Christmas Bay, TX

Two days of SSE at 7.3 kt put green water in the throat, and Saturday's early northerly is only 4 kt - that does not blow this system out. The 1.06 ft high at 9:12 AM feeds an eleven hour fall to a minus low at 8:30 PM, and the 7:19 - 9:19 AM major lands on sunrise with the water still moving. Wind never breaks 9 kt so lure control is easy, which is the EITHER call - plastics early, live croaker once the sun is up on 86.7 F water. Do not wade toward the channel on that fall.

Start on top at 6:45 with a Super Spook Jr in bone over the sand bars while the tide is still topping out - slow, with long pauses. Once the fall gets going around 9:30, go to a Down South Super Model on a 1/8 oz jighead in Chicken on a Chain and drift the sandy green edges. If they short-strike, drop to a Bass Assassin Sea Shad in Texas Roach on the same head.

Live shrimp under a popping cork on an 18 to 24 inch leader, drifted over the sand and grass on the bay side while the tide falls. Once the sun is up on 86.7 F water, switch to a live croaker on a 3/0 kahle, free-lined into the guts - that bait beats everything else in September heat.

The 48-hour SSE mean at 7.3 kt has been feeding Gulf water in, so the throat and the beachfront side are carrying sandy green. The 4 kt northerly at daylight is too light to matter, but the back of Christmas Bay still holds a stain.

Redfish will be up on the bay-side flats on that long fall; a gold spoon or a live mullet on a fish-finder rig where the guts drain will get them. Flounder are starting to stage for the fall run, so drag a Gulp shrimp on a 1/4 oz head across the drain mouths on the way out.

Same clean SSE history behind it and the tide is nearly as good - 1.06 ft high at 9:50 AM into a minus low at 9:41 PM, with the major from 8:21 to 10:21 AM. What knocks it down is the sky: 52 percent rain by 8 AM and thunderstorms likely 61 percent through the afternoon, plus a 4 kt NW at daylight and fresh runoff putting colour in the bay side. Wind is nothing, so lures work fine early, but bait holds up better once it stains - fish the first three hours and get off the sand when it builds.

MirrOlure She Dog in bone/chrome the first hour off the beachfront while it is still quiet. When the rain colours it up, go dark and loud - Bass Assassin Sea Shad in Opening Night on a 1/4 oz jighead, or plum/chartreuse Down South, bumped along the drop with a hard twitch so they can find it. Leave the natural translucents in the box today, they disappear in stained water.

Stained water is bait weather. Live shrimp under a loud popping cork over the bay-side sand, popped hard every few seconds so they can hear it, or a finger mullet free-lined on a 4/0 circle along the drop. Live croaker on a light Carolina rig with a 1/4 oz slip sinker if you want the better fish.

SE-driven green still holds on the Gulf side, but a 4 kt NW at daylight and 60 percent rain chances put fresh colour in the bay-side drains. Gulf side stays sandy green, back side goes off as the day runs.

Reds do not care about stained water - a chunk of mullet or a cracked crab on the bottom near the drains will find them. Flounder on the sand points while the tide is pulling.

Wind swings SW but only at 4 kt, which is far too weak to muddy this system - clarity actually improves as the SE history keeps working. The 1.03 ft high at 9:15 AM starts a long clean fall to a minus low at 10:45 PM, and the major runs 9:21 - 11:21 AM right on top of it. Workable lure water all day under 9 kt, so EITHER stands; the only reason it is not a perfect day is the solunar overlap comes after the low light is gone.

Bone Super Spook Jr through the first hour of the fall, then a Lil John in Texas Roach on a 1/8 oz head dragged slow along the reef edges and shell. Sandy salty green wants natural colours - Texas Roach, morning glory, Chicken on a Chain. Keep the head light and let the current do the work; heavier than 1/4 oz and you will hang shell all morning.

Live croaker on a Carolina rig with a 1/4 oz slip sinker and a 20 inch leader, worked slow along the reef edge on the fall. Piggy perch under a cork is the backup if the croaker are hard to buy. Put it on the up-current side of the shell and let it swim down.

Three more days with no hard N or W push and the pass keeps cleaning up. SW at 4 kt is nothing - sandy salty green through the throat, with only a light stain back in the coves.

Good redfish day along the shoreline shell on the falling water - weedless gold spoon or a Texas-rigged plastic. Flounder are sitting on the drain mouths at the back of the bay.

Four tides means four turns and none of them big - 0.98 ft at 9:22 AM, a shallow 0.37 low at 11:23 AM, back to 0.99 at 5:32 PM, then a real fall to 0.02 by 11:42 PM. That evening fall is the only sustained movement on the board, so this is an afternoon trip, not a dawn one. SE 4-9 kt keeps lures honest and the water clean, which holds the EITHER call, but 86.7 F water means the middle of the day belongs to croaker.

