Galveston Pier 21, TX

Two days of soft SE at 138 degrees and 6.1 kt have been cleaning this pass instead of dirtying it, and nothing in the measured history hit hard enough to mud it up. Tide carries the day: 1.83 ft at 5:03 AM falling all the way to -0.1 ft at 7:04 PM is a fourteen-hour pull, and it is already moving at 6:59 sunrise. The pre-dawn NW breeze is 4 kt, which is a non-event at that speed, so lure control is perfect. Baseline has lures and bait dead even at 89 and 90, so bring what you own - but the water is 89.4F, and after about 10 AM croaker starts beating plastic badly.

Start dark with a Super Spook Jr in bone, and switch to chrome/black once the sun is up and the fall is ripping across the bar edges. When they quit blowing up, go to a Down South Super Model or Bass Assassin Sea Shad on a 1/8 oz head in Chicken on a Chain or plum/chartreuse, fished slow along the sand-to-grass drop. If the sandy green tightens up mid-morning, a MirrOdine XL twitched over the guts on the beach side will pull the better fish. Stay on the sand and fish the bars from the beach - do not wade out toward moving current on that fall.

Live shrimp under a popping cork worked over the bay-side flats and drains at first light, on a 1/4 oz jighead 18 inches under the cork. Once the sun is high and the water pushes past 89F, switch to live croaker free-lined on a 3/0 kahle with just a split shot, drifted along the deeper edge of the bar. Finger mullet free-lined in the wash also works through the middle of that long fall.

A 48-hour SE mean of only 6.1 kt has moved some Gulf water in but not enough for true clear green - look for sandy green over the beachfront bars and through the throat. The bay-side coves stay stained until the SE fills back in around noon.

Redfish will slide the bay-side drains all through the fall - cut mullet on the bottom or a gold spoon at the drain mouths. Flounder stack at the last of the drop near 7:04 PM low; a 3/8 oz jighead dragged slow on the sand edges will find them.

Another huge single fall - 1.77 ft at 4:28 AM down to -0.05 ft at 8:08 PM with no reversal in it, which beats any pair of short weak swings. Wind is basically nothing, W at 4 kt through mid-morning and S at 9 kt by afternoon, so lures are entirely workable and neither direction is strong enough to hurt clarity. Solunar is the weakest of the week at 64, but the major from 9:20 to 11:20 AM lands on the middle of that fall, which is enough. Lure and bait are close at 86 and 83, so it is EITHER - though 89F water still means croaker takes over by late morning.

Dead calm at daylight is topwater weather - Super Spook Jr in bone or a MirrOlure She Dog walked over the shallow bar tops while it is still gray. As the fall accelerates, drop to a Lil John or Down South Super Model on a 1/8 oz head in Chicken on a Chain or Texas Roach, cast up-current and let it swing across the drop. Keep it slow; that little bit of extra fall speed does the work for you.

Live shrimp under a popping cork along the shell and sand edges at daylight, then move to live croaker free-lined on a 3/0 kahle once the sun gets on the water and the trout drop off the bar face. Piggy perch under a cork are a good backup on the bay side through the middle of the fall.

The W breeze early is only 4 kt and will not push the bay out at that speed, so yesterday's water holds. Gulf side stays sandy green, and the bay side behind the pass runs a half-shade dirtier until the S wind comes back in the afternoon.

Redfish are the better afternoon target - free-lined mullet or cut bait in the drains as the tide keeps dumping toward the 8:08 PM low. Flounder will be sitting on the down-current side of the sand points on the back half of the fall.

Clarity is improving as the SE reasserts itself, and wind stays 4 to 9 kt, so lures are fine - but the morning tide is dead. High 1.69 ft at 4:35 AM only drops to 1.60 ft by 8:46 AM, which is nine-hundredths of a foot of movement across the whole dawn bite. All the water moves after the 12:45 PM high, falling to 0.07 ft at 9:05 PM, and that means fishing in 88F air over 89F water. EITHER is the right call on paper, but at that temperature in the afternoon live croaker out-fishes plastic badly - plan around evening.

Skip the dead morning and hit the evening fall. Soft plastic on a 1/8 oz head - Down South Super Model in Texas Roach or morning glory - worked on the deeper edge where the current is actually pulling, then go topwater with a bone Super Spook Jr the last hour before the 7:33 PM sunset when the surface cools. The minor at 5:38 to 6:38 PM sits right in that window, so be in position before it.

Live croaker free-lined on a 3/0 kahle is the play in 89F water - fish it on the deep side of the bar edge through the afternoon fall. As the sun drops, switch to live shrimp under a popping cork over the shallower sand and let the outgoing carry it along the edge.

Three days of light SE with the wind swinging back onshore each afternoon keeps working clean water in, and the pass is the cleanest it has been. Bay side behind the pass is still the dirty end, but the gap is closing.

Redfish will work the drains on that long evening dump - free-lined finger mullet or cut mullet at the mouths. Flounder pick up as the fall reaches its last two hours near dark.

Best clarity of the week at 91 off a steady SE fetch, wind 4 to 9 kt out of the E and SE, and 1.43 ft of fall from the 2:26 PM high down to 0.26 ft at 9:55 PM. Morning is worthless - the tide barely moves between 4:50 AM and 9:13 AM and there is a 58 percent thunderstorm chance sitting on it - but the back half of this day is the strongest lure setup of the stretch, which is why the lure score of 94 tops the week. Clean water and light wind mean feel-fishing is easy, so EITHER leans lure here despite the heat.

