Inshore Navigator

Texas bays & passes · NOAA, TPWD, TxGIO & NASA data

Bay

Follows the map as you pan. Range and bearing from Galveston.

Best spots now

WhenNow

Species

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Pinpoint

Zoom in closer (or tap a spot → “Pinpoint”) to see the exact best positions: which part of the jetty, which reef edge, potholes and drop-offs.

How the picks are made

Each spot is scored for each species by multiplying Texas guide and TPWD rules of thumb: time of year (lower coast a few weeks ahead in spring), the spot's structure for the season (reefs, grass, drains, deep holes, jetties), water temperature at that depth, salinity, tide movement and direction, wind on the shoreline, cold fronts and pressure, light and solunar periods, the months the spot was featured as a hotspot, and guide reports from the last two weeks. In Best of all, each spot is labeled with the species it is best for compared with that species' other options today, so the map shows where the trout, flounder and drum are even when redfish score high everywhere; tap a spot to see every species.

Live data: NOAA water temperature, tides and water level; Open-Meteo weather; TWDB salinity; site reports. Conditions refresh about every 30 minutes. Future hours use the forecast; water temperature is projected from the air.

It's a starting point, not a guarantee. Scores compare spots; they don't predict a catch.

Bottom & imagery

Depth shading and shaded relief from the source you pick below. Zoom in for detail.

Source

NOAA NCEI DEM Global Mosaic: one seamless model of NOAA's best data, to ~3 m near the coast, coarser offshore.

Zoom in to level 5+ to load it.

Depth shadingShaded reliefRelief ×4

Opacity

Water & weather

Currents · NOAA bay model (NGOFS2), Sabine–Corpus
Salinity · NOAA model + live TWDB sensors
Wind arrows · Forecast speed & direction, next 72 hours
Wind speed colors · Smooth color map of the forecast wind
Weather stations · Live wind, temp, pressure
Radar loop · NEXRAD, last 50 minutes
Ships (live AIS) · Barges, tugs, ships in the channels

Marks (0)

Tap the map or any spot, reef or grass bed and choose "Add mark". Use "Locate me" to mark where you are.

Not for navigation. Bottom data and reef maps come from surveys of different ages; bars and channels shift. Oyster reef and seagrass maps: TPWD Coastal Fisheries. Currents and salinity: NOAA NGOFS2 model and TWDB sensors.

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Point at or tap the map for position, depth, current, salinity and wind.

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Conditions today by port