Port Aransas spearfishing forecast — United States

Q: Can you spear redfish in Port Aransas?

No. Red drum is a Texas game fish.

Q: What are realistic spear targets?

Nongame fish such as sheepshead and flounder, subject to current rules.

Q: Do I need a saltwater endorsement?

Yes. Use a Texas fishing license with saltwater endorsement.

Q: Is the Liberty Ship Reef a shore dive?

No. It is an offshore boat dive.

Port Aransas · United States

5.3

wave 0.4 m head-on

visibility4m

Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.

Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 17:48

Sources & confidence

Sources: IPMA · NDBC buoys · Copernicus Marine
Method: Model consensus, read per window
Freshness: Re-read every hour, per coast

Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine

The verdict comes from seven water factors and hard safety gates — not ten tabs. Go or stay.

How we score the water

Our own model

Our own forecast engine — not a third-party widget. It weighs these water factors into one go-or-stay verdict for this coast; the 0–10 dial is that verdict, read out as a number.

Swell & wave memory: Height, period and direction of the swell, plus the wake of recent storms — an old storm still stirs the water, and the engine remembers.
Wind & gusts: Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
Tide phase: Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
Water temperature: Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
Currents & outflow: Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
Rain runoff & air clarity: Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
Coast shape & exposure: How the coast faces the swell — a sheltered cove keeps the water clean; an exposed, head-on point takes a penalty.

Safety gates

Thunderstorm forecast — an instant red, no exceptions.
An official warning (MeteoAlarm / IPMA) — yellow, or red for the higher ranks.
Missing input data — a would-be green is capped to yellow rather than overstated.
Strong disagreement between forecast models — a green day is pulled back to yellow.
Night hours — forced red; the window is closed after dark.

It all folds into a single 0–10 score and one verdict: go or stay.

A forecast, not a guarantee — the sea has the last word.

Where to get in, where to hunt

Entry points with coordinates

Seabed relief — promising ground

This verdict — in your pocket. Open the app for the week's window.

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

Android beta — QR code — point your camera

0 m

Surface

Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.

spearo.app

calmupdated 17:48

Port Aransas — solo, off the rocks

BORDERLINE

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · wind-wave — choppy surface

wave 0.4 m head-onwind 21, gusts 26 km/hvisibility ~6 mwindow 15:00–21:00

today, best window 18:00–21:00

fish · Visibility 6 m · Water 29.9°C

confidence medium · verdict for the selected day

Before entering, check the camera and the surge

Whole week — tap a day. is driving swell right now.

Solo risk: carry a float · tell someone your plan and exit time · doubt = don't go. A model-based planner; the call is made on site.

Selected day

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

The day is picked above, in the hero. Here are that day's windows, the hour-by-hour map and the trends. Tap a window to break down the conditions.

Wednesday · today2026-07-22

06:45–20:23 · first quarter

▲ 03:00▼ 17:00 · 0.4 m

Hours (06→20)

Day's trends

Tide-0.03 m

Wave0.44 m

Wind18 km/h

Water30 °C

fish activity: moonset 01:04 · moderate · moon underfoot 08:00 · high · moonrise 14:59 · moderate · moon overhead 20:20 · high

Conditions window15:00–18:00

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish

Hs 0.36 mperiod 3.6 s head-onwind 20→23surge 0.2viz 4 m

0.36 mup to ~0.72 · 163° head-on

3.6 sswell moderate

20→23gusts 23 km/h

0.2weak surge

0.22m/s

4 mrecent swell

30°C5 mm + hood

▼17:00tide turn near

Atmosphere17 kmlandmarks visible

moderatemoonrise

strong wind 20 km/h, gusts 23 — caution
northerly wind picks up after midday
low water — slack

confidence mediumday

Open the seafloor map with entry points

Your best window — with you. Forecast in your pocket.

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

−10 m

The water column

Visibility and what drives it — post-storm clearing, river plume, temperature and the thermocline.

What it is

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

spearo.app folds wind, wave, swell period, visibility, tides, water temperature and risk into a single verdict — go to the spot or not. It computes 7 days ahead from open marine models (Open-Meteo, IPMA), with no sign-up and no accounts. Built for solo spearfishing off the rocks, where any mistake costs dearly.

Now live: 1152 spots across 189 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.

See all spots

−20 m

The seabed

Relief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.

On the rock

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

The models set the window. Whether you go in is read only at the water: count the sets, watch the surge on the entry. If in doubt, you don't get in.

Entry points

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Scouted entries, coloured by today. The colour is the sea state at the spot, not a guarantee: the wash and a slippery entry you judge on site.

Open the seafloor map

MU-770L Lonestar ReefPort Aransas

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today

window
tide
shelter
hazard
access

Shallow nearshore, easy freedive.

Google Maps

MU-802 Mustang Island Liberty Ship ReefPort Aransas

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today

window
tide
shelter
hazard
access

Three WWII Liberty ships.

Google Maps

Port Aransas South JettyPort Aransas

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today

window
tide
shelter
hazard
access

Iconic granite jetty.

Google Maps

SOLO is the biggest risk: underwater you can black out from lack of oxygen silently and fatally, with no one around. Solo is never truly «safe». Below are the best weather windows; carry a buoy, tell someone your plan and exit time, and any doubt — don't go.

One morning glance — and you know.

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

≈

Surfacing

Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.

Live cameras, map & reference

Cameras · live

Look at the water
right now.

