Fall Flounder and Reds

The wind was light out of the north west on this crisp fall morning. The water temps were cool but warming with the full sun. The tide was slowly dropping as the day wore on. This was a perfect opportunity to paddle the protected north shoreline of a nearby bay. My target was flounder and reds along the rocks and grass. Upon arrival I noticed the wind had more west in it than I had anticipated. It turned out to be a blessing as I had planned to head east. I slipped my kayak into the water and started a slow drift down the shoreline. I set my anchor trolley to the rear so all I had to do was lift and drift when I wanted to move. The lures of choice would be a glow and chartreuse 4 inch Down South swim bait and a Borboleta LeLe jerk bait in an 80H color.

It only took 25 yards of drifting before I got that first thump of a flounder bite. I say thump because that is exactly what you feel when a flounder hits your lure. The bite shocks the line and then relaxes as the fish settles to the bottom. Most people will tell you that you should apply just enough pressure to feel the resistance of the fish and make a slow count to 10 before you set the hook. I know some people who will count for 30 seconds or more before they set the hook. I personally just wait until I am sure I feel the weight of the fish on the line, and then I set the hook with a quick pop of the rod tip. This technique is useful when fishing soft plastics and live bait to make sure they have it.  Sometimes waiting too long to set the hook allows the fish to swallow the hook. This makes releasing undersize fish difficult as they are unable to survive the damage of a hook set deep in their gullet.

This pattern of drift, anchor and fish took me down the isolated shoreline with the flounder bite becoming more aggressive as the minor feeding period approached, and the tide continued to fall.

After catching five flounder with the soft plastic, I decided to see if I could pick up a red cruising the rocks with the LeLe jerk bait.To my surprise, the flounder were coming off the bottom and aggressively hitting the jerk bait. There was no need to set the hook as they set themselves on the treble hooks. After catching two more flounder on the LeLe, I decided to turn around and head back west to my launch site as the sun was getting lower on the horizon. The wind had laid down, and the paddle back was very easy.

The last time I fished this area this time of year, I remembered catching two slot reds on a shell reef which I would paddle by on my way back. As I approached the shell, I noticed some bait flipping and a few large swirls of predator fish. I picked up the rod with the soft plastic and made several casts. On the third cast, my lure made an abrupt stop as a nice slot red started wallowing in the shallow water trying to cut the braided line on the sharp shell below. After three long runs, the fish found its way to my small net with a third of the fish hanging out of it. The brut power of a 26″ slot red on a 6’6″ medium light rod is a fun way to end the day.

What an enjoyable afternoon on the water. The beauty of God’s creations never ceases to amaze me. I saw numerous types of shore birds, crabs, mullet and tiny shrimp hugging the grass lines. I saw two of the largest raccoons I have ever seen as they stood on their haunches to get a glimpse of the shoreline intruder in the kayak. As the sun began to set, I got a flyover in my kayak by two screeching owls fighting over their rodent meal. As I was loading the kayak to leave, I heard a pack of coyotes begin to howl prior to their nightly escapades. Finally, I was treated to a fantastic sunset over the calm bay waters.

As I drove back to civilization, I paused to look at the last glow of light disappearing and said AMEN and gave thanks for an awesome end to a fantastic day in God’s creation.

Agree with God.

Move with God.

End with God.

Never doubt God.

God bless you, and thanks for reading my blog!

Tim Lumpkin

Instagram: @Tlump10