Galveston Pier 21, TX

Two days of SSE at 7.3 kt built the water back, and the light N to NW breeze at dawn is only 4 kt - that does not blow this system out, it just slicks it off. Tide is the best of the week: a single uninterrupted fall from 1.83 ft at 4:25 AM to -0.11 ft at 5:53 PM, hard moving water under the major at 7:17 AM. At 4 kt you have total lure control, and with bait and lure scoring within a point of each other it is a genuine either-way day. Only caution is the 36 to 45 percent storm chance building after 8 AM.

Start in the dark with a bone Super Spook Jr walked over the outside bars while that 1.83 ft high is still dumping - the fall is strong enough to stack fish on the down-current lip. Once the sun clears the horizon, drop to a 1/8 oz jighead and a Down South Super Model in Chicken on a Chain or Texas Roach, cast up-current and swing it over the drop. Sandy green water, so keep a chartreuse tail in the rotation. Fish the bank and shallow bars only - do not wade toward the channel on a fall this long.

Water is 88.7 F, so live croaker is the honest answer once the sun is up - 3/0 kahle, free-lined or with a 1/4 oz slip sinker, drifted along the deeper drop on the bay side. Early, a live shrimp under a rattling cork worked over the sand and grass edges gets bit hard. Keep the bait moving with the fall, do not anchor it in slack.

The 48-hour SSE mean at 7.3 kt pushed clean Gulf water in, and the light overnight land breeze is too weak to undo it. Expect real color on the Gulf side of the throat with a stained band where the bay drains out on the fall.

Reds will ride that all-day fall to the mouths of the guts on the beach side - gold spoon or a cut mullet chunk on a fish-finder rig. Flounder set up on the down-current side of the sandbars as the water drains toward evening.

Same tide engine as Saturday - 1.83 ft at 5:03 AM falling all the way to -0.10 ft at 7:04 PM, one long uninterrupted pull - and wind is nothing, NW to W at 4 kt at daylight. The problem is the sky: 48 to 53 percent thunderstorms from 4 AM through mid-afternoon, and lightning over open water at this pass is not a thing you negotiate with. Water is a touch dirtier than Saturday off the overnight land breeze, but at 4 kt lures still work fine and bait scores the same, so pick either. Go early, watch radar, be willing to leave.

Sunrise is 6:59 and the major runs 8:20 to 10:20 AM right on top of the strongest part of the fall - that is your slot. Throw a chrome and black She Dog first light for the extra flash in off-color water, then go to a Bass Assassin Sea Shad or Lil John on a 1/4 oz head in plum chartreuse or Opening Night. Slower and lower than Saturday, bump the bottom on the drop edges. Get off the water at the first rumble.

Live shrimp under a popping cork, 18 to 24 inches of 20 lb leader, worked along the guts on the beach side is the play in slightly stained water - the pop and the scent do what a soft plastic cannot. If you have croaker, free-line them on the deeper drop through the middle of the fall. Piggy perch will hold up better than shrimp if hardheads move in.

A second night of light NW and W land breeze pulls bay water toward the pass and knocks a little edge off the color. The Gulf side of the throat holds green; the back side of the sandbars will be noticeably dirtier.

Slot reds will be pushing the drains on that long fall - a live finger mullet under a cork or a dark spoon. Flounder stack tight on the last sandbar as the tide bottoms toward 7:04 PM.

Tide is still excellent - 1.77 ft at 4:28 AM draining to -0.05 ft at 8:08 PM, a long steady pull - and wind is a nothing SW to W at 4 kt, later a 9 kt S. What drops this one is the solunar timing: the major does not start until 9:20 AM, well after the low-light bite, and the sun is out full with 89 F air by afternoon. Light W wind for a third morning keeps a stain on the bay side but does not ruin the pass. Lures are perfectly workable, croaker is the tiebreaker once it heats up.

Fish the dark end of it. Topwater from 6:45 until the glare hits - bone or chrome and black Spook Jr over the bars - then a MirrOdine XL twitched slowly on the drop edge, which shines when the water is clean-ish and the fish have slid deep. Back that up with a 3/8 oz head and a Down South in Texas Roach fished on the bottom in the current seams. Once the major opens at 9:20 AM, slow everything down and stay deep.

By mid-morning with water near 88 F, live croaker free-lined on a 3/0 kahle over the deep drop will out-fish anything on a jig, badly. Before that, live shrimp under a popping cork along the beachfront guts. Hook croaker through the back and let them swim down into the current seam - the grunt does the work.

Three light land-breeze mornings in a row have taken a little away from the SSE work of the last 48 hours, but 4 kt out of the west does not move mud in this system. Gulf side stays fishable green; the bay shoreline is where you will lose visibility.

Reds will be in the guts and on the sandbar tips through the fall - cut mullet on a fish-finder rig or a gold spoon burned across the bar. Flounder pick up on the last two hours of the drain toward 8:08 PM.

This is the day the water turns right - wind is back SE and clarity scores its best of the week - but the tide splits and the morning is dead. From 1.69 ft at 4:35 AM to 1.60 ft at 8:46 AM is nine hundredths of a foot, which is slack water dressed up as a fall. The whole day is in the back half: 1.70 ft at 12:45 PM draining to 0.07 ft at 9:05 PM, 1.63 ft of hard water with the minor at 5:38 PM and sunset at 7:33. At 9 kt SE lures are easy, but 91 F afternoon air means croaker earns its keep.

Do not waste the morning on flat water - come at 5:30 PM with the 12:45 PM high draining hard. Clean water means natural and translucent: a Down South Super Model in morning glory or a Lil John on a 1/8 oz head, worked on the current seam off the bars. Last hour before the 7:33 sunset, put a bone Spook Jr back on and walk it across the shallow bar edges. The 9 kt SE gives you a perfect drift down the windward side.

