Every Fishing Pier on the Texas Coast
Public piers, dikes and platforms from Sabine Pass to the Rio Grande — what is published about each: length, storm history, hours, fees, and what it is known for. No figure appears here without a source on the region page.
Sabine / Port Arthur
Pleasure Island Pier
275 feet long, on the lake side of Pleasure Island next to the Miracle Beach Boat Launch and the Pleasure Island Marina. It is unlit, which in practice makes it a daytime pier. No fee schedule or posted hours have been published; the tourism office takes enquiries on (409) 982–4675.
Sea Rim State Park
A 4,100-acre park split into a Beach Unit with 5.2 miles of drivable beachfront and a Marsh Unit with more than 16 miles of paddling trails used by kayakers, birders, crabbers, anglers and hunters. Entry was $3 for ages 13 and up as of 2014. Hurricane Rita in 2005 and Hurricane Ike in 2008 both wrecked it; the park reopened with limited services in 2009 and held a grand reopening in 2014 after Phase I redevelopment — a dune boardwalk with rinse showers, a 15-site beachside full-service campground, a six-person marsh-view cabin and a new day-use area, paid for with $2 million from the 81st Legislature and $187,000 of Deepwater Horizon restoration money. There is a free loaner tackle program, and no fishing license is required to fish from shore inside the park with an entry permit. There is no confirmed Gulf-side fishing pier here - the access is surf, shore and marsh.
McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge piers
Free public fishing: two piers on Ten-Mile Cut and five piers along Clam Lake, plus surf fishing along the Gulf shoreline and open roadside ditches. Pole and line, rod and reel, or hand-held line only. Harvest of frogs, turtles, shrimp and oysters is prohibited, and fishing from water-control structures is banned. Five shallow-draft ramps serve the refuge — two at Clam Lake, one each at Ten-Mile Cut and Five-Mile Cut, and Star Lake seasonally from 15 March to 31 August — with motors capped at 25 HP and no personal watercraft. No pier lengths, lighting or construction dates have been published.
4 Pier Boat Launch and Walter Umphrey State Park launch
These are the two named launches used to reach the jetties. Sabine Pass also has an 87-slip marina supporting inshore and offshore charter operations. Neither launch is a fishing pier in its own right, but for boat anglers they are the front door to the rocks.
Galveston Complex
61st Street Fishing Pier
Listed as open 24 hours, seven days, subject to change; a second source gives March-December hours of 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., so treat the operating hours as fluid and call ahead. A Texas fishing license is required. There is a bait-and-tackle shop with frozen bait, rod rentals, cleaning stations, a viewing deck for non-anglers, snacks, soft drinks, beer and margaritas, and an ATM. No glass, no outside alcohol, service animals only. Day pass runs around $12 with senior and military discounts. Two-rod limit, 10-ft maximum rod length. No published length, build date or Ike-rebuild detail exists for this pier.
Galveston Fishing Pier (the 91st Street pier)
Built in 1971 and open 24 hours, billed as the longest privately-owned pier between Texas and Maine — though no length in feet has been published. Hurricane Ike severely damaged it in 2008 and it has since been rebuilt. Bait and tackle, rod rentals, bike and board rentals, surf instruction, fishing guides and Jimmy's Place restaurant on site; day pass around $12 with a snack bar and grill. Three-rod limit here, against two at 61st Street.
Texas City Dike
Called the longest human-built fishing pier on the planet. Funding was authorized under the 1913 Rivers and Harbors Act and the original wooden dike was completed in 1915 at $1.4 million, championed by Hugh B. Moore with Lt. Col. C.S. Riche of the Corps overseeing construction; the purpose was to deflect silt away from the Texas City ship channel. It was extended to 5.4 miles in 1934 — the modern figure is commonly given as 5.3 miles — and was extended and reinforced with granite in the 1960s. Free in winter; $10 per vehicle from early March to late October, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., $20 on holiday weekends, no overnight camping. Boat ramps (Samson/Yarbrough is the busy one), fishing piers, rock casting areas, wading flats, a playground and trails; Boyd's One Stop and Lee's Bait and Tackle are the bait shops. Ike's surge went over the top in September 2008 and closed it; it reopened on 11 September 2010, two years later, with restoration still in progress.
