As kayak fishermen, finding good fishing places close to a public launch point can be challenging. One of the best ways to find less pressured, fishable water is by using Google Earth. The quality of images on Google Earth can show you many features that can lead to discovering potentially new fishing spots. Some of these features include drop offs, shell or rock, deeper water, pinch points, flats, channels and intersections.

For the past few years, I have had my eye on a spot I found on Google Earth. It was a spot close to a popular launch and had a deep water pinch point and several deep water submerged ponds nearby. This summer I attempted to fish that area but found a new subdivision going in with a fence and no trespassing sign posted where the old launch was. I have always wanted to go back to this spot in the winter thinking the fish would be concentrated in the deeper holes. The only other access point I have found is about a three mile paddle to the places I wanted to fish. Two weeks ago on a Tuesday, I decided to make the six mile round trip.

The weather was perfect. The temperatures were climbing after a strong cold front that should have pushed the fish into deeper water. After two days of strong north winds, the wind had shifted to the south east at about five to eight miles an hour. The sun was out, and I was hoping that there would not be any one around and the fish would be hungry. I waited until around noon to launch. I thought the warming water would trigger a good bite after such cold weather. The tide was going out and forecast to come in later that evening.

When I finished unloading my kayak and was preparing to launch, I saw another kayaker returning to the launch. As we often do, I asked him how he did and where he was from. He told me that he lived almost three hours away and was on the water at daylight. He also said that he used to live nearby and had been fishing these waters for over twenty years. His first response on the fishing was that there was no bait in the water and that the barometric pressure was too high. He, therefore, did not even get a bite. I quickly gave him some words of consolation and hoped his luck would not be the norm for the rest of the afternoon.

As I said good bye and started my long paddle, I wondered if choosing to fish the evening warm up would pay off. Often the southerly wind flow is in conjunction with a falling barometer, which many people think is more conducive to feeding fish. I personally don’t think the redfish are bothered by a high barometer, but sometimes the trout bite slows under those conditions. As I paddled away from the shore and rounded the corner, I immediately noticed bait flipping on the surface near a deep water entrance to a subdivision. The action was just on the downwind side of a small bunch of shell which was barely visible under water due to the low tide. I paddled closer and made my first cast of the day with a quarter ounce jig head and a four inch Down SouthLure in the Purple Reign color. As I bounced it back to my kayak, I felt a small thump followed by a bent rod and the first speck of the day was on. I could not help but look back to see if the the guy I just talked to was looking as he may have been as surprised as I was. Knowing I had a long paddle ahead, I forced myself to continue after a few more casts came up empty.

As I cruised past the shoreline, I made a mental note that the low tide had exposed a lot of structure that would probably hold fish on a higher tide. After a two mile paddle, I glided slowly up to the pinch point. The tide was still moving slowly out as I anchored my kayak in ankle-deep water and waded up to the deep hole created by the narrow tidal flow being pinched by two rocky shorelines. Stopping at the edge of the deeper water on the down current side, I cast my lure into the middle of the pinch point and let it fall toward the bottom and slowly drift back into the middle of the deeper hole. As I brought it up the steep side of the sandy bottom, a small trout thumped the DSL and started to run back into the deeper water. The water was crystal clear, so I could see his silver flash as he resisted coming back into the shallow water. Cold water is usually clearer water as it has less sediment, algae and plankton which can make it more clouded. On my second cast, I felt a small tick as I brought the lure up the deep, sandy slope. To my surprise, a small flounder was following my lure. I paused the lure in the gin clear water and watched as the flounder swam up to my lure and stopped right behind it as if to sniff out this intruder. I let it sit there for a few seconds and then gave it a small twitch. And bam! The flounder pounced on the DSL and tried to make a quick get away. I had a blast catching fish in this deep water pinch point, but my main goal was to keep going about a mile further and fish the deep water sand pit.

