Freeport Jetties, TX

Two days of measured SE at 6.1 kt have the water in decent shape, and the forecast N and NW breeze is only 5 mph - that direction blows this system out at 20 kt, not at 5. The tide is the reason to go: one uninterrupted fall from the 2:15 AM high at 2.05 ft all the way to -0.22 ft at 5:53 PM, moving hard right through sunrise. Lures are perfectly workable in that wind, and it grades EITHER because the throat is clean enough for plastics while the bay side is stained enough that live shrimp still shines. Storm chance jumps to 53 percent by mid-morning - that alone keeps it off the top shelf.

Start dark with a bone Super Spook Jr walked over the sandbars on the beach side while the fall is ripping. When the sun gets on it, drop to a 1/8 oz jighead with a Down South Super Model in Chicken on a Chain and swim it slow along the first drop-off. Overcast and 53 percent storms means low light most of the morning - keep the topwater tied on longer than you normally would. If the bay side looks off-color, switch to plum/chartreuse for the extra contrast.

Live shrimp under a popping cork, 18 to 24 inches of leader, drifted along the deeper edge of the sandbar as the tide pulls out. With water at 87.6 F, switch to a live croaker on a 1/4 oz slip sinker and free-line it into the deeper guts once the sun is up - it will out-fish everything else by mid-morning. Fish from the bank side of the bar. Do not wade toward the channel on a fall this long.

The 48-hour SE mean of 6.1 kt has built sandy green through the pass, but the overnight swing to SW and then N will put a little color back on the bay side. Gulf side stays the cleaner water all morning.

Reds will be sitting on the bar tips ambushing bait as the water drains off the flats - a gold spoon or a cut mullet chunk on a fish-finder rig both work. Flounder are starting to stage in the guts and drains for the fall run, so drag a 1/4 oz jighead slow on the bottom near the drains.

Measured SE history plus light SW forecast at 4 kt keeps the water in shape - a 5 mph SW does not muddy anything. Tide is a full 16-hour fall from the 3:08 AM high at 1.99 ft to -0.18 ft at 7:07 PM, so you have moving water at sunrise and no slack all day. Storm chance drops to 20 percent, wind never breaks 9 kt, and lure control is easy in that. EITHER is the right call - clean enough to see a plastic, hot enough that bait keeps working when the bite backs off.

Chrome/black MirrOlure She Dog worked hard across the bar edge at 7:02 sunrise, and keep at it through the major at 9:22. When they quit blowing up, go to a 1/4 oz jighead and a Bass Assassin Sea Shad in Opening Night along the windward edge of the drop. Water clean enough that translucent beats loud - if the pattern dies, a Lil John in Texas Roach on 1/8 oz fished dead slow on the deeper side will keep you honest.

Free-lined finger mullet in the current seam off the bar tip early, then live croaker on a Carolina rig in 6 to 8 feet once the water warms past comfortable. Popping cork with live shrimp works the whole fall for numbers. Fish it from the bar, not from the channel side.

Sustained southerly flow at single digits keeps clean water pushing through the throat. The back sloughs on the bay side hold a little stain from the overnight SW, but the pass proper is fishable green.

Slot reds will run the same current seams as the trout - free-lined mullet or a 1/4 oz weedless gold spoon. Flounder on the falling water at the drain mouths late in the day, dragged with a 3/8 oz jighead and a Gulp-free plastic tail on the bottom.

Best water of the week. Three days of SE at 4 to 9 kt has the pass cleaned up and the forecast holds SE all day with nothing above 9 kt. Morning tide is weak - only 0.39 ft of fall from 3:45 AM to 9:30 AM - but the afternoon makes up for it: 1.55 ft at 11:59 AM dropping to -0.06 ft at 8:09 PM, a hard eight-hour pull with the major running 10:18 AM to 12:18 PM right into it. Clean water and dead-calm wind is a lure setup, so it moves to LURE EDGE, but croaker stays deadly in 86 degree water.

Skip the dead morning and fish the back half of the fall. MirrOdine XL twitched over the bar shoulder as the water pulls, then a 1/8 oz jighead with a Lil John in Texas Roach or a Down South Super Model in morning glory swum with the current. Clean water calls for natural and translucent - do not go loud. Last hour before sunset at 7:34, put a bone Super Spook Jr back on and walk it across the shallow bar for the biggest fish of the day.

Live croaker on a 1/4 oz Carolina rig bounced along the drop is the heavy-fish play in 86 degree water. Popping cork with a live shrimp over the reef edge for numbers through the evening. Stay on the bar and let the current bring the fish to you - the fall runs hard here from noon on.

Sustained SE at a measured 6.1 kt over 48 hours has pushed salty green well up into the pass. Bay side is close behind - the difference between Gulf and bay water is the smallest it will be all week.

Reds will be stacked on the bar tips in the last two hours of the fall. Gold spoon or free-lined mullet. Flounder pick up hard on this kind of long evening drain - work the gut mouths with a 3/8 oz jighead and slow drags.

Cleanest water on the board. SE all day at 4 to 9 kt, riding on top of a measured 48-hour SE mean, means the pass is green front to back. High 1.72 ft at 4:07 AM, slack-ish through the 9:28 AM low at 1.34 ft, then a 1.59 ft high at 1:25 PM falling to 0.13 ft at 9:02 PM - a strong seven and a half hour drop with the major overlapping the turn. LURE EDGE with clarity this good and wind this light. The catch is 62 percent storm chance from 8 AM to noon, so plan the afternoon and watch the radar.

