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Home › Waters › Texas › Highland Bayou
Bayou · Galveston County, the bayou crossed by FM 646 near Santa Fe, running southeast through the diversion channel toward West Galveston Bay · Texas

Highland Bayou Fishing Guides

A Galveston County bayou at the FM 646 crossing near Santa Fe, gauged for stage, fresh above and tidal below, with redfish and flounder running well upstream.

Bald cypress hung with Spanish moss standing in still bayou water in Louisiana
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Highland Bayou

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About the Highland Bayou

Highland Bayou runs through Galveston County from the prairie above Santa Fe down to West Galveston Bay, and the gauge at FM 646 sits in the middle stretch where the water is still mostly fresh but the tide is not far away. Below the crossing the bayou enters the diversion channel and the park system around it, and from there down it is tidal water in everything but name.

The gauge reports stage. This close to the coast the reading combines rainfall runoff with tide and wind, and a hard southeast blow will raise the lower bayou without a drop of rain falling. Anglers who fish it regularly treat the trace as a rough guide and rely more on what the water actually looks like when they arrive, which on a bayou this accessible is easy enough to check. A rising trace with no rain in the forecast usually means wind and tide rather than runoff, and the fishing holds up better in that case than it would after a storm.

The fishery splits neatly. Above the crossing it is bass, sunfish, catfish and gar in slow tree-lined water. Below it, and particularly through the diversion channel and into the bay, redfish, black drum, sheepshead and flounder all show up, and mullet are everywhere. Highland Bayou Park on the lower reach gives good public bank access, parking and a launch for small craft, which makes this one of the more approachable bayous on the upper Texas coast for an angler without a boat. Santa Fe, Hitchcock and La Marque are all immediately at hand, and Galveston is a short drive south. Between the park, the crossings and the diversion channel there is enough public frontage here to keep a bank angler busy for several trips without repeating water.

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Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

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Posting to Highland Bayou.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

FM 646 crossing - the gauge bridge near Santa Fe, with bank access and the reference point for the middle bayou.
Highland Bayou Park - the county park on the lower reach, with parking, bank frontage and a small-craft launch.
Santa Fe - the town at the crossing, with fuel, food and the nearest tackle.
Hitchcock - the town downstream toward the bay, with additional access and launch options.
Diversion channel - the engineered lower reach, tidal water holding redfish, drum and flounder.
West Galveston Bay - the bay the bayou feeds, with the larger saltwater fishery beyond.
La Marque - the town east, with services and quick access to the lower bayou.

Seasons

Spring: bass and sunfish active in the upper reach while redfish begin working the lower channel on warming tides.
Summer: warm and low up top, best early, with the tidal reach fishing steadily for drum, sheepshead and mullet.
Fall: the peak, with the flounder run through the diversion channel and redfish well upstream on high tides.
Winter: slow in the fresh water, but sheepshead and black drum stay reliable on structure in the tidal reach.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Highland Bayou?

Anglers target Alligator Gar, Black Drum, Blue Catfish, Bluegill, Bullhead, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Largemouth Bass, Longear Sunfish, Longnose Gar, Red Drum, Redear Sunfish, Sheepshead, Southern Flounder, Spotted Gar, Striped Mullet, Warmouth on the Highland Bayou in Texas.

Where can you access the Highland Bayou?

FM 646 crossing - the gauge bridge near Santa Fe, with bank access and the reference point for the middle bayou. Highland Bayou Park - the county park on the lower reach, with parking, bank frontage and a small-craft launch. Santa Fe - the town at the crossing, with fuel, food and the nearest tackle. Hitchcock - the town downstream toward the bay, with additional access and launch options. Diversion channel - the engineered lower reach, tidal water holding redfish, drum and flounder. West Galveston Bay - the bay the bayou feeds, with the larger saltwater fishery beyond. La Marque - the town ea...

When is the best time to fish the Highland Bayou?

Spring: bass and sunfish active in the upper reach while redfish begin working the lower channel on warming tides. Summer: warm and low up top, best early, with the tidal reach fishing steadily for drum, sheepshead and mullet. Fall: the peak, with the flounder run through the diversion channel and redfish well upstream on high tides. Winter: slow in the fresh water, but sheepshead and black drum stay reliable on structure in the tidal reach.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Highland Bayou?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Texas agency site: https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/fishing