East Matagorda Bay, TX

Two days of SSE at a 7.3 kt mean has been pushing Gulf water in, and clarity is the best it will be all week. High at 7:23 AM sits right on sunrise, the major runs 7:22 to 9:22, and behind it is a twelve-hour fall to the 7:34 PM low - low light, moving water and a solunar peak all stacked. Wind under 10 kt means topwater and a light jighead are fully workable, which is why this rates EITHER: lures have the edge early, live bait takes over once 88.9F water pushes the fish deep.

Start in the dark with a Super Spook Jr in bone over the sand bar, chrome/black if the clouds hang. Once the fall gets going after 7:30, drop to a 1/8 oz jighead and a Down South Super Model in Chicken on a Chain, working the drop-off edge with a slow lift and a long pause. Water is clean so stay natural and translucent. If they short-strike the topwater, hang a MirrOdine XL over the guts and twitch it. Fish the bay-side shorelines and the second bar - do not wade toward the channel.

Live shrimp under a rattling popping cork set 2 to 3 feet, drifted along the color change on the first of the fall. At 88.9F the hardheads will shred shrimp, so switch to a live croaker on a 3/0 kahle, free-lined with a 1/4 oz slip weight, and put it on the deeper side of the drop-off. Work the bay side and the outside bar and stay clear of the channel current.

SSE 147 degrees for 48 straight hours at 7.3 kt is exactly what greens this pass up, so the throat and the Gulf side should be sandy green and fishable. Back on the bay side expect a shade of stain where the light overnight north puff has pushed against it.

Redfish will be on the bay-side sand and grass at the top of the tide - gold spoon or the same Super Model. Flounder are staging on the drain mouths as the fall gets going; drag a 1/4 oz jighead slow across the sand to find them.

The SW and NE breaths early are only 5 kt and do not last - the 48-hour history is still SSE 147 degrees and the pass stays green. Tide is the strongest of the stretch: high 8:55 AM, then a long uninterrupted fall to the 8:41 PM low, with the major 8:25 to 10:25 landing right on the turn. Wind at 4-9 kt keeps lures completely workable, so it is EITHER, but bait pulls even once the water heats up and the storms build after noon.

Topwater window is 7:00 to 8:30 - a MirrOlure She Dog in bone walked slow across the top of the incoming. When the tide tops at 8:55 switch to a Bass Assassin Sea Shad on a 1/8 oz head in Opening Night or morning glory and fan-cast the guts as the fall starts. Green water means subtle: lighter head, longer pause, natural colors. Storms build to 61 percent by afternoon, so be off the water when the tops go dark.

Live shrimp under a popping cork early, worked over the shell and sand mix on the top of the tide. Once the sun is up, go to live croaker free-lined on a 20 lb leader, dropped on the drop-off edge and given time to swim down. Drift the bait with the tide, not against it.

The 48-hour mean is still SSE and the SW/NE breaths overnight are 5 kt, nowhere near enough to dirty this system. Green through the cut and the Gulf side, slightly off-color in the far back bay corners.

The long fall pulls bait out of the back lakes - park on a drain mouth and you can get reds and flounder in the same spot. Slow-roll a Sea Shad on the bottom for flatfish; reds will eat a spoon up on the flat.

Clarity holds - the wind never leaves the S/SE quadrant and never gets above 9 kt, so nothing stirs the bay. The knock is timing: high at 10:41 AM puts the strong movement in full sun and leaves first light as the slow tail of the incoming. Lures are mechanically fine in this wind, which keeps it EITHER, but with 90F air and 88.9F water the fish go deep and sulky by noon and live croaker starts out-fishing plastic badly.

Stay ahead of the incoming on the bay-side flats with a Lil John in Texas Roach on a 1/8 oz head. When the sun gets high, step up to 1/4 oz, get it on the bottom along the drop and slow-drag it with two short hops and a pause. Sandy green water calls for natural colors - morning glory is the other one. Topwater is a first-hour play only, bone Super Spook Jr, then put it away.

This is the day live croaker earns its keep - 88.9F water and a midday tide means trout sit deep. Free-line them with just enough weight to hold on the drop and give them time to work. Finger mullet under a cork will cover the shallower bay-side guts if the croaker run small.

Three straight days of light S/SE under 10 kt keeps salty water in the pass. The Gulf side is the cleanest water you will find this week; the bay side is fine but a softer green.

Reds should push the shorelines on the incoming - watch for wakes in a foot of water on the bay side. Flounder hold on the down-current side of the sand bars later in the day.

Same clean setup - SSE mean wind across the last 48 hours, 4-9 kt forecast, no chop worth mentioning, and the highest clarity score of the week. The single high at 1:00 PM means a long slow incoming from dark until early afternoon: it moves, it just never rips, and the major sits 10:20 to 12:20 on the back of it. It stays EITHER because the wind is nothing, but fish lures at first light while the water is coolest and hand it to bait once the sun is up.