Clean water means natural and translucent. Down South Super Model in Chicken on a Chain or a Bass Assassin Sea Shad in plum/chartreuse on a 1/8 oz head, worked slow across the drop as the afternoon fall builds. A MirrOdine XL is deadly in green water - twitch it over the bar edges and let it sit. Last light before the 7:31 PM sunset, get the bone Super Spook Jr out and walk it across the shallow sand while the minor runs 6:13 to 7:13 PM.

Live croaker free-lined on a 3/0 kahle through the hot part of the afternoon, put right on the deeper edge where the current seams up. As the sun gets low, live shrimp under a popping cork drifted along the sand edge with the falling water will out-produce it. Watch the storms and get off the water if one builds.

Sustained onshore SE, now four straight days of it, has finally worked real Gulf water through the pass. Expect green you can see your boots in on the Gulf side, with the bay shoreline still sandy where the shallow flats stir.

Redfish will be tailing the shallow bay-side flats in that clear water late afternoon - free-lined shrimp or a quiet gold spoon. Flounder come alive on the last of the fall near dark on the down-current side of the points.

Water is still clean at 91 and wind is nothing at 4 to 9 kt from the S, so conditions are pleasant - but the tide is losing its punch. The morning drop from 1.54 ft at 5:07 AM to 1.18 ft at 9:55 AM is barely a third of a foot, and the evening fall only makes it to 0.5 ft. It fishes, and lures work fine in that clarity, but it is a step down from Sunday and Wednesday and it is not worth burning a vacation day on. New moon adds some pull; the major at 11:55 AM to 1:55 PM lands on the rise, not the fall.

Light wind and clear water calls for a downsized, quiet presentation. Lil John or Down South Super Model on a 1/8 oz head in Texas Roach or morning glory, long casts and a slow retrieve on the deeper edge as the water falls off the 3:51 PM high. Do not crowd them - clean water means they see the boat and they see you. Bone Super Spook Jr for the last forty minutes into the 7:30 PM sunset, walked over the shallow bar.

Live shrimp under a popping cork is the easy answer in this clarity - fish it along the drop as the evening tide pulls. If the bite goes flat in the 89F water, put a live croaker free-lined on a 3/0 kahle down on the deeper edge and leave it there.

Five days of onshore SE at moderate speed have this thing as clean as it gets without a hard blow. Gulf side is genuinely green; the bay flats are lightly sandy from foot traffic and shallow chop, nothing more.

Redfish work the bay-side shorelines on the falling water late day - cut mullet on bottom or free-lined finger mullet. Flounder are scattered but worth a few drags with a 3/8 oz jighead on the sand points after 8 PM.

This is the softest day of the stretch. Tide range collapses - a 0.94 ft low at 10:40 AM off a 1.50 ft high means barely half a foot of morning movement - and the wind comes around W at 4 kt through mid-morning, which knocks clarity back to 70 even at that harmless speed. The evening fall from the 5:07 PM high is the only real water movement worth fishing, and SSE at 12 kt by then is fine drifting wind for soft plastic. It fishes, but it does not stand out.

Wait for the evening. With 12 kt of SSE, drift the windward edge with a Down South Super Model on a 3/8 oz head to keep contact - the extra weight is what beats line sag. Chicken on a Chain or plum/chartreuse in the sandy green. The minor runs 7:16 to 8:16 PM against a falling tide, and that overlap is the only real high-percentage stretch on the board today; a bone Super Spook Jr at sunset is worth ten minutes of your time.

Popping cork with live shrimp is made for a 12 kt drift - let the wind push you along the bar edge and pop it hard so they hear it. Live croaker free-lined on a 3/0 kahle if you want a shot at a bigger fish in the 89F water. Piggy perch under a cork on the bay side is a reasonable backup.

A morning W breeze at 4 kt is not enough to blow this system out, but it will pull a little off-color water off the back shorelines and along the bay side. The Gulf throat stays sandy green once the SSE fills in during the afternoon.

Redfish are the better bet than trout today - work the drains on the evening fall with cut mullet. Flounder should be sitting on the sand points as the water dumps after dark.

Better than Friday. Clarity is back up to 88 off returning SE, and unlike the rest of the back half of the week the water is actually moving at first light - 1.47 ft at 5:39 AM falling to 0.73 ft at 11:26 AM, with sunrise at 7:03 right in the middle of it. Wind is S at 6 to 8 kt in the morning building to 14 kt SE by evening, so fish early while lure control is still easy. Falls short of a perfect call only because the total range is the weakest of the week.

Be standing in the water at gray light. Bone Super Spook Jr or a MirrOlure She Dog over the shallow bar tops while the tide is pulling, then convert to a Bass Assassin Sea Shad or Down South Super Model on a 1/8 oz head in Chicken on a Chain once the sun is up. The minor runs 8:00 to 9:00 AM on the middle of the fall - that is the hour to be on your best drop. Quit by mid-morning; 84F air and 89F water will shut it down.

Live shrimp under a popping cork along the bar edges through the morning fall - that early moving water is what makes it work. Once the sun is high, live croaker free-lined on a 3/0 kahle on the deeper edge is the only thing that keeps producing. Finger mullet free-lined in the wash for a shot at something bigger.

The SE swings back onshore overnight and rebuilds the clean water Friday's west breeze scuffed. Beach side and the throat run salty green; the bay side behind the pass is the last to catch up and stays sandier.

Redfish should be working the drains and the beachfront guts through the morning fall - free-lined mullet or a gold spoon. Flounder pick up near the 11:26 AM low on the down-current sand.