I neared the pit, and the wind started to pick up. I decided to make a drift as my twelve foot anchor rope would not reach the bottom of the deep pit. I set up for my first drift as I looked down into the deep, blue water wondering what I might find. Close to the end of my drift, I felt a small tick and the line became heavy. My rod started to bend, I set the hook, and immediately I felt the strong pull of a thrashing fish that did not want to come up from the depths. My first thought was that I had hooked a redfish because it began to strip a little line off my reel. It wasn’t long before I saw the silver flash and the shaking head of a nice trout as it danced on the surface fighting furiously. After a few strong runs, he slid into my net about the time my kayak touched the ankle deep shoreline. I took the DSL out of his mouth and put him on my measuring stick. He was fat and sassy reaching the twenty four inch mark. I always like to let the larger trout go, as they are the best breeders, which replenishes our bay system. Watching a larger trout swim away seems to give me as much pleasure as catching them. On my next drift, I got a strong hit, and when I set the hook, the weight of resistance disappeared in an instant. That could only mean one thing. I reeled in the remaining line without a jig head or lure and realized that my knot had broken. I retied and made two more drifts as the sun was approaching the horizon. On each drift, I caught a small speck and flounder.

I was not too crazy about paddling back three miles in the dark, so I left the deep hole and began my paddle back. On the way back, the tide was starting to come in strong. When I reached the pinch point, the sun was below the horizon, and I could see the water was rushing through the narrow passage. Suddenly I could hear the slurping sound of large feeding trout on the down current side. I picked up my DSL and made a cast directly into the fast moving current. Within seconds I felt the thump of a good size trout shaking his head defiantly just below the surface. After a quick passage around my kayak, I scooped him into my net and took a quick pic with the flash setting on my phone since the sunlight had diminished and let him go. It was now completely dark as I slid my anchor over the side in the shallow water and set up to keep casting to the slurping sound of feeding trout in the dark. While I was catching more fish during the feeding frenzy, two sand hill cranes came whooshing by bellowing out a warning to the feeding trout as they headed for their nesting grounds. The tide slowed down, and so did the bite. Night time brings out the hyperawareness of your senses, and it was a little spooky as the coyotes began to howl at the intruder in their marshy territory. It had been dark for about an hour, and I still had a two mile paddle ahead against the wind and current to get back to my launch site. On the way I enjoyed the sounds of the night and the stars above. I was almost there, but I just couldn’t help myself. I had to stop and fish one of my favorite pier lights. However, after two casts and two dink trout, I said uncle. I was tired and hungry, and visions of Whataburger danced in my head.

Well, I had finally explored the area I had found on Google maps, and the timing seemed to be good. I love finding new places to explore and fish in my kayak. Regardless of how the trip went, I would have been happy just getting out in God’s creation and taking in all it has to offer. It was especially pleasing to catch fish where you think they might be during this time of year. I post this not to boast but to encourage others to get out and explore the places you may find on a map some where far or near. Remember to respect the land owners and take care of God’s creations. I did not see another boat all day and sometimes that can be gratifying in this crowded world.

Galatians 1:10 says “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Christ died on the cross so that we may have eternal life with him. I love the beauty of his creations here on earth and look forward to the beauty he has created for believers in heaven.

Enjoy the short video.

God bless you and thanks for reading my blog.

Tim Lumpkin

Blog: Legacy-outdoors.net

Instagram: @tlump10

Facebook: Legacy-Outdoors.net

Twitter: @legacy_net

It was Friday morning in late January a few days before the full moon. The tides were super low all week, and today, the tide was coming in slowly all day. A front passed two days earlier, and the temperatures were mild. The north winds had backed down to less than five miles per hour and were forecast to go south easterly during the afternoon. The major feeding period was forecast to be from eight am to ten-thirty am. The minor feeding period was supposed to occur from three pm to four pm. We swung wide to avoid a group of duck hunters on a low tide exposed sand bar and power poled down in the mouth of a drain about five-hundred yards away.

It was one of those overcast days that is so still that you can not differentiate between the horizon and the water. As we slipped over the side of the boat, the cool water reminded us that winter was not over. The water temps were on the rise after the front but still a little chilly. Armed with Down South plastics, we began casting and walking toward bait flipping in deeper water. In the first fifteen minutes, we knew we had stepped into the middle of a feeding frenzy. That is how long it took us to string ten nice, keeper speckled trout. Several times we were doubled up, which would be the norm for this morning. Birds began working to the right of us, and to the left the trout were coming out of the water chasing small shrimp. This was a scenario that was more likely seen in the early fall and not late January. Since we had caught our limit of specks, we decided to go looking for some redfish. When we left this spot, our total count for about two hours was sixty-four trout. Needless to say, we left them biting as we began our search for some bronze backs.