Check the cam BEFORE you leave. Foam, brown/green murk, or waves washing the entry rocks = No-go. At night/in fog the cam is useless — treat it as «unknown», NOT «green».

connecting to the stream…

● LIVE↗

Aquarius at Park Road 22 (Ozolio)Live (ozolio) — Aquarius at Park Road 22 (Ozolio). Operator iframe embed. Read the water before you go.camera: ozolio ↗

more: The Dunes Condos PTZ (HDOnTap) ↗

Open the seafloor map →

Reference

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now

red snapper
Lutjanus campechanus · 10–45 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
Red snapper: state-set season (typically May–Oct), 2–4/day, 15–16″.
sheepshead
Archosargus probatocephalus · 2–15 m · legal
flounder
Paralichthys spp. · 1–20 m · legal
cobia (ling)
Rachycentron canadum · 3–30 m · legal
Texas: spear NONGAME only (sheepshead/flounder); gamefish (red drum/seatrout/cobia) pole-and-line only.

Law

✓Saltwater licence (+endorsement) per state: FL $17/$47, AL res $30, MS ~$13/$30, LA res $32, TX licence + saltwater endorsement.
✓Texas: spear only (sheepshead/flounder); gamefish (red drum/seatrout/cobia) pole-and-line only.
✓Red snapper: state-set season. Federal reef waters: spear + allowed outside the stressed area, descending device required.

⛔ 🚫 Goliath/Nassau grouper, Gulf sturgeon, sawfish, sea turtles, mammals and many sharks — take prohibited.
⛔ ⚠️ Texas & Alabama: gamefish (red drum/seatrout) pole-and-line only, NOT by spear. : banned in FL/TX, allowed in federal waters outside the stressed area.

US spearfishing law is state-by-state. License, spearable species, powerhead rules and distances vary; federal sanctuaries (Gray's Reef, the Keys, Flower Garden Banks) ban spearfishing. Always confirm with the state agency and local ordinances.

Safety protocol

Sets: watch the wave trains ≥15 min before entering; Hmax ≈ 2×Hs, the wash can run 50 m past the foam line. A lull >10 min with period >12 s = a big set «overdue», do NOT enter; enter right after a full set passes and re-check at minute 30.
Exit FIRST: find your exit AND a backup before entering. On a rocky/boulder shore a 0.5 m rise in swell can make the exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer.
Headland rip: prominent points often have a permanent topographic rip regardless of the model — locate it, enter/exit on the windward side, never swim against it.
Cold: wetsuit per the SST chip; the first shiver = a metabolic surge and a drop in breath-hold → get out at the first steady shiver. Cap the session at 45–60 min below 15 °C.
Solo discipline: buoy up; tell someone the spot and exit time; conservative breath-hold (never push it in cold/murky/surfy water); visibility <3 m — don't enter.
Afternoon wind: on many coasts the wind builds from midday — plan to be out of the water by midday; the chop builds — get out.
UV 11:00–15:00 (UVI ≥6): sunscreen and cover up on the surface interval.
Solo is a fundamental risk (hypoxic blackout with no buddy). Any doubt = No-go.

Local guide · Port Aransas

Spearfishing in Port Aransas: spots, seasons and rules

Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher

Spearfishing in Port Aransas is a legal-device puzzle wrapped around good structure. The granite South Jetty is the iconic freedive line, while MU-770L Lonestar Reef and MU-802 Mustang Island Liberty Ship Reef add boat options. The target list is narrow in Texas state water: think nongame fish such as sheepshead and flounder. Game fish, including red drum, spotted seatrout and cobia, are not spear targets. That single rule prevents most costly mistakes.

TL;DR

Port Aransas is a Texas jetty and nearshore-reef dive, anchored by the South Jetty and Mustang Island reefs.
Texas allows spear harvest for nongame fish; red drum, seatrout and cobia are game fish and pole-and-line only.
East-southeast chop from 85-175 degrees can dirty the jetty fast, especially near 125 degrees.
Carry a Texas fishing license with saltwater endorsement and confirm every target before loading the gun.

Best spearfishing spots in Port Aransas

The South Jetty is convenient but crowded and current-prone. Offshore reefs reduce shore conflict but need a boat, clean water and the same nongame-only discipline. Treat every redfish, trout or cobia sighting as hook-and-line water, not a spear chance.

Spot	Type	Depth	Level	Access	Notes
Port Aransas South Jetty	Granite jetty	Shallow rock edge	Intermediate	Shore entry from the jetty area	Classic local freedive water. Give anglers space and target nongame fish only.
MU-770L Lonestar Reef	Nearshore artificial reef	Shallow reef structure	Intermediate boat dive	Boat access off Mustang Island	A practical easy-run reef when Gulf water is clean and legal targets are identified.
MU-802 Mustang Island Liberty Ship Reef	Liberty ship reef	Deeper offshore structure	Advanced boat dive	Boat access offshore	Three World War II Liberty ships create larger structure; plan current, depth and pickup carefully.

When does Port Aransas get clean water?

Watch the 85-175 degree sector, especially southeast energy near 125 degrees. Several calm days and a friendly tide are more valuable than sun. NOAA station 42092 sits near the Aransas Pass channel entrance and gives a close wave reference.

What can you spear in Texas water?

The key TPWD rule is nongame only for spear. Sheepshead and flounder are the practical names in the supplied list. Red snapper has separate season complexity, and cobia, red drum and spotted seatrout are game fish for legal hook-and-line methods.

How should the South Jetty be dived?

Enter only where you can exit without being rolled into granite. Keep a float visible, avoid anglers, and leave if water turns brown. If a fish is not clearly nongame and open, do not shoot it. That includes impressive gamefish cruising the rocks.

What makes the offshore reefs different?

Lonestar and the Liberty ships remove shore casting conflict but add boat handling, depth and navigation work. They do not loosen Texas target rules, so the same nongame filter follows you offshore.