Start at 5:30 with a MirrOdine XL in chrome/chartreuse, twitch-twitch-pause across the bars as the tide starts down. Go to a Down South Super Model in plum/chartreuse on a 1/4 oz jighead when the light drops. Last hour before the 7:34 sunset, back on top with a chrome/black Spook Jr - that falling water at dark is the whole day.

Finger mullet under a popping cork on the evening fall, drifted off the bars where the water is pulling. Live shrimp works the same window if mullet are scarce. Through the hot part of the afternoon before the 5:32 high, free-line a live croaker on a 3/0 kahle in the guts.

Wind has stayed light and off the south quarter, so the beachfront and the throat are clean sandy green. The pockets and coves on the bay side still carry colour from the daily storms.

That evening fall pushes bait out of the marsh and the reds will be stacked on the drains waiting on it. Flounder are picking up as September runs - a slow-dragged Gulp on the sand edges near the drains is the deal.

Best clarity of the week so far - five straight days with no hard N or W wind and the SE flow running the beachfront clean. First light sits on the last of the rise into a 0.93 ft high at 9:37 AM, and that is the good part; after the 11:50 AM low the water goes lazy, and the 11:09 AM - 1:09 PM major overlaps the deadest stretch of tide. Lures are easy in 4-9 kt, but plan on bait once the sun tops out on 86.7 F water.

Clean water means translucent and natural. Lil John in morning glory on a 1/8 oz jighead through the incoming, and a MirrOlure She Dog in bone at first light over the shallow sand. Long casts, light leader, and stay off them - in green water at 4 kt they spook easy. When the tide dies at 11:50, either quit or go to a 3/8 oz head and a Sea Shad in Texas Roach on the deeper edges.

Live shrimp under a popping cork on the incoming from first light to that 9:37 high, 18 inch leader, drifted along the sandy green edges. Switch to a free-lined live croaker on a 3/0 kahle once the water hits its warmest in the afternoon - at 86.7 F that is the whole game.

Five days of S and SE under 10 kt with no north wind at all - this is about as clean as the pass gets in September. Green water right up to the bars, with just a soft stain on the far bay side.

Reds up on the flats early with the incoming, and sight-casting is realistic in this clarity. Flounder are holding on the sand-to-mud transitions.

New moon, the cleanest water of the stretch, and the strongest tide on the board - a long overnight rise from 0.06 ft at 12:32 AM into a 0.9 ft high at 9:54 AM, so the water is pulling hard at the 7:03 sunrise with the 5:59 - 6:59 AM minor on the front of it. S wind at 4-9 kt is the direction that keeps this pass green, so clarity and lure control are both there. Straight EITHER - plastics and topwater to about 10 AM, croaker after that on 86.7 F water.

Best lure morning of the week. Bone Super Spook Jr from 6:45 until they quit blowing up on it, then a Down South Super Model in Chicken on a Chain on a 1/8 oz head worked with the incoming across the bars. If the current stiffens in the throat, step up to a 3/8 oz head to hold bottom. Natural colours only in clear green - Texas Roach and morning glory are the other two.

Free-lined live croaker on a 3/0 kahle is the play on that long rise - no weight, let it swim into the guts. Live shrimp under a popping cork over the bars if you want to cover water and catch numbers. Piggy perch on a Carolina rig for the bigger bay-side fish late in the morning.

Sustained S wind plus a new moon tide keeps pulling Gulf water through the cut, and it shows - clear green front to back. Only the very back drains still hold any colour.

New moon tide moves bait hard, so look for reds schooling on the bay-side flats through the morning rise. Flounder on the guts and drain mouths, dragged slow.

New moon still holds and the tide is good - a 0.87 ft high at 10:11 AM with the 7:01 - 8:01 AM minor sitting on moonrise at first light. Two things pull it back: the morning wind goes SW to WSW at 3-4 kt, which is the wrong quarter even that light, and the air hits 93 F by 2 PM over water already at 86.7 F. Lure control is fine in that breeze, so EITHER stands early, but once the heat lands it is a croaker afternoon or nothing.

Get it done in the first three hours. Chrome/black Spook Jr right at 7:00 on the minor, then a Bass Assassin Sea Shad in Texas Roach on a 1/8 oz jighead through the last of the rise. Once the air is over 90 F and the tide quits at 1:17 PM, a 3/8 oz head with a Down South in Chicken on a Chain fished slow on the deeper edges is the only artificial worth throwing.

Live croaker on a Carolina rig with a 1/4 to 3/8 oz slip sinker, fished on the deeper edges once the heat sets in - 86.7 F water pushes trout down and croaker drags them back out. Early, live shrimp under a cork on the last of the rise into that 10:11 AM high does plenty.

A light SW to WSW morning breeze puts a touch of sand back in it, but at 3-4 kt it cannot undo what a week of SE built. Sandy salty green in the moving water, slick and warm over the bay-side flats.

Reds early on the shoreline before the heat, then they shut down. Flounder are the better second option this late in the week - work the drains with a slow drag.