We made several more stops wading the mud and shell looking for redfish. In the picture above my nephew stuck a nice twenty-five inch trout near the shoreline. After a nice fight, he released the fish to make some future trophies. Every where we stopped, we caught at least one redfish. At one drain, I called the shot as he dropped me off on the opposite side of a deep drain and went back to fish the other side. I chose that side because I thought there might be a redfish at the mouth of a smaller side drain. I worked my way slowly casting to the shell on the banks as I went toward the opening. Once in position on my second cast, a nice slot red exploded on my soft plastic. I hollered “called it” as my drag started to scream. He was determined to get back in the smaller channel as I tightened my drag and horsed him out of the shallow mud and shell.

With no more takers in this small area, we loaded up and headed to a larger, deeper drain. As we slid into the water, my nephew went toward the drop off in deeper water, and I headed toward the shoreline where I saw some bait jumping. As I approached the shore, I saw a familiar sight. The fanning tails of two nice redfish feeding nose down on some shallow oyster shell. I quietly worked my way toward the the dinner table with the dinner guests never suspecting a thing. My first cast was beyond the feeding fish as I brought the soft plastic swimming by the main platter. The next cast was closer and caught their attention as I danced the dessert in front of their noses. Without hesitation, my lure was devoured by another slot red as he made a beeline for deeper water. Determined not to go on my stringer, he put on a powerful display. By the time I had put him on my stringer, another red was slowly meandering my way from the opposite direction. I stood perfectly still as he cruised right in front of me. He passed by unaware of my presence as I flipped my redfish candy in his path. Before it hit the bottom, he had engulfed the treat and was not happy when the treat tugged back. After a short drag stripping and thrashing in the shallow water, he slowly gave up and succumbed to my stringer with his buddy.

As the day drew near to a close, we stopped at an unknown spot which we had not fished before. It was a drain with a long, shallow point which had a lot of mud and shell. I waded toward one side of the point thinking it would drop off, but it never did. I continued to find shell and mud as I kept pushing my way back toward the back of a cove. The wind had started to blow out of the east and was right in my face. The clouds had pushed off to the south, and bait fish were jumping all around me. The tick of my lure over the top of the shell was met with a hard thump as another nice slot red began to take line off my reel. As I eased the fish up beside me, I realized I had left my stringer in the boat. Luckily he was given a reprieve as he glided back to his familiar surroundings. The sun was beginning to set as I stuck two more smaller rat reds and sent them on their way. While wading back to the boat and continuing to cast, another slot red doubled my rod. I just kept walking back as I fought the fish and swung him into the boat. The beauty of God’s glory was on full display as his fading light show displayed some amazing colors.

I am always amazed at the sunsets God puts on display and how no two are alike.

“From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.”

The bounties that he provides are always welcomed within legal limits and were very tasty.

I hope you get to make a winter wade as this can be one of the best times of year to slide into the water and quietly stalk a personal best fish. God bless you and thanks for reading my blog.

Tim Lumpkin

Blog: Legacy-outdoors.net

Instagram: @tlump10

Facebook: Legacy-Outdoors.net

Twitter: @legacy_net

I got a text from my nephew about 10:30 in the morning. He asked me if I wanted to go with him to work out. He was going to target his biceps, triceps and core area. I knew immediately what he was referring to. It was one day after a front had passed through with strong northerly winds blowing after its passage. The temperature was in the mid forties and the water temperature was in the upper fifties. This meant the back lakes had lost all their water and the fish would be concentrated in the mouths of the drains. This loss of water and extremely low tides and water levels is called “The Dump” by many fishermen. Many times the action can be nonstop as the the fish stack up in deeper water adjacent to the flats or back lakes. The exercise he was referring to was the nonstop action of catching redfish on every cast.