Live croaker on a free-line or a light Carolina rig fished right on the deep drop is the highest-percentage bait all afternoon at 91 F. As the sun drops, a live shrimp or finger mullet under a popping cork along the beachfront guts starts producing. Let the outgoing carry the cork - do not fight the current.

SE flow returns on top of the 48-hour SSE mean of 7.3 kt and that is the combination that pushes Gulf water in - expect the cleanest water so far this week through the throat. The bay side still carries a light stain but it is closing up.

That long evening drain pulls reds to every gut mouth on the beach side - cut mullet on the bottom or a live mullet under a cork. Flounder will be laid up on the down-current sand as it bottoms out near 9:05 PM.

Best lure day of the week and it is not close. Steady SE at 4 to 9 kt on top of a 48-hour SSE mean of 7.3 kt means clean green water through the pass, and there is no land breeze left to dirty it. Ignore the morning - 1.61 ft at 4:50 AM to 1.41 ft at 9:13 AM is nothing - and fish the 2:26 PM high at 1.69 ft draining to 0.26 ft at 9:55 PM, a 1.43 ft pull that runs through the 6:13 PM minor and the 7:31 sunset. Clean water plus light wind is the definition of lure conditions, though croaker still works at 88 F.

Clean water means small, natural and translucent. Start at 5:00 PM with a Bass Assassin Sea Shad or Down South in morning glory or Opening Night on a 1/8 oz head, cast up-current and swung across the drop-off edges. A MirrOdine XL twitched slow through the current seam will take the better fish. From 6:45 to dark, bone Spook Jr walked across the shallow bar tops - the last hour before that 7:31 sunset is the payoff. Stay off the channel side of the bars on the drain.

Live croaker free-lined on a 3/0 kahle down the deep edge is still the meat-getter at 88 F water. Once the sun drops below the dunes, switch to live shrimp under a rattling cork and drift the guts on the beach side with the outgoing. Free-lined finger mullet along the bar edges will pull the bigger single fish.

Three straight days of SE flow with no land breeze to undo it puts the cleanest water of the stretch in the throat and on the beachfront. Even the bay side tightens up - the difference between the two is minimal today.

Reds will run the drains hard on that evening fall - live mullet under a cork or cut bait on a fish-finder rig at the gut mouths. Flounder are worth a slow drag with a 3/8 oz head on the sand as it bottoms toward 9:55 PM.

Water is still clean off the run of S and SE wind at 4 to 9 kt, and there is no direction in this forecast that hurts it. Tide is the softer part - 1.54 ft at 5:07 AM only backs to 1.18 ft at 9:55 AM, then 1.68 ft at 3:51 PM drains to 0.50 ft at 10:40 PM, so about 1.18 ft of real movement in the evening instead of the near-two-foot pulls earlier in the week. New moon means dark nights and no moon glow, and the light E breeze midday means easy lure control. Solid trip, just a step under Wednesday.

Fish the back end of the 3:51 PM high draining out. A 1/8 to 1/4 oz jighead with a Down South Super Model in Texas Roach or morning glory swung through the current seam off the bar edges is the workhorse. The minor runs 6:45 to 7:45 PM and sunset is 7:30 - overlap those with a bone Spook Jr or a She Dog worked over the shallow sand for the best shot at a good fish. Softer tide means fish the moving water and skip the slack.

Live croaker on a free-line down the deep drop through the afternoon while it is still 89 F, then live shrimp under a popping cork through the guts as the light fades. New moon dark makes a free-lined finger mullet along the bar edge a good bet after sunset. Keep the drift with the current.

A fourth day of S and SE flow keeps Gulf water in the pass, though the brief E and NE swing at midday can drift a sandy streak along the bay shoreline. Nothing at 4 to 5 kt does real damage.

Reds move well on a new moon - work live or cut mullet at the gut mouths on the beach side as the evening tide leaves. Flounder will be on the down-current sand and can be caught on a slow-dragged jig or a live mud minnow.

First morning of the stretch with the wrong wind on it - SSW to SW at 9 to 11.5 kt overnight and into daylight, which is the direction that starts pulling bay water into the pass and sanding it up. It is not strong enough to blow it out, and it backs to SE and builds to 13.6 kt by evening, so the water recovers. Tide is the weakest of the week: 1.50 ft at 5:24 AM easing to 0.94 ft at 10:40 AM, then a rising afternoon to 1.66 ft at 5:07 PM. The morning minor at 6:59 lands right on sunrise and the fall, and lures still work at these speeds - just expect to work for them.

Sunrise is 7:02 and the minor runs 6:59 to 7:59 AM on the front of that fall - be there for it. Off-color water off the SW wind wants louder and darker: chrome and black She Dog or a Spook Jr for the first hour, then a Bass Assassin Sea Shad or Lil John on a 1/4 oz head in plum chartreuse or Opening Night. Weak tide means you have to find the moving water - fish the current seams off the bar edges and keep moving until you get bit.

Stained water is where live bait earns it. Live shrimp under a popping cork worked along the guts and bar edges, and live croaker free-lined on the deeper drop once the sun is up. The scent and the rattle carry where a soft plastic disappears - pop it hard and let it sit three seconds.

The SW push overnight and at dawn drags bay water toward the pass and takes color off the bay side. The Gulf side of the throat holds a workable sandy green, and the SE build in the afternoon starts cleaning it back up.

Reds handle the sandy water better than trout - cut mullet on a fish-finder rig at the gut mouths through the morning fall. Flounder are a long shot on this soft a tide; save them for the evening incoming toward 5:07 PM.