I don't know much about east bay and I am hoping to find some tips/ areas to avoid. I have a 21 foot JH that can run pretty shallow.

A fair number of oyster reefs you can't really see, especially in dark. If you can find a list of GPS, that's your best bet. If you're putting in at gorda (harbor is closest), it's really not that hard to get into the bay through gulf cut.

Lots of folks fish the oyster reefs (drulls, bird island, some others) out in the middle of the bay and catch lots of fish. I don't like these areas since I don't like drift fishing and the wading can be deep.

If you like trophy/tourney redfishing, then there are plenty of sloughs to get stuck in, both on south shoreline and north of Intercoastal.

My favorite is fishing south shore line on the west side (opposite 3-mile cut on the beach). Just remember east bay gets crowded.