Seawolf Park Fishing Pier
The park is a memorial to USS Seawolf (SS-197), sunk in error by U.S. forces in 1944. Congress asked each state to build a submarine memorial park and Texas chose Pelican Island, a former immigration station. USS Cavalla arrived in 1971 as the centerpiece; USS Stewart, a destroyer escort, is also on site, along with the conning tower of USS Carp, the sail of USS Tautog, and two 56-inch bronze propellers and memorial guns from USS Texas. Pier fishing is by fee — roughly a $10 pass plus parking — while shoreline fishing is free. Length, lighting and storm-damage history have not been published.
Rollover Pass Pier
The GLO's replacement for the closed pass: a 1,000-foot T-head concrete pier with lighting, ADA accessibility, a bait shop, a fish-cleaning station, parking and a dune walkover, alongside Bayside Park and restoration of the Lauderdale Boat Ramp and Dock. Construction kicked off in mid-March 2025 with a July 2026 target. A $32 million cost figure and a six-month delay have been reported in headlines but not confirmed — treat both as unpublished. Check current status before you drive out.
San Luis Pass County Park
A 15-acre bay park on the Brazoria side of San Luis Pass, administratively Region 3 but physically half of this pass. Paved full-service RV camping, cabins, a meeting room, an interpretive center, a pavilion, restrooms, fish-cleaning stations, paved parking and a boat launch. It was a KOA campground until Brazoria County took it over in 1993. Seasonal fee plus parking. Bank and boat fishing are legal; entering the restricted water is not.
Sylvan Beach Pier
Damaged by Hurricane Beryl in 2024. La Porte council approved repairs and the pier has since reopened. No published length, repair cost or reopening date is available.
Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier (no fishing)
Listed here so you do not drive to it with a rod. The original 1943 pleasure pier had rides, an arcade, an aquarium, the Marine Ballroom and fishing at the end; Hurricane Carla destroyed it in 1961. The USS Flagship Hotel was built over the water on the site in 1965 and demolished after Hurricane Ike in 2008. Landry's rebuilt the pier, soft-opening on 25 May 2012, extending 1,130 ft into the Gulf. The modern pier does not offer fishing.
Freeport & Surfside
Surfside Jetty County Park
Day-use only, 8 a.m. to dusk. The headline structure is the paved jetty itself, roughly six-tenths of a mile long — effectively a walk-on fishing pier of granite and concrete. Paved parking, playground, restrooms, palapas, volleyball courts and a lagoon walking area. The park encompasses historic Fort Velasco and the Velasco Town Battery with original pre-1860s brass cannons. A GLO Coastal Management Program grant of $103,367.52, started 1 October 2009 and completed in 2012, rebuilt a destroyed footbridge, resurfaced the trail and added interpretive signage. One third-party listing marks the park as closed while Brazoria County's own page shows it operating — confirm the status before you drive down. Free boat access nearby via the Village of Surfside's public ramp off Thunder Road, near the Coast Guard station.
Quintana Beach County Park pier
A wooden, lighted fishing pier on the beachfront. Day use is 8 a.m. to dusk year-round, with the office closed Mondays and some holidays. The fee is $5 per vehicle per day from Memorial Day to Labor Day, cash or check at the gate, and campers are exempt. Restrooms and showers, covered pavilions, picnic areas with grills, RV sites and cabins, playground and volleyball. Contact 979–233–1461. No pier length or build date has been published.
Bryan Beach and the Brazos River mouth
Surf and river-mouth shore fishing rather than a piered facility — guide literature treats it as walk-and-wade and drive-on beach access, and no public pier has been confirmed here. The river mouth is where the outsized reds come from: fish pushing 35 inches are not uncommon there.
San Luis Pass County Park
Administratively Brazoria County and physically the Freeport side of San Luis Pass. A 15-acre bay park with paved full-service RV camping, cabins, a meeting room, an interpretive center, a pavilion, restrooms, fish-cleaning stations, paved parking and a boat launch. It was a KOA campground until Brazoria County took it over in 1993. Seasonal fee plus parking. Bank and boat fishing are legal; entering the restricted water is a Class C offence with a fine up to $500.
Matagorda & Sargent
Matagorda Bay Nature Park (LCRA)
Operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority. The park has a fishing pier, boat ramp, swimming areas, kayak rentals, flushing restrooms, showers, a gift shop, Wi-Fi and the Redfish Hall event space. Open daily sunrise to sunset. Entry is $5 for adults, free for children 12 and under, $2 for seniors 65 and over, military and disabled visitors, and free with an LCRA Parks Pass. LCRA publishes no pier length. Beach restoration work near the park is expected to produce intermittent noise through early 2027.