I promptly responded “I’m in” and loaded up the truck and headed out. We loaded up the boat for the short run to his favorite drain. The wind had laid down, and the sky remained overcast all day. The timing was perfect as this was a new moon phase which is usually a good time to go fishing. When we arrived, we saw very low water levels and a dropping tide. Navigation was sketchy as we weaved through patches of oysters trying to stay in the deeper water of the channel. Upon arrival, we did not see any signs of bait moving in the water. The main drain had a very slow moving current going out. We put the trolling motor down and began casting soft plastics as we approached the mouth. In the first five to six casts, my nephew caught three redfish. We slipped the anchor over the side of the boat at 2:30 that afternoon and began an unbelievable afternoon of fishing. In the first fifteen minutes, we put six keeper redfish in the ice chest. From that point on and without moving from this spot, we continued to catch and release one red fish after another. It seemed like the more we caught the more aggressive they ate. It was literally every cast, and often times, as soon as our lure hit the water we were hooked up with another redfish. It was not uncommon to have a double hook up happening all afternoon. It became so easy that we experimented with different lures to see what they would eat and what they would not eat.

The soft plastics we used were primarily Down South Lures using darker colors. Once we got them fired up, the glow and chartreuse was also very effective. We also caught them on topwater lures using the Spook Junior and a Sixth Sense wake bait. The only thing we had to do with these topwater baits was to pause the bait for a second and work it slowly in between pauses. It is always a blast to see the wake of an eight pound redfish behind your topwater lure and anticipating the strike. We were laughing loudly as a redfish would lurch on top of our lures with its back out of the water. We also caught them on Hot Rods which are slow sinking twitch baits. Twitching the bait and letting it fall caused a violent attack that would almost jerk the rod out of our hands. The other bait we tried was a white and chartreuse chatter bait with a gold blade. We could bump this bait off the bottom, if it made it there, and pull it slowly over the shell and mud. The loud vibration drew some hard thumps as they grabbed it and went screaming across the shell. We had to reel like crazy to catch up with the slack line before they broke the line off on the sharp edges of the oysters.

The action was nonstop. We lost our daylight and the tide had started to turn as the west wind was starting to blow. We slowly navigated our way back though the mouth of the drain and headed back to civilization. We kept a running tally of how many redfish we caught in that three hour excursion. You might find it unbelievable, but we caught one hundred and forty one redfish in that amount of time and kept six for the supper table. My nephew caught the largest weighing in at 15 pounds on the boga and measuring 33 inches.

We also caught two 11 pounders, one 10 pounder, two 9’s and hundreds of 5 to 8 pound redfish. I would say the average fish for the day ran about 6 pounds. Needless to say we did get that workout he was wanting and brought home some good groceries on top of that. Here is a short video of the fun we had that day in God’s great outdoors.

Here are a few more pics from that day.

This was a trip for the record books of our memory and will be hard to top until the next “Dump”. Get outdoors and enjoy God’s creations and breathe in some fresh air.

Thanks for reading my blog. God bless you and stay safe. Psalm 34:3

Tim Lumpkin

Instagram: @Tlump10

YouTube: Legacy-Outdoors

Facebook: Legacy-outdoors.net

Twitter: Legacy_net

Kayak fishing has its perks. It makes you slow down and fish an area more thoroughly. You get some exercise and can enjoy the glide. Fishing from a kayak brings you closer to the action and is very quiet and calming. Before you realize it, you are on top of a group of redfish, and they scatter running into your kayak with a loud thump. That was the case yesterday as I hunted for redfish in the marsh with my fly rod. The post front conditions drained the marsh and left me with some very shallow water. Lots of grass touching the water’s surface made it a challenge. Despite the tough conditions, I had a great time soaking in all of God’s beautiful creations. The weather warmed up. The sky was a bright blue with some wispy high clouds. The winds were light, and the water was clear and cool. Thousands of birds were stalking bait in the shallow estuaries. Ducks were buzzing me and osprey were gliding overhead looking for easy meals. The day ended with an awesome sunset and a quieting wind. Even with the absence of fish on the end of my line, I was totally satisfied by the display God put on before me.

