East Matagorda Bay, TX

Two days of SSE at under 7 kt left the water in good shape and the light NW breeze forecast for the morning is only 4 kt - nowhere near enough to blow this system out. High at 5:52 AM means the water is already easing off before sunrise and falls all day to a 2:51 PM low, a long steady drain over the bars. Wind under 10 kt keeps lures completely workable, but 91 degree water and scattered storms by mid-morning is why this scores EITHER rather than a clean lure day.

Start dark with a Super Spook Jr in bone or chrome/black walked over the shallow bars while it is still gray. Once the sun is up, switch to a Down South Super Model on a 1/8 oz head in Chicken on a Chain and work the first drop as the tide pulls. Keep it translucent - the water is clean enough that natural colors beat loud ones. Lil John in Opening Night on 1/4 oz if the current picks up over the deeper edges.

Live croaker free-lined or on a 1/4 oz slip sinker along the deeper edges is the play once the sun gets high and the fish sulk in 91 degree water. Early, a live shrimp under a popping cork drifted over the sand-and-grass transition will get bit just as well.

The 48-hour SSE mean at 6.8 kt has been feeding clean water in and the overnight NW puff is far too light to undo it. Expect better color on the Gulf side than back in the bay, where the wind shift will leave things slightly murkier.

Redfish will be cruising the shallow sand on the last of the high water right at daylight. Flounder are worth a shot on the falling tide at any drain or cut dumping bay water out.

Wind comes back around to the south at 4-9 kt, which is exactly the direction that keeps green water in here. High at 5:45 AM and a low at 3:47 PM gives you a ten-hour fall, a shade stronger than yesterday at 0.73 ft. Lures are entirely workable at these speeds, and bait is right there with them - the only knock is a solunar major that fires at 4:22 AM before you can reasonably use it.

Topwater window is short - work a MirrOlure She Dog in bone over the bars from first gray light until the sun clears the trees. Then go to a Bass Assassin Sea Shad, plum/chartreuse, on a 1/8 oz head, casting up-current and letting it swing along the drop. If the bite dies by nine, step out to the deeper edge with a 3/8 oz head and slow-hop a Texas Roach Lil John.

Live croaker on a fish-finder rig on the deeper side of the bar is the mid-morning answer once the water warms. At daylight, free-lined live shrimp drifted with the outgoing water along the sand edge will out-produce a cork.

South wind at under 10 kt maintains the clean push without churning the bottom. The Gulf side will be the better looking water; back in the bay behind the sand it stays slightly off.

Redfish push shallow on the early high - watch for wakes on the sand flats. Flounder set up at the mouths of any cut on the afternoon fall.

Third straight day of south wind at 4-9 kt and the water only gets better for it. Tide is stronger again - 0.79 ft high at 5:51 AM draining until a 5:00 PM low, over eleven hours of movement. The moon-overhead major at 5:18 to 7:18 AM lands right on sunrise with water already moving, which is the best overlap of the first three days. Lures and bait both fish clean; the only reason this is not the top day is that Friday and Saturday are simply better.

Be on the water for the 5:18 AM major with a Super Spook Jr in bone - the major runs right through daylight with the tide already falling. Follow it up with a MirrOdine XL in a natural mullet pattern along the edges once the topwater bite fades. Mid-morning, drop to a Down South Super Model in Chicken on a Chain on a 1/8 oz head and let the current do the work over the shell.

Live shrimp under a popping cork on the outgoing water along the sand bar edge, early. By 10 AM switch to live croaker on a 1/4 oz weight in the deeper water - at 91 degrees they will out-fish anything artificial when the sun is high.

Sustained SSE and S at under 10 kt keeps stacking Gulf water into the system. Bay side is still the murkier half but the gap is closing every day.

Redfish work the shallow sand on the tail of the high before daylight. Flounder are stacking at drain mouths on this long afternoon fall.

Everything stacks. Wind stays S/SE at 4-9 kt after four solid days of southerly flow, so the water should be the cleanest it has been. The 0.84 ft high at 6:23 AM falls without interruption to a 6:20 PM low - a twelve-hour drain, the strongest of the week so far. The moon-overhead major runs 6:19 to 8:19 AM, straight through the 7:03 sunrise with water already sliding. Lure control is perfect at these speeds; call it EITHER only because 90 degree water still favors croaker by mid-morning.

Topwater first and do not rush it - Super Spook Jr in bone or a She Dog in chrome/black walked over the bars from dark until well after sunrise, right through the major. When it slows, go translucent: Lil John in Opening Night or morning glory on a 1/8 oz head, cast up-current and swung along the drop. Clean water means natural and subtle beats loud all day. Bump to 1/4 oz once the current really starts pulling mid-morning.