Jetty Park (Matagorda County)
County park at the very end of the road, where the Colorado River meets the Gulf. There is no usage fee. Paved parking plus beach parking, restrooms, covered picnic tables and trash cans; camping is permitted. Outdoor rinse showers are also described on site. Anglers use it to launch kayaks, work the river and surf-fish between the jetties.
Matagorda Harbor
Opened in 1990 with the Mouth of the Colorado River Project. Roughly 250 vehicle and trailer spaces serve the public ramps and launching is free. Eight overnight transient slips sit on the quay wall with 30/50-amp power and municipal water, and there are pump-out and oil and filter recycling stations. From here you can reach East and West Matagorda Bays, the Colorado River and the Gulf through the jetties.
Sargent - "Little Stubby"
A pier project begun in 2017 was underfunded and produced a short structure locals call "Little Stubby." No published figure exists for its length, and no authoritative page states its owner or current status. Treat it as a local curiosity rather than a planned destination until that changes.
Port O'Connor
King Fisher Beach pier
Port O'Connor's public shore-fishing comes down to the jetty and the King Fisher Beach pier. A separate account describes a public beach with a lighted pier at the east end of town. Length, ownership and hours have no published source — go and look rather than plan around a figure.
Seadrift Bayfront Fishing Pier
Built in 2013: 300 feet long with a 50-foot T-head, with handicap parking, concrete walkways, a timbered railing and lighting throughout. It was funded by the Coastal Impact Assistance Program through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, drawn from 2007–2010 offshore oil and gas revenue; Calhoun County was one of 18 Texas counties funded. Urban Engineering of Victoria designed it, and interpretive signage on San Antonio Bay was planned.
Lighthouse Beach, Port Lavaca
Public park on Lavaca Bay with a fishing pier, splash pad, playground and boat ramp; restrooms at the adjacent Bauer Community Center. Parking is free and the beach area is open 24 hours. The Formosa Wetlands Walkway, a long wooden boardwalk over the water, connects to the Alcoa Birding Tower on the Calhoun Loop birding trail. The relocated Halfmoon Reef Lighthouse of 1858 stands nearby with accessible grounds. No published pier length.
Indianola bayfront
Indianola today is a small unincorporated fishing village, and local pages reference bayfront fishing access. No authoritative source gives a pier name, length or owner, so none is stated here. What is documented is the drowned townsite offshore and the 1963 historic landmark marker.
Rockport & Aransas Pass
Copano Bay Fishing Pier (the old causeway) - closed
Two sections: 2,500 feet on the south side and 6,190 feet on the north side of Copano Bay. It was originally the State Highway 35 causeway; the middle section was removed in 1967 when a new, higher causeway opened to let larger ships through, and the remnants became a state park pier operated by TPWD from 1967. On 1 November 2005 TPWD transferred control to Aransas County Navigation District No. 1 under HB 2108, at which point a Texas fishing license and saltwater endorsement became required because it was no longer a state park. It was open 24 hours a day before closure, and featured on Texas Country Reporter in 2013. It was permanently closed in August 2017 after one section collapsed and inspections showed severe deterioration of the 80-plus-year-old structure. The cited cause is structural failure, not Hurricane Harvey — the closure predates Harvey's landfall on 25 August 2017 in the sourcing.
Goose Island State Park pier
The rebuilt pier extends 1,620 feet into St. Charles and Aransas Bay. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 tore off lighting fixtures, removed floorboards, cracked support structures and destroyed handrails; the pier reopened in November 2020, more than three years after the storm. No published rebuild cost. Target species from the deck are spotted seatrout, snook, red and black drum, mullet and flounder.
Rockport Beach Park piers
Two fishing piers, plus a saltwater pool, five event pavilions, volleyball courts, playgrounds and a walking trail along Little Bay. It was the first "Blue Wave Beach" in Texas, recognized by the Clean Beaches Coalition. Parking is $10 daily; an annual pass is $40, or $20 for Aransas County residents. Hours are 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Sunday, and 6 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Little Bay, the saltwater pool and the beach are tested for bacteria twice weekly, with results posted at TexasBeachWatch.com. Managed by the Aransas County Navigation District, (361) 729–6661.
Rockport Fishing Pier (Market Street)
Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with no admission charge. Handrails, lighting, trash cans, ample parking, handicap accessible, restaurants nearby. Managed by the Aransas County Navigation District. Species year-round are redfish, black drum, speckled trout, flounder and sheepshead, with September through February called out as the best window for redfish and trout. No published length, and no published account of its Harvey rebuild history.
