Summer low tide
Today we might be in the dog days of summer, but I have low tide on my mind. Typically, low tide, or the end of a falling tide, is a fall and winter staple. That's not to say you can't catch redfish on a low tide in the summer, but it isn't the tide I'd actively look for this time of year.
In the fall, as the last of the water drains off the flats and out of the creeks and gullies, redfish, trout, and other predators line up to ambush whatever shrimp, crabs, and bait get flushed out. This is when you see oyster bars fully out of the water, redfish belly-crawling, and your own little corner of the marsh turning into a Nature is Metal clip.
In the summer, though, with the water in the sounds around here hovering near 90 degrees, I'm looking for holes that hold slightly cooler water and sit off on their own enough to offer some protection from sharks and bigger predators. That might mean fishing the outer edge of a flat, a channel, or a secret hole back in a bay. If you have seagrass in your area, a deeper grass bed that carries too much water at high tide to sight-fish can be a good option too.
If the water is boiling, redfish can still be active, but they probably aren't going to sit in the skinniest, most stagnant water that heats up fastest in the sun. They could be there, but if I were betting, I'd look somewhere with a little more depth and a little more flow.
– Greg Barnes