I hope you were able to get outside and enjoy the weather we have had the last two days. As the Christmas season draws closer and the hectic schedules begin, take some time to be quiet. Get outdoors and slow your ride. Be observant and thankful for what God has done in your life. Share his goodness with others as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. [John 15:5,8]

God bless you and thanks for reading my blog.

Tim Lumpkin

During this season of Thanksgiving, I am counting my blessings. I have so much to be thankful for. I am blessed with a beautiful, loving wife and two wonderful children. My children have married two wonderful spouses and have given my wife and I two beautiful grandchildren. I am truly blessed to have survived double by-pass surgery in 2015 and am doing well. God has given me his healing touch and allowed me to be around to see the marriage of both my children and the birth of our two grand babies. He has allowed us to find a new home and blessed us during our retirement. I now have more time for family after teaching and coaching for 38 years. Retirement also allows me more time to hunt, fish and ride a few waves when the opportunity arises.

Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day, I had the opportunity to travel to Surfside, Texas. and ride some clean, green surf in the waist-high range. It was a beautiful, sunny day with mild air and water temperatures. The area I surfed was not crowded at all. The area near the jetty was really packed with surfers who entered the water where there was some beach remaining. I chose the less crowded area and navigated my way down the rocks to the shallow beach waters. On this trip I took my GoPro Session with a mouth piece to get some video footage to share on my website. In a three-hour session I had eighty-one clips with twenty-one editable waves ridden. I narrowed it down to about ten and put together a short video of a beautiful day in God’s creation. Here is a short video of some of the waves I caught in Surfside.

On my way home, I went through Galveston, Texas, and took some shots with my Canon SLR of the surfers at the 91st Galveston Fishing Pier. Most of the surfers were on the south side of the pier which made it a challenge to shoot pictures into the setting sun. I managed to get a few keeper shots before calling it a day. Here is another short video of some of the still shots from that late afternoon on Wednesday.

I hope your family time was Covid-free and filled with good food and conversation this Thanksgiving. Don’t forget to reach out to loved ones who can not travel and share a moment with them. Give God thanks for the good things in your life, and try to get outdoors and share God’s creation with those around you. [1 Chronicles 16:8] “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.”

God bless you and thanks for reading my blog. Enjoy the videos.

(If you see a picture that you like, send me a message, and I will get a copy of the pic to you.)

Tim Lumpkin

Blog: Legacy-outdoors.net

YouTube Channel: Legacy-Outdoors

Facebook: Legacy-Outdoors.net

Instagram: @tlump10

Twitter: @legacy_net

It was Wednesday, November the 18th. The hard northeast winds were still blowing and were predicted to turn due east in the afternoon and diminish to a tolerable level. The past 5 years have been tough on Trinity Bay. The huge influx of fresh water on a yearly basis has upset the once pristine saltwater eco system. The loss of oyster habitat due to sedimentation and fresh water has put this bay in stress mode. The widening of the Houston Ship Channel and displacement of dredge material has contributed to excessive sedimentation throughout the bay. Now the back end of East Bay has been cutoff from its saltwater flush through Rollover Pass by a money grabbing land scheme. What once was a highway for saltwater and fish species that came through it is now filled in. This allows for more fresh water flow toward Trinity Bay from the east.

It’s been a year since I fished this shoreline, and I had in mind to visit my newest grandchild in Anahuac after I got off the water. My plan was to put in at a friend’s ramp in a subdivision and work my way toward a drain about a mile away. As long as I hugged the shoreline along the way, I was able to prevent the strong winds from pushing me to the middle of the bay. The sun had warmed the chill of the morning air, and the water had cooled slightly. I pushed off the shoreline and noticed the water was a nice green color, and the salinity level was coming back with the lack of rain and fresh water flow from the north country. On my third cast while drifting around a pier, I hooked up with a small trout. My immediate thoughts were – this is going to be a good day. I made my way around a point and was planning to fish a canal behind a subdivision where I had caught slot reds before. When I came to the mouth of the canal, a dark jagged head popped up in the middle and eased off into the tall reeds. Not wanting to disturb this 4 foot, prehistoric creature, I continued on my way down the shoreline. Small shrimp were jumping everywhere, but very few predators were giving chase. The tide was starting to drop out of a small drain, so I decided to work faster toward the major drain down the shoreline. Casting as I went, I thought I would pick up a flounder or two. My lure was probably too high on the water column as I continued on.