Aransas County Navigation District facilities
ACND operates Rockport Harbor at 911 Navigation Circle, Fulton Harbor, Cove Harbor at 121 Cove Harbor Dr N — described as the busiest boat launch in Aransas County - the 25-acre Rockport Beach, Veteran's Memorial Park, the Festival Grounds and a Copano Bay boat ramp on the SH-35 causeway between Rockport and Lamar. In total that is five public boat launches, fishing piers and two fishing jetties, two enclosed pavilions, a bilge-water reclamation center and 1,900 acres of dry and submerged land.
Port Aransas & Corpus Christi
Bob Hall Pier
Built in 1950 and named for Nueces County Commissioner Robert Reid Hall, the original wooden pier ran 300 ft and cost $17,300. A 300 ft extension went on in 1952. In 1960 the runaway shrimp boat Big Tinker struck it; repairs came out of a $12,000 insurance settlement. Hurricane Carla in September 1961 destroyed the wooden pier outright and it was rebuilt to 1,200 ft within a year. Hurricane Beulah in September 1967 took half of it; only 600 ft was rebuilt, with a 127 ft section added. Hurricane Celia in August 1970 did mild damage, quickly repaired. Hurricane Allen in August 1980 totally destroyed the then 840 ft wooden pier, damage put at $627,000. The concrete pier opened on 25 May 1983: 1,200 ft, built from 1,250 pre-fabricated concrete deck slabs at a cost of nearly $1.7 million, mostly FEMA and federal grant money. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and then Hurricane Hanna in July 2020 wrecked it again, and Hanna is the storm that ended the 1983 structure. Demolition and rebuild dragged on for years. The replacement cost $28.5 million and was designed, in Commissioner Brent Chesney's words, for a 50-year lifespan and a hundred-year storm: wider, longer, taller and stronger than the old pier, deliberately overbuilt. Completion was targeted for late February 2026 with a restaurant and expanded concession area to follow, and the pier has since reopened, drawing crowds from across Texas. There is no published figure yet for the new pier's length, and none for current fees or hours; check Nueces County Coastal Parks before you go. Note a common error: the 1983 pier is widely quoted at 1,240 ft, but TSHA gives 1,200 ft. The 1,240 figure appears to be Horace Caldwell's number bleeding across.
Horace Caldwell Pier
A 1,240 ft elevated pier over the Gulf, run by Nueces County Coastal Parks inside I.B. Magee Beach Park. Bait and tackle rental and sales and concessions on site; the park phone is (361) 749–5333. It is described locally as the longest pier in the immediate Port A area, open for night fishing, with staff on hand 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A local guide quotes $3 per person and $4 per pole, but that is a secondary figure and not the county's own schedule, so treat it as indicative. The original build date and the hurricane rebuild history are not published on the county page.
Roberts Point Park Pier
A free town pier on the Port Aransas ship channel, well lit for night fishing, with the ferry and shipping traffic going past. No published length or build date.
Ancel Brundrett Pier
A bay-side town pier, worked hardest in fall and spring. No published length, hours or lighting detail.
Cole Park Pier
A free municipal pier on the Corpus Christi Bay shoreline, listed by the city's visitor bureau. Length, build date and lighting are not published.
Cos-Way Fishing Pier & Bait and Tackle
A pay pier with its own bait and tackle shop on the Nueces Bay Causeway. Length, fee and hours are not published anywhere we can cite. It is widely said that Cos-Way and Red Dot are remnants of the old Nueces Bay causeway alignment, which the geography supports, but we have found no source that states it, so we do not assert it.
Red Dot Pier
A privately operated pay pier on the Nueces Bay causeway alignment, with its own site. No published length, fee or hours.
Indian Point Pier
The Portland-side pier on the Nueces Bay causeway, part of Indian Point Park and listed among the area's fishing piers. Specifics are not published.
Marker 37 Marina pier
Listed by the city's visitor bureau among the area's fishing piers. Admission and fishing fees vary by pier here and should be checked before you go; the piers in this group generally have spacious decks, lighting for night fishing and supply stores nearby.
Baffin Bay & the Upper Laguna Madre
Kaufer-Hubert Memorial County Park pier
A lighted county pier on Baffin Bay, in a Kleberg County park that also has a boat launch and dock access, large RV camping sites, picnic areas and restrooms. Anglers fish it for speckled trout; birders work the shallows for shorebirds and waders. Length, build date, fee and hours are not published by the county anywhere we can cite. Kleberg County has closed and reopened its beaches and piers as a unit during emergencies, so check before a trip after weather. One common misconception to clear up: it is a county park, not a state park, whatever the review sites say.
