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Texas rules, recreational crab traps
License: Texas fishing license plus saltwater endorsement . Recreational crabs can't be sold.
Up to 6 traps , each no more than 18 cubic feet, at least 100 ft from another trap unless tied to a pier or dock.Each crab-holding chamber needs 2 escape vents of at least 2 3/8 in., plus a degradable panel (untreated jute, sisal or thin wire).
White buoy at least 6 × 6 × 6 in. with a 2 in. contrasting centre stripe. No plastic bottles. A gear tag (valid 10 days) within 6 in. of the buoy or pier.Pull traps or remove crabs only from 30 min before sunrise to 30 min after sunset .
Blue crabs: 5 in. minimum, spine tip to spine tip. No egg-bearing (sponge) crabs. No limit on numbers.
Closed: Feb 19–28, 2027 . No traps in coastal waters during the annual abandoned-trap cleanup.Channels: in Aransas County , traps must be 200 ft from a marked navigable channel. In Nueces and Kleberg counties channels aren't off limits, but boat traffic cuts trap lines, so the map keeps clear of them.
Inside Padre Island National Seashore waters, check park rules first: (361) 949-8173.
Summary of the TPWD Outdoor Annual, valid Sep 1, 2026 to Aug 31, 2027. Always check the current legal devices and crab pages. Suggested trap water stays covered even at low water (so traps aren't left dry), lies within 250 m of the flats where crabs feed, and keeps 60 m clear of maintained channels. It's based on water depth and habitat, not catch records.
How Skyline Scanner works
In the Laguna Madre the moon's tide is only a few centimetres. Wind is what moves the water: a strong north wind can push it out and lower the level 30–60 cm, a southeasterly piles it back in. The flats are almost perfectly level, so a few centimetres decide whether they're covered or bare. Tide tables can't tell you that.
1 · Learn from the satellite record
Landsat and Sentinel-2 have photographed this area hundreds of times since 2013. For each clear image, Skyline Scanner marks every 30 m square as water or dry ground. A water index (MNDWI) separates the two: water absorbs short-wave infrared light, sand reflects it. Clouds and their shadows are removed with the quality layer that comes with each image.
2 · Match each picture to the water level
The NOAA gauge at Bird Island records the water level every six minutes. Each image is paired with the level and the wind at the moment the satellite passed over.
3 · Find each square's tipping point
For every square, Skyline Scanner finds the water level at which it's dry half the time. In effect, that's a height map of the flats built from hundreds of photographs. It also learns how wind tilts the water surface, because a strong wind makes the water at one end of the lagoon higher than at the gauge. Recent years count more than old ones, because the flats shift.
4 · Forecast the water level
A machine-learning model predicts the Bird Island level up to 48 hours ahead from the wind forecast, recent water levels, the Gulf level at Packery Channel and the season. It gives a range, not just one number.
5 · Combine them
For each hour, the forecast range is run through every square's tipping point to give the chance that the square is dry. That's the map.
Picking a date
Past dates use the water level the gauge actually measured, so you see what the flats were like. The next 48 hours use the forecast. Further ahead , no one can forecast the wind, so Skyline Scanner shows an outlook : how exposed each flat typically is at that hour and time of year, from the last 8 years of water levels. It's marked in purple on the chart. Use it to plan, not to go.
What it can't tell you
"Exposed" means the satellite would see dry ground. It doesn't mean firm footing. Soft mud, algal mats, channels narrower than 30 m, fog and fast-rising water don't show up. Always check conditions yourself and know your way back.
Credits
Water-level forecasting on this coast was pioneered by the Conrad Blucher Institute at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, whose neural-network forecasts and TCOON gauge network made this kind of work possible. Skyline Scanner is built so their forecast can replace its own.