Texas City Dike, TX

The 48-hour SSE history left decent water behind, but a wet NW shift takes over from daybreak and the front brings 70-plus percent storm coverage 8 AM to noon. Wind never gets above 9 kt so lure control is fine and the water will not truly blow out - this is a clarity nuisance, not a disaster. Tide is workable with a 7:13 AM high falling all day to 0.34 ft at 3:56 PM. Score sits EITHER because the freshening NW pushes scent bait up in value just as the artificial edge fades.

Get on it early before the storms. Bone Super Spook Jr right at grey light along the rocks, then drop to a 1/4 oz jighead with a Down South Super Model in Chicken on a Chain once the NW puts a little colour in it. Work the wind-blown side of the granite and let the bait tick the rock edges. If it goes off further, step up to plum/chartreuse and slow down.

Live shrimp under a popping cork, 18 to 24 inches down, drifted along the rocks on the falling side. The scent carries in the stained water the NW is pushing. Free-lined finger mullet against the deeper granite works if the shrimp get picked apart by hardheads.

Two days of SSE at 6.8 kt built decent clarity, but the NW turn overnight starts pushing bay water back out. The Gulf-facing side of the dike holds the cleaner water; the back side stains first.

Reds will be up shallow on the back side hunting the dirtier water - gold spoon or a mullet chunk on a fish-finder rig. Flounder should be sliding along the rock lines on the afternoon fall.

Wind flips back S/SW overnight at 4-9 kt and stays there, which is the healing direction for this system. The high builds to 1.23 ft at 7:19 AM and falls a full nine and a half hours to 0.21 ft - long, uninterrupted, exactly what you want over the rock. Lure control is effortless at these speeds. It is EITHER only because 88.7F water means croaker still out-fishes plastic once the sun is up.

Topwater window at first light - chrome/black She Dog worked parallel to the rocks while it is still cool. When the sun gets on it, switch to a 3/8 oz jighead and a Bass Assassin Sea Shad in Opening Night, bounced down the granite face into the deeper water. The heat pushes them off the shallow rock by 10 AM, so fish the drop, not the top.

Live croaker on a 1/0 kahle, free-lined and dropped tight against the deeper rock edge - at 88F water that is the best trout bait on the dike. Popping cork with live shrimp works the shallower stretch early before the heat sets in.

One day of NW is not enough to ruin two days of SSE. With S/SW returning by 4 AM the water starts clearing immediately, and by afternoon the Gulf side is close to green again.

Slot reds will patrol the rock line on the morning fall - live shrimp under a cork or a cut mullet on the bottom. Flounder are worth a drag along the sand-to-rock transition in the afternoon.

Straight S wind at 4-9 kt all day, third consecutive day of onshore flow, and the water shows it. The 7:31 AM high at 1.36 ft dumps for over ten hours down to 0.12 ft - that is strong sustained current across the entire rock line. Major solunar from 5:14 to 7:14 AM stacks right onto sunrise and the top of the tide. Lures are fully workable at these speeds; live croaker still has the edge once the water hits its afternoon peak temp.

This is a bone Super Spook Jr morning - walk it over the shallow rock through the major window and expect blowups. Back it up with a MirrOdine XL in Texas Roach if they swat and miss. Mid-morning, go 1/4 oz jighead with a Lil John in morning glory and work the current seam where the fall rips past the rock points.

Live croaker free-lined on a 3/0 circle, fished right in the current seam off the rock points - that long ten-hour fall keeps them moving all day. Live shrimp under a rattling cork covers the shallower granite early.

Three days of S/SE flow at 4 to 9 kt has moved clean Gulf water back in without stirring sand. Gulf-facing granite is noticeably cleaner than the channel side.

Good redfish day along the rocks on the long fall - gold spoon or live shrimp under a cork. Flounder stack on the down-current side of the rock points as the tide drops out.

Best day of the run and it is not close. SE at 0-9 kt is the money direction, the 7:54 AM high hits 1.45 ft and falls eleven straight hours to 0.06 ft, and the major solunar runs 6:15 to 8:15 AM directly over sunrise and the top of that tide. Storm chance drops to 17 percent. Nothing is working against you here except water temperature. Lures and bait both produce - artificials early, croaker once the sun bakes it.

