Freeport Jetties, TX

Two days of SSE at 7.3 kt has the pass in decent shape, but this is the least clean day of the stretch - a light W and N shift overnight and through mid-morning puts a little dirt back in the bay side. Tide is the redeeming feature: a 2.04 ft high at 1:13 AM falls uninterrupted all the way to a -0.21 ft low at 4:34 PM, so you have moving water from before daylight straight through the afternoon. Wind is nothing, 0-9 kt, so lures are completely workable and bait is just as good - hence the EITHER call. Storm chances run 33-46 percent, so watch the sky.

Start at gray light with a bone Super Spook Jr walked slow over the sandbars while the tide is pulling. When the sun gets up, drop to a 1/8 oz jighead and a Down South Super Model in Chicken on a Chain, cast up-current and swim it just off the bottom on the bar drop. If it stays cloudy, a chrome/black MirrOlure She Dog will keep the blowups coming past 9 AM.

Live shrimp under a popping cork worked along the sand bars on the falling water. Water is 87.1F, so by mid-morning switch to a live croaker free-lined on a 3/0 kahle with a 1/4 oz slip weight and put it on the deeper edge of the drop - the trout go down and sulky in that heat and croaker will out-fish anything else.

The 48-hour SSE mean has the Gulf side sandy green and fishable. The overnight W and mid-morning N puff will leave the back-bay shorelines a shade dirtier than the pass itself.

Redfish will be cruising the shallow sand on the last of the light. Flounder are starting to stage on the drains that dump into the pass - drag a live mud minnow or a 1/4 oz jighead slow through them on the falling water.

Still riding the SSE fetch, but a W wind hangs around from 4 AM through 8 AM and keeps the bay side off-color, which is why clarity scores lowest of the week alongside Saturday. Tide is again excellent - 2.05 ft at 2:15 AM falling all day to -0.22 ft at 5:53 PM, one long clean pull. Wind is a non-issue at 4 kt so lures are perfectly fishable and bait works just as well, which is the EITHER call. Rain odds climb to 51-59 percent through the middle of the day, so get your fishing in early.

Fish the major from 8:22 to 10:22 AM against the falling tide. Chrome/black MirrOlure She Dog on the clean side of the color change, then a 1/8 oz jighead with an Opening Night Lil John twitched along the seam. Where the water is dirtier, go louder and darker - plum/chartreuse Bass Assassin Sea Shad on 1/4 oz keeps a profile they can find.

Popping cork with a live shrimp on an 18 inch leader, drifted down the color change - the rattle does the work in the stained water. With 87F water, a live croaker free-lined along the deeper drop is the better play after 10 AM.

The measured SSE 128 degree flow keeps clean water on the Gulf side, but the pre-dawn W wind pushes stain out of the back lakes. Expect a hard color change right at the mouth.

Redfish will sit tight on the dirty side of the color line where bait is flushing out. A finger mullet on a fish-finder rig on the sand will take both reds and the early flounder.

Water cleans up noticeably - the wind clocks back to SW then S at 4-9 kt with no north component all day, so the SSE-built green water holds. Tide is another full-day fall, 1.99 ft at 3:08 AM to -0.18 ft at 7:07 PM, uninterrupted moving water for sixteen hours. Wind is light enough that a topwater is completely controllable, and bait scores just behind, so EITHER method produces. Only knock is the solunar - the major does not stack until 9:22 AM, well past first light.

Topwater window from first light to about 8:30 - bone Super Spook Jr over the bars, then a Texas Roach Down South Super Model on a 1/8 oz head worked through the major at 9:22. As the sun gets high, step to 3/8 oz and slow-roll the deeper edge; a MirrOdine XL twitched along the drop will get the better fish once the topwater bite dies.

Live croaker is the call once the sun is up in this 87F water - free-line it on a 4/0 kahle or add a 1/4 oz slip weight and fish the deeper side of the bar. Early, a live shrimp under a cork over the shell will take numbers.

Three straight days of southerly flow off the 148 degree mean has the pass a good sandy green. The bay side is still a half-shade darker but nothing that shuts a lure down.

Redfish push the shallow sand on the last of the fall late in the day. Flounder are on the drains - live finger mullet on a light Carolina rig, dead slow.

This is the one. Four days of sustained S and SE off a 148 degree, 7.3 kt mean has the pass as clean as it gets this week, and the wind never leaves 4-9 kt out of the south. Tide falls from 1.87 ft at 3:45 AM to 1.48 ft at 9:30 AM, so you have water moving under low light at sunrise, then a second long pull from 11:59 AM all the way to a -0.06 ft low at 8:09 PM. Lures score their highest number of the stretch and bait is right behind - call it EITHER, but this is the day to throw plastic.

