Sometimes in our lives, we are forced to make alternate plans when we are not expecting to do so. Yesterday was one of those days. I had plans to kayak fish a certain bayou that opened up into a flat, marshy area with a few deep holes in the back. It would be an easy paddle to get to the bayou mouth from where I have parked in the past. The winds were going to be light, and the weather was going to be beautiful. The low was 50 degrees that morning, and the high would reach the mid 70’s. The tides were good with an outgoing tide in the morning. My plan was to fish the mouth of the bayou first, hoping to catch trout, reds or flounder, ambushing bait coming out of the marsh. I would then make my way back into the marsh looking for some crawling redfish during the low tide. The only negative would be that I was fishing the back side of a full moon which is usually not that productive.
When I arrived I was greeted with a fence where I used to park which had a no trespassing sign on it. It has been a year since I have fished this spot. I had no idea that it was being developed into a canal home community. It seems as our population has grown, there are fewer access points for public fishing and kayak launches. I turned the truck around and drove further east looking for another place to launch my kayak. At the end of a different road, there were two other people launching their kayaks and another person already fishing from his kayak. The only issue was that the road was posted with no parking signs. I asked the anglers if they had launched here before, and they said no. There was a manmade break in the rocks and a long piece of carpet put in that space. It was obviously put there for kayaks to launch without scraping up the hull of a boat. We all decided to launch there as we unloaded our gear and then parked our trucks down the road past the no parking signs. The launch led directly to a marsh drain with a rock groin on one side and a private bulkhead on the other. The tide was going out rapidly, and there was some bait in the current, so I fished there for a while without any luck. I decided to go on the marsh side of the rocks and fish along side them for some reds. It looked really promising with marsh islands and grass nearby. There was plenty of bait in this area but no feeding fish to speak of. Before I came to the end of the rocks, I saw some submerged bulkheads and decided to see if there were any fish around that structure. While I was drifting over the bulkhead, I noticed a slick out in open water. It was not overly large, so I made my way toward it hoping I was not too late to the feeding party. On my second cast, I connected with a keeper trout. I was thinking this would be easy and that I would effortlessly catch five fish out of this school, so I put the fish on my stringer. Casting in and around the now diminishing slick, I realized I was on the tail end of the feeding frenzy. In an effort to locate the school, I continued fan casting in the area. On a long cast toward the east, I connected with a 19 inch red. As I continued to work the area, I noticed this flurry of action was in conjunction with the setting moon on the horizon. I have always heard that the moon set triggers a minor feeding period, and it proved to be true this morning. Running out of time, I paddled into the real shallow areas of the marsh looking for reds. I found plenty of mullet but no redfish. As I paddled back to the launch, I was happy to see that my truck was still there, and it had not been towed.
As I loaded up my truck, I thought about the the fact that I really enjoyed exploring this new area. Being able to put the boat in the water and fish an area you know very little about is always a challenge. Your attitude and ability to read the water and your surroundings can greatly improve your chances of catching fish. Recalling successful patterns in similar areas can usually produce some positive result no matter where you fish.
Life is like that. Sometimes you get thrown a curve ball and you have to rely on past experiences and recalled knowledge to navigate situations. It helps if you rely on God’s word, too. [Deuteronomy 29:29] I hope when you are confronted with a barrier you are able to explore new areas in your life and are led by His word.
God bless you and thanks for reading my blog.
Enjoy the short video I made of my trip.
Tim Lumpkin
Legacy-outdoors.net
YouTube Channel: Legacy-Outdoors
Instagram: tlump10
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