Free-lined live shrimp drifted with the outgoing tide along the bar edge is deadly early. Once the sun gets on it, live croaker on a 1/4 oz slip sinker fished on the deeper side of the drop is the mid-morning fish-catcher in this heat.

Five days of S and SE at under 10 kt with no blowout wind anywhere in the history means Gulf water has had time to work well up into the system. Bay side is a step behind but even that should be a fishable sandy green.

Redfish will be on the shallow sand at the top of the tide before daylight and worth a dedicated hour. Flounder stack at every drain and cut on a fall this long - a 1/4 oz jig with a natural plastic works them.

This is the best day on the board. SE at 4-9 kt after nearly a week of onshore flow, and the strongest tide yet - 0.87 ft high at 7:23 AM draining twelve solid hours to a 7:34 PM low. The moon-overhead major runs 7:22 to 9:22 AM, which puts peak solunar directly on top of the turn and the first hours of the fall, in low light. Wind is nowhere near enough to hurt lure control, and the water should be clean enough that a topwater gets crushed.

Fish topwater hard and fish it long - Super Spook Jr in bone at first light, then a She Dog in chrome/black through the 7:22 AM major as the tide turns over. Do not put it down early, this is the day it holds up. When it finally dies, MirrOdine XL in a natural mullet, then a Down South Super Model in Chicken on a Chain on a 1/8 oz head worked slow along the first drop.

Live shrimp free-lined into the moving water along the bar edge through the major, no cork - let it tumble naturally with the current. Switch to live croaker on a light slip sinker in the deeper water by 10 AM when the 90 degree heat drives them down.

Six straight days of SE and S under 10 kt with a peak 48-hour mean of only 6.8 kt has left nothing to stir this up. This is as clean as it gets without a front pushing it around.

Redfish are the sure thing on the shallow sand right at the top of the tide. Flounder are worth a serious look at every cut on the long afternoon fall.

Strongest tide of the whole stretch - 0.89 ft high at 8:55 AM into an 8:41 PM low, and the moon-overhead major straddles it from 8:25 to 10:25 AM. Wind turns E at 4-9 kt, still onshore and still far too light to dirty anything after a week of clean push. Only reason this sits a hair behind Saturday is that the tide turn is later, so the best water movement comes after the sun is already up and the low-light edge is gone.

You get a full dark-to-daylight topwater run before the tide even turns - Super Spook Jr in bone from 7:00 on, over the shallow bars. When the water starts moving at 9:00, that is when to switch: Lil John in Opening Night or a Down South Super Model in morning glory on a 1/8 oz head, cast up-current and swung. Clear water, so keep everything natural and translucent. Do not throw anything loud.

Live shrimp under a popping cork over the sand-and-grass edges works right through the morning here. Once the tide really starts pulling and the sun is high, live croaker on a 1/4 oz weight down the deep side of the drop is the better bet in this heat.

Light east wind at 4 kt keeps onshore flow going without adding any chop. Gulf side is genuinely clean; back in the bay it is a shade sandier but still very fishable.

Redfish will be up shallow on the biggest high of the week - sight-cast them on the sand. Flounder move to the cuts as the water starts leaving mid-morning.

Still a good day, just a step down. Wind starts WSW at 4-5 kt early - offshore direction but far too weak to hurt anything - then swings S and builds to 13 kt by afternoon. High at 10:41 AM is late, so the morning is spent on slow rising water instead of a good fall, and the major does not fire until 9:24 AM. Lures are fine at these speeds, but you are working around a tide that does not really cooperate until midday.

Skip the dawn scramble and time it to the water. Work a Bass Assassin Sea Shad in plum/chartreuse on a 1/8 oz head along the drop through the 9:24 AM major, then bump to 1/4 oz as the tide firms up toward the 10:41 high. If you want a topwater shot, a Super Spook Jr in bone right at first light on the shallow sand is worth thirty minutes before the sun burns it off.

Live croaker on a fish-finder rig fished the deeper edge is the call - 90-plus degree water and a late tide means the fish are down and sulky. Live shrimp under a cork will work the shallower grass edges once the water starts pushing in mid-morning.

The overnight WSW breeze at under 5 kt is not enough to blow this out, but it will take a touch of the edge off the clean water, especially on the bay side. Once the south wind fills back in by midday the Gulf side firms right back up.

Redfish come with the incoming water onto the shallow sand late morning. Flounder are a poor bet on a rising tide - wait for the evening fall if you can stay.