What you can keep
Texas manages red drum on a slot. The daily bag is three fish per angler, and a keeper has to measure between twenty and twenty-eight inches. Anything under or over goes back, and we don’t bend that.
The exception is the tag system. Every licence year you’re allowed one red drum over twenty-eight inches using a Red Drum Tag, and a second using a Bonus Red Drum Tag. Fish kept on a tag are in addition to the daily bag, not part of it, and tags are reported through the state app rather than physically attached. If you land a bull red and want to keep it, tell us before it goes in the box so we can sort the tag properly.
We will measure anything borderline rather than guess. The red drum bag and length limits are published by Texas Parks and Wildlife and are worth a look before you come out.
Redfish through the year
They’re here year round, which isn’t true of everything we fish for. Autumn is the season people talk about, when the fish school up and feed hard ahead of the cooling water. Spring is steady and comfortable. Summer means early starts before the heat and the boat traffic. Winter pushes them into the deeper guts on cold snaps, then back onto the flats on a sunny afternoon.
What changes isn’t whether you can catch them, it’s how. Our guide to when the runs happen goes through the year properly.
What else turns up
Redfish share this water. Trout on the same water often come off the same grass edges, drum when the reds go quiet keep a rod bent, and flounder trips work the same transitions with a slower presentation.
We fish inshore only. If you’re after offshore species we’ll point you toward the boats that run them.
Redfish elsewhere on the Coastal Bend
Port Aransas isn’t the only option. The Aransas Pass side shares Redfish Bay and sits closer to protected water on a windy day. Rockport shorelines bring shell and reef into the pattern. The Laguna flats offer the clearest sight-fishing water on this stretch of coast.
There is more on fishing Port Aransas generally if you want the wider picture of what a day here looks like.
Common questions about redfish
What size redfish can we keep?
Between twenty and twenty-eight inches, three per angler per day. Fish outside that slot go back, apart from oversized fish kept on a tag. We’ll measure anything close rather than eyeball it.
What is a bull red and can we keep one?
A bull red is a mature fish over the slot, and they get a lot bigger than twenty-eight inches. You’re allowed one per licence year on a Red Drum Tag and a second on a Bonus Tag, both in addition to your daily bag. Most people photograph them and put them back.
Can we sight-cast for redfish here?
On the right day, yes, and it’s the best fishing we do. It needs decent light and reasonably clear water, so it’s a morning job more often than an afternoon one, and a calm forecast helps more than anything else.
What does tailing mean?
A redfish feeding head-down in very shallow water lifts its tail above the surface. You can spot it from a distance and cast at a fish you can see, rather than searching. It happens on the shallowest flats, usually on a rising tide with the water still.
Do we have to get out of the boat?
No. Plenty of redfish get caught from the deck. Wading lets you approach shallow fish more quietly and cover a shoreline properly, so it’s worth doing if the bottom suits it, but it’s entirely optional.
Are redfish easier than the other species?
More forgiving, which isn’t quite the same thing. They eat readily and they pull hard, so a beginner’s more likely to catch one and enjoy it. Catching them consistently in skinny clear water is as technical as anything out here.
Book a redfish trip
Tell us your dates and whether you’d rather sight-cast, wade, or keep it simple from the boat. Compare half day or full day, then book a redfish trip or call Captain Charlie on (361) 946-5290.