Be on the water before the 7:03 sunrise. Bone Super Spook Jr walked over the bar in the low light, and stay with it as long as they will eat it. Once the sun is up, a MirrOdine XL in a natural chrome pattern twitch-paused along the drop, or a 1/8 oz jighead with a morning glory Down South Super Model. Clean water means natural and translucent - do not go loud today.

Live shrimp free-lined or on a light popping cork through the first two hours of the fall. After 9:30, with the water at 87.1F, a live croaker on a free-line rig fished on the deep edge will beat any artificial badly - the trout drop down and get lazy in that heat.

Sustained southerly flow with no north component in four days has clean Gulf water pushed well into the pass. Bay side carries a light sandy tint but is still clear enough to fish a translucent bait.

Best redfish day of the week too - a gold spoon or a live piggy perch under a cork on the shallow sand off the bars. Flounder will be on the drains as the long afternoon fall gets going.

Nearly a copy of Tuesday. South wind at 4-9 kt keeps the clean water in place and clarity stays at its peak, with the SE turn in the afternoon reinforcing it. Tide falls from 1.72 ft at 4:07 AM to 1.34 ft at 9:28 AM under first light, then a second fall from 1.25 PM to 0.13 ft at 9:02 PM. Slightly less tidal range than Tuesday but still plenty of pull, and light wind keeps lures completely controllable - EITHER method works, lures have the edge in this water.

Topwater at first light again - bone or chrome Super Spook Jr, and slow your cadence as the water clears. Follow with a Bass Assassin Sea Shad in a natural translucent pattern on a 1/8 oz head, or a Lil John in Opening Night fished on a slow drag over the shell. In clean water, longer casts and lighter leader - 20 lb fluoro is plenty.

Live shrimp under a cork on the shell early, then a free-lined live croaker on the deeper edge as the sun climbs and the 87F water pushes trout down. A live finger mullet free-lined near the bar will pick up the bigger single fish.

Five days of southerly flow means the Gulf side is genuinely clean green. The guts and bay side run sandy green - still fishable with a natural colored bait.

Redfish on the shallow sand at sunrise, then off the bar edges through the afternoon fall. Flounder are worth targeting on the drains from 5 PM to dark.

Water is still clean off the sustained southerly flow and wind is a non-factor at 4-9 kt, but the tide is going flat - a 1.55 ft high at 4:21 AM only falls to 1.13 ft by 9:36 AM, and that half-foot of range will not move enough water at daylight to be worth much. The afternoon is the real tide, 1.62 ft at 2:48 PM dropping to 0.39 ft at 9:52 PM. Lures work fine in this clarity and this breeze, bait is close behind, so EITHER - just fish the right end of the day.

Skip the weak morning and fish the afternoon fall. Start with a 1/4 oz jighead and a Texas Roach Down South Super Model swimming the bar drop while the current builds, then go to a bone Super Spook Jr for the last hour of light into the 7:32 sunset. New moon means dark water after sundown - a chrome/black She Dog is the loud option if they will not commit.

Live shrimp under a popping cork drifted with the afternoon fall along the bar edge. Air is 88F and water is 87F, so a live croaker fished deep is still the higher-percentage bait until the sun drops.

Six days of S and SE keeps the pass sandy green top to bottom. With the tide range this weak, less clean Gulf water is exchanging in, so expect the back side to hold a little more color than earlier in the week.

Evening is prime for redfish working the bar on the outgoing. Flounder will hold in the drains from 6 PM to dark - live mud minnow on a light Carolina rig.

Wind and clarity are fine - light SW at 3-10 kt, water still sandy green - but the tide has fallen apart. A 1.42 ft high at 4:32 AM slides to only 0.89 ft by 9:54 AM, which is barely a trickle at first light, and the afternoon rise to 1.65 ft at 4:06 PM is the strongest movement of the day. Add 92-93F air by midday over 87F water and the trout will be deep and sulky. Lures are workable and bait is workable - the problem is not method, it is that there is not enough moving water to feed them.

If you go anyway, only fish the evening. A 1/4 oz jighead with a Down South Super Model in morning glory worked slow on the deeper edge, then a chrome Super Spook Jr in the last thirty minutes before the 7:31 sunset. Do not waste the middle of the day - 93F air over slack water is a losing proposition.

Live croaker free-lined on the deep side of the drop is the only bait with a real chance in this heat and this weak current. A live shrimp under a cork will mostly feed hardheads today.

The long southerly stretch has kept the pass sandy green, but weak tidal exchange and 3 mph mid-morning wind will leave it slick and lifeless by midday. Bay side stays a shade off.

Redfish are the better target on a day like this - a live piggy perch under a cork on the shallow sand at dusk. Flounder in the drains at last light is the other honest option.