First light before the heat: bone Super Spook Jr along the bar, then a Down South Super Model on a 1/8 oz head in Chicken on a Chain worked slow with the incoming. From 10:30 into the 1:00 PM high go 1/4 to 3/8 oz and fish deeper - the trout are already sitting in the cooler water on the drop. Clean water, so leave the dark loud stuff at home and keep colors natural and translucent.

Live shrimp under a popping cork along the grass line through the morning incoming. From mid-morning on, croaker free-lined on the deeper edge is the better bait by a mile in 88.9F water. Carry a few piggy perch for the bigger class of fish.

Still SSE-driven with nothing over 9 kt to stir the bottom, so the cut should be as clean as this place gets. The bay-side coves carry a light stain from heat and poor flushing, not from wind.

An all-morning incoming is a redfish deal - work the bay-side shorelines and the cuts feeding the back lakes. Flounder pick up on the evening fall around the drains.

Water stays salty green - light S/SE the whole way and nothing from the west with enough speed to dirty it. Tide is the weakest yet with high at 2:48 PM, so the useful play is the evening fall into dark rather than anything in the morning. Wind at 4-9 kt keeps lures workable and the call stays EITHER, but 88.9F water makes the middle of the day a bait proposition unless you are on that last hour of light.

Save it for the evening. Work the falling water from 6:00 PM with a Sea Shad on a 1/8 oz head in morning glory, then go to a bone Super Spook Jr for the last half hour before the 7:36 PM sunset. Clean water so keep it quiet - small twitches, long pauses. If the morning is all you have, fish a 1/4 oz Lil John in Texas Roach deep on the incoming and expect fewer bites.

Evening bite: live shrimp under a popping cork on the falling water from 6:00 PM at the bay-side drains. Through the day, croaker free-lined deep is the only bait worth soaking - the shallow water is too warm to hold fish. A mullet on a fish-finder rig on the bottom will pick up whatever else is down there.

Wind has not left the S/SE quadrant all week and stays at 4-9 kt, so clarity holds up. The pass is salty green; the shallow bay flats go slick and warm by afternoon and lose a little of that color.

The evening fall is prime for both - reds on the shoreline points, flounder in the drain mouths. Slow-drag a 1/4 oz jighead across the sand and you will find the flatfish.

Only one tide event on the table - high at 4:07 PM - and that weak movement is what drops this off the top shelf. Clarity is still as good as the week gets off sustained light S/SE, and wind is a non-issue at 4-9 kt. Fish the back half of the day when the water finally starts sliding out under a new moon; the EITHER call holds on wind alone, but the croaker edge is real in 88.9F water.

New moon and a single high at 4:07 PM, so fish the back half of the afternoon. MirrOdine XL suspended over the guts as the water starts to slide out, then a bone Super Spook Jr for the last light before the 7:34 PM sunset. If they will not come up, 1/8 oz jighead and a Super Model in Texas Roach along the sand-to-grass edge. Salty green water - keep colors natural.

Soak live croaker on the deeper drop through the afternoon and let the 4:07 PM turn do the work for you. Live shrimp under a popping cork in the bay-side guts for the last two hours of light. Piggy perch hold up better than shrimp in this heat if you are fishing long.

Sustained light S wind keeps Gulf water in the pass, so clarity is not the limiter today - tide is. The cut stays green while the back bay goes stagnant with almost no exchange moving through it.

A new moon and a late high means reds working the shorelines through the afternoon. Flounder start moving with the first of the evening fall - sit on a drain.

First real four-event tide of the week, but every one is small - 0.55 to 0.81 ft - and the movement is soft. Morning WSW at 4-5 kt is the wrong direction and yet far too light to blow this system out, so look for a thin stain on the bay side only. The fall off the 5:23 AM high runs all morning under a moonrise minor and that is your shot; the S wind filling to 12 kt by afternoon keeps it EITHER, with the drift favoring corked bait late.

Fish the fall off the 5:23 AM high - it runs all the way to the 12:13 PM low. Bone Super Spook Jr right at the 7:07 sunrise while the moonrise minor is on, then a Lil John on a 1/8 oz head in Texas Roach as the sun climbs. Bump to plum/chartreuse if you drift over the off-color bay-side water. When the S wind hits 12 kt in the afternoon, drift the windward edge with a 1/4 oz head to keep contact.

Falling water all morning stacks bait at the drain mouths - live shrimp under a popping cork right there from 6:45 on. Once the S wind fills in past noon, a corked shrimp drifted down the windward shoreline covers water fast. Croaker free-lined on the deeper edge if you are after the bigger fish.

Morning WSW at 4-5 kt is the wrong direction but nowhere near strong enough to blow anything out - expect a thin stain along the bay shoreline only. The cut and the surf side stay sandy green as the S wind rebuilds to 12 kt in the afternoon.

Falling morning water is a good flounder setup - work the drains and the down-current sides of the bars. Reds come back on the incoming late afternoon around the 5:20 PM high.