Riviera Fishing Pier
Listed separately from Kaufer-Hubert as a shore-fishing option on Baffin. We cannot confirm whether this is a distinct structure or the Kaufer-Hubert pier under a local name, and we would rather say so than invent a second pier. Assume one pier at Loyola Beach until someone on the ground says otherwise.
Bird Island Basin (access, not a pier)
There is no public fishing pier inside Padre Island National Seashore that we can find. Bird Island Basin is the region's main wade and launch access to the Upper Laguna instead: a small picnic area with tables and shade structures, a gravel parking lot, vault toilets and dumpsters, popular with birdwatchers, anglers, campers and windsurfers. Paddlecraft launch straight off the shoreline; motorboats use the Bird Island Basin Boat Ramp about five minutes away, which carries its own boat ramp pass. Tidal mudflats near the day-use area draw shorebirds. An adjacent primitive campground has no hookups. The Worldwinds Windsurfing concession rents and teaches windsurfing, kayaking and paddleboarding here. Current dollar amounts for the entrance fee, the ramp pass and camping are not something we publish; check the park.
Port Mansfield
Fred Stone Park pier
One of the few publicly accessible fishing piers reaching the Lower Laguna Madre. The Texas General Land Office records a two-phase project: Phase 1 addressed pier reconstruction and was nearly complete at the time of writing, and Phase 2 covered construction following engineering design, funded at $335,000 in county money and built to ADA compliance. The park supports fishing, hunting, birdwatching, crab trapping, beachcombing and kayaking, with Gulf access via the Port Mansfield Gulf Channel. Length, lighting, fee and hours are not published; the harbor is run by the Willacy County Navigation District, which is who to ask.
The "New Fishing Pier"
A local guide refers to a New Fishing Pier as a Port Mansfield gathering spot. This is almost certainly the rebuilt Fred Stone pier under an informal name, but we cannot confirm they are the same structure and we would rather flag the ambiguity than invent a second pier in a town of 132 people.
South Padre & Port Isabel
Queen Isabella State Fishing Pier (the old causeway)
The best story on this stretch of coast: a highway that became a pier that is becoming a reef. The 1954 causeway was replaced in the early 1970s and the old bridge went to Texas Parks and Wildlife, which ran it as a leased concession on a one-acre park. TSHA lists speckled trout, sand trout, croaker, sheepshead and gafftop catfish among the catch. After decommissioning, the submerged bridge sections accumulated marine growth and became an accidental artificial reef. It is now being removed: the western end has deteriorated into a navigation hazard, and TPWD and the Texas General Land Office are taking out the remaining 3,187-ft structure and repurposing its concrete into a purpose-built artificial reef. Take care with third-party listing sites: several still advertise a Queen Isabella State Fishing Pier with 24-hour access and equipment rentals at 501 E Maxan Street in Port Isabel, but that is Pirate's Landing's address and the aggregators have merged the two. The old state pier's operating status is unconfirmed and probably defunct given the removal project. Do not drive down on the strength of a listing page.
Pirate’s Landing Fishing Pier
A commercial pay pier with a bait shop, snack bar, restrooms and a restaurant; the fee is listed at $9.00. Redfish, speckled trout and flounder are the standard catch. It is described as the longest pier in Texas, and that claim has no number behind it that we can cite: no published length in feet, and no operator statement. Given that Pirate's Landing is built on part of the old causeway alignment the claim is plausible, but the relationship between this pier and the old Queen Isabella structure needs untangling before anyone asserts it as fact.
Jim’s Pier
A long-standing South Padre institution on the Laguna Madre bay side, with a fully stocked bait and tackle shop, equipment rentals and charter services. It is listed as free, which would be unusual for a commercial marina pier and which we have not been able to confirm. Length, history, hours and lighting are likewise unpublished. Redfish, flounder and speckled trout are the listed catch.
Isla Blanca Park jetty access
Not a pier, but the shore-fishing access everyone uses. The jetties at the southern tip of South Padre are free to fish once you are in the park, and they produce kingfish, Spanish mackerel and snook, with access to deep water. Park entrance fees run $11 to $15 with additional parking charges, so the fishing is free and the parking is not. A bait stand sits at the head of the rocks.
Andy Bowie Park
A Cameron County Gulf-beach park with beach access, pavilion and parking. It is a beach-access and surf-fishing site rather than a pier site. We could not reach a current Cameron County Parks page for it and will not publish details we cannot source.