The Drift — June 4–10

Thursday morning belongs to whoever gets up for it. Low tide hits 0.4 feet at 9:23 AM. The ebb maxes near a knot at 7:51 — which means the Morris Island rip is running hard at first light. Stripers stack there when the ebb is strong. Sunrise is 5:06. The alarm you set for this is 4:45.

The Chatham fish pier at dawn: the draggers are in before most people have had breakfast. Go once and you'll understand why locals don't explain it to visitors.

One more thing the 0.4-foot low gives you: horseshoe crabs in the Stage Harbor shallows. June is when they move. You'll walk right past them if you're not watching your feet.

Friday is the week. Seventy-six degrees. Southwest at 6. The low is at 10:07 — still a morning window, still shallow. Nauset fills fast at 76°; go early or go to Hardings and have most of it to yourself. Brewster people: Paines Creek and Linnell Landing at low tide Friday morning — the flats go out farther than you'd believe. Bring the dog. No plan.

Stage Harbor and Pleasant Bay are both good for a kayak Thursday through Saturday — light winds, afternoon flood to carry you home. The terns will tell you where the baitfish are.

The low tides are walking. Thursday at 9:23 AM. Friday 10:07. Saturday 10:52. Sunday nearly noon. Wednesday it's sitting at 2:01 PM. The first half of the week gives you the flats in the morning. The second half requires you to rearrange lunch.

Saturday: use the day, respect the night. Sixty-nine and partly cloudy, SSW at 13. The daytime is yours. Rain arrives after dark — pull the kayak, check the mooring, secure anything the wind can reach. The SSW sets up a fetch into the harbor before it clocks around.

Let Sunday be Sunday. Seventy percent chance of showers. Winds go NNE. The harbor goes gray. Nothing to fight here — stay home, sharpen the hooks, clean the reels, look at the charts. If you have to go out, morning is softer than afternoon.

Monday is the reset, not the reward. Sixty degrees, NNE at 15 to 25 mph, Last Quarter moon at 6:03 AM. The Chatham Inlet and the outer bars are not for Monday — NNE at 20 makes the rips confused and earns nothing. This is a yard day if you read it right.

Tuesday evening. Sixty-six, ENE at 8, mostly sunny. Low tide at 1:11 PM. The flats are accessible at lunch, but the real window opens at the end of the day — the bass have been moving on last light all week, and by Tuesday the wind is nothing. The tide is coming back in. It's the kind of evening where you go out for an hour and come back two hours late and don't apologize for it.

Wednesday holds at 68 with a southwest breeze. A quiet close.

On the current, west of Morris Island. The ebb runs near a knot all week. The flood tops out at 0.6. That's the character of this harbor — consistent, asymmetric, and easy to underestimate in something small. Morning ebb is the stronger water. Afternoon flood is softer than it looks. Plan around it, not through it.

The short version: Thursday dawn. Friday, all of it. Saturday before dark. Sunday off. Come back Tuesday evening with a rod.