Clear water and light wind means long casts and small profiles. Down South Super Model in Texas Roach or morning glory on a 1/8 oz jighead, fished on 15 lb braid with a 20 lb fluorocarbon leader, swum just off the bottom on the drop-off. Work the windward edge as the fall builds. From 6:30 PM to sunset at 7:33, a bone Super Spook Jr over the shallow bar. If they short-strike the walker, a MirrOdine XL on a slow twitch-pause cleans them up.

Live shrimp under a rattling cork over the shell and reef edges on the afternoon fall. In water this warm, a live croaker free-lined or on a light Carolina rig into the deeper gut is the better big-trout bait. Popping cork on the bay side, free-line in the moving current on the Gulf side.

Four straight days of southeast wind under 10 kt has the beachfront and the throat running clear green. Bay side is a shade off but still very fishable - this is as good as this pass gets in September.

Reds cruising the clear shallows in the evening - sight-cast a gold spoon and lead them well ahead, they spook easy in this water. Flounder are moving on the September drains; slow-drag the gut mouths on the last of the fall.

Water quality holds - S and SE at 4 to 9 kt all day, no direction change worth worrying about. What softens this day is the tide: the 4:21 AM high is only 1.55 ft and the morning fall to 1.13 ft at 9:36 AM is barely a foot and a half of range across the whole day, down to 0.39 ft at 9:52 PM. Less push through the throat means the fish spread out. Lures are workable all day in this wind, but the reduced flow keeps it a good trip rather than a great one. EITHER stands.

With less current, go heavier and cover water: 1/4 to 3/8 oz jighead with a Bass Assassin Sea Shad in plum/chartreuse, hopped along the deeper side of the drop until you find a group. Once you get bit, slow down and work that spot. Last 45 minutes before sunset at 7:32, switch to a bone Super Spook Jr or a chrome/black She Dog on the bar top. A Lil John in Opening Night on 1/8 oz is the finesse answer if the bite goes soft.

Slow tide means a popping cork earns its keep - live shrimp 24 inches under a cork, pop it hard and let it sit. Live croaker on a Carolina rig in the deeper holes for the better fish, water still running mid-80s. Fish from the bar side and stay well off the channel.

The persistent southerly flow keeps salty green in the pass, though the light overnight SW puts a shade more color on the bay side than Wednesday had. Gulf side stays the clean water.

Reds are the better bet than trout on a weak tide - work the shorelines and bar tips with cut mullet on a fish-finder rig. Flounder on the evening drain at the gut mouths, slow drag with a 3/8 oz jighead.

Weakest tide of the week - 1.42 ft at 4:32 AM down to only 0.89 ft at 9:54 AM, then a rebuild to 1.65 ft at 4:06 PM and a fall to 0.68 ft at 10:45 PM. Light SW through the morning at 4 kt does not hurt the water, but it does not help it either, and afternoon temps hit 92 with water in the upper 80s. Wind stays under 10 kt so lures are workable, and the majors line up well at 12:44 to 2:44 PM. Fishable and worth going, just not the week's standout. EITHER holds.

Fish the last of the evening fall after the 4:06 PM high. 1/4 oz jighead with a Down South Super Model in Chicken on a Chain worked along the current seam where the water finally starts to move. Sandy green wants a little more contrast than earlier in the week - plum/chartreuse is the backup. From the minor at 7:18 PM to dark, a bone Super Spook Jr on the bar top. With a weak fall, hunt the spots where the bar pinches the flow.

Popping cork with live shrimp is the play on a slow tide - the noise does the work the current will not. Live piggy perch or a small croaker free-lined near the bar tips for the better trout as the light goes. Water is still hot, so keep the bait lively and change it often.

The forecast SW through the morning at 4 kt is too light to blow this system out, but it stalls the clean-up. Expect sandy green through the throat and a touch more haze on the bay side than the last two days.

Reds will be the more reliable catch on this tide. Cut mullet on a fish-finder rig on the beach side, or a gold spoon along the flats. Flounder at the drains on the last of the evening drop.

A week of unbroken southerly wind - measured SE mean over 48 hours and S at 5 to 10 kt in the forecast - has the water salty green and the pass clean. Tide is still modest: 1.32 ft at 4:42 AM to 0.68 ft at 10:20 AM, then a build to 1.69 ft at 5:17 PM and a fall into the night. The morning fall is workable and the evening turn is better. Clarity and calm push it to LURE EDGE, but it is a Saturday - expect company on every bar.

Evening is the window - fish the turn off the 5:17 PM high into the fall. Lil John in Texas Roach or a Down South Super Model in morning glory on a 1/8 oz jighead, swum with the outgoing current along the drop. Clean water, so keep it natural. Sunset at 7:30 is prime topwater - bone Super Spook Jr walked across the shallow bar for the last hour of light. If the crowd is thick, run the beachfront bars instead of the throat. A MirrOdine XL covers water between groups.

Live croaker free-lined into the current seam at the bar tip on the evening fall - water in the mid-80s still favors it heavily. Live shrimp under a popping cork over the reef edges for numbers. Fish from the bar and stay off the channel side; Saturday crowds push people into water they should not be in.

Sustained south and southeast wind under 10 kt keeps salty green pushed into the throat. The surf side runs a touch sandier with the ESE at 10 kt in the afternoon, but both sides are fishable.

Morning fall from first light to 10:20 AM is the redfish window - gold spoon or cut mullet on the flats and bar tips. Flounder on the evening drain at the gut mouths, slow-dragging a 3/8 oz jighead.