Clean water means natural and translucent. Bone or clear/chrome Super Spook Jr at first light through the whole major window, then a 1/8 oz jighead - go light, the wind is nothing - with a Down South Super Model in Texas Roach or a Sea Shad in morning glory. Long casts, slow retrieve, let it fall on slack line down the rock face. Do not overwork it in water this clear.

Live croaker free-lined off the deeper granite is the pattern once the sun is up and the water hits 88F-plus. Before that, live shrimp under a popping cork along the rock line through the sunrise major will get chewed.

Four days of unbroken S to SE flow has flushed the system with Gulf water. Both sides of the dike fish clean; the Gulf side is genuinely clear.

Sight-casting range for reds in water this clear - work the shallow rock with a gold spoon or a live shrimp. Flounder are on the sand edges through the long afternoon fall.

Biggest tide of the week - 1.5 ft high at 8:30 AM falling twelve hours to dead flat 0.01 ft. Wind is barely there, E at 0-4 kt, which means glass conditions and total lure control. Major solunar 7:18 to 9:18 AM sits right on the high. Only knock is the E turn slightly slowing the clean-water push and 26 percent storm coverage midday. Bait keeps its usual hot-water edge after 10 AM.

Dead-calm water calls for finesse. Bone Spook Jr or a She Dog in bone/chrome first thing, then go all the way down to a 1/8 oz jighead and a Lil John in Opening Night. Long casts, light line, and stay off the rocks - they will see you in this. Work the current seam once that big tide starts pulling hard after 9 AM.

Live croaker free-lined on the deeper granite - with a 1.5 ft tide dumping to zero, the current does the work. Live shrimp under a cork through the early major, then switch to croaker as the heat builds and the trout pull off the shallow rock.

The light E shift will not undo four days of S/SE - the water stays clean. The channel side may pick up a touch of sand as the big tide dumps out.

Big falling tide pulls reds tight to the rock line all afternoon - cut mullet on the bottom or a spoon. Flounder should be excellent on the back end of that twelve-hour fall.

Tide is perfect again - 1.48 ft high at 9:43 AM into a dead-zero low at 9:36 PM, twelve hours of sustained pull. Wind goes light and variable through N/NE at 0-4 kt, which knocks clarity down a notch but at 4 kt a north wind does nothing to this system. Later high means the sunrise window is a rising tide instead of a fall, so shift your timing. Lures work fine at these speeds; croaker still wins in 88F water past mid-morning.

Later high means the good water arrives mid-morning. Fish topwater early anyway - bone Spook Jr on the shallow rock at grey light - but the real window is the major from 8:20 to 10:20 AM sitting on the high. Use a 1/4 oz jighead with a Sea Shad in Chicken on a Chain and work the seam as the tide turns and starts pulling. Slightly louder colours than Friday.

Live shrimp under a popping cork through the morning rise and the major, then live croaker free-lined off the deeper granite for the afternoon fall. The croaker call gets stronger every hour past 10 AM in this water temp.

A light N/NE turn takes a little polish off the water but 4 kt is nowhere near enough to blow the bay out. Gulf side still holds the cleaner water; channel side dulls first.

Reds will follow the rising water up onto the shallow rock in the morning - live shrimp under a cork. Flounder come alive on the long evening fall.

Different shape of day - the high does not arrive until 12:11 PM, so the morning is a long slow rise rather than a fall. Wind starts W at 5-6 kt then swings back SE by afternoon, and at those speeds the westerly does no real damage. Major solunar 9:20 to 11:20 AM overlaps the top of the rise. Wind is a non-factor for lure control at 0-9 kt, so artificials are fully in play, but 95F air by 2 PM means the bait rod earns its keep after noon.

Skip the pre-dawn scramble and fish the rise into the midday high. First light is still worth a bone Spook Jr on the shallow rock, but the real bite is the major over the top of the tide. Run a 1/4 oz jighead with a Down South Super Model in plum/chartreuse where the west wind has put a little colour in it, and Texas Roach where the water stays clean.

Live croaker free-lined off the deeper granite through the midday high - at 95F air and 88F-plus water that is the only thing worth fishing after noon. Live shrimp under a cork covers the morning rise along the rock line.

A 5 kt west wind is not a blowout wind - it just softens the edge on the channel side for a few hours before the SE returns by midday and cleans it back up.

Reds push up on the shallow rock with the long morning rise - gold spoon or live shrimp. Flounder are better on the evening drop toward the 10:27 PM low.