When I finally got to the major drain, the muddy water was rushing through the pilings. The pelicans and other shore birds were feasting on the bait being washed out into the bay. The loud cracks of the pelicans slamming the water and pouncing on their prey filled the afternoon air. The speed of the rushing water picked up my kayak and pushed it quickly along the muddy trail of water. I decided to fish the slower tailrace area out away from the shoreline. Here the color change in the water gave the trout a chance to intercept the bait that was being washed out of the drain. I found the trout on the north side of the swirling water staying closer to the green water. After catching my second trout, I slid my anchor into the off color water and positioned myself to cast toward the green water. This proved to be the ticket as I proceeded to catch one small trout after another. Although they were small, it still felt good to have a tug on my line.

The air quality was beginning to diminish due to an uncontrolled fire at the Anahuac Wildlife Refuge. The smoke drifted over the bay and created an orange glow on the horizon. It made the hour seem later than it was. A power boat came in to fish with me, and to my surprise, it was the father of a player I had coached. I always enjoy catching up on the activities of explayers and their families. We visited for a few minutes and said goodbye as the sun got closer to the horizon. On my paddle back, I noticed some bird activity on the shoreline where I saw all the shrimp earlier. When I got within casting distance, I thought these were flounder feeding in the shallow water. On my first cast, a large wake turned and headed for my offering. Before I had a chance to reel up the slack, an explosion displaced a large amount of water directly under my lure. I set the hook, and my drag started screaming as the fish left a super sonic wake as it sped by my kayak. After two hard runs and a short sleigh ride, the 27-inch, 8-pound redfish slid slowly into my net. What a great way to end the day!

My impressions of the bay from this trip are simple. Trinity Bay is a magical place, and Mother Nature, if taken care of, will heal itself over time. It may not be the bay system it once was, but if we take measures to help this metropolitan water system, it can be a refuge for those who cherish its ecosystem.

Mankind is similar. No matter how off track we get in our lives, we can flush out the bad and replace it with good. God gives us his GRACE for that purpose. God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Christ died so that we may have eternal life if we accept him. No matter what you are going through in your life, his GRACE is there. [Ephesians 2:8-9] “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.”

God bless you and thanks for reading my blog.

Enjoy the video from this fishing trip!

Tim Lumpkin

Blog: Legacy-outdoors.net

YouTube Channel: Legacy-Outdoors

Facebook: Legacy-Outdoors.net

Instagram: @tlump10

Twitter: @legacy_net

I got a tip from my nephew who fished Sunday. He dropped a pin for me on Google Earth, where he found some fish in Matagorda Bay. This happened to be a spot I had found some fish a year ago at this same time. I like this spot because it is skinny water with a mix of grass and shell. You also need a four wheel drive to access this back lake. I set my alarm for early Monday morning hoping to arrive near sunrise. I did not realize that we would be under a dense fog advisory as I loaded up and rolled out of the driveway. What should have been an hour and a half drive turned into a creep along, two and one half hour trip. Once there, I had to buy a beach permit to travel to my destination. The tide was super high, and I had to navigate through a lot of loose sand. As I made my way through the dunes, I noticed one truck with a kayak bed extender already there. I never saw him until the end of the day. The fog was still very thick as I turned my phone on to navigate to the correct spot. As fate would have it, I accidentally veered to the right where the channel splits thinking I had gone to the left. As I kept paddling, I saw what I thought was my destination to my left. Through the thick fog, I made my way to a large flat. I heard the sound of scattering bait and diving pelicans as I entered the flat. The water was off color, and the wind was blowing about 10 mph out of the east. I set up to let the wind push me across the flat toward the west bank. The closer I got to the windy bank, the more feeding action I saw. My first red fish hit fairly close to the bank. They were obviously feeding on bait as it got blown into the grass shoreline. This one was a lower slot fish with some shoulders. After two more casts, I caught another slot red with a tail that looked like it had been half-eaten by a larger predator. The funny thing is, it fought even harder than the first fish with a good tail. Once the sun came out and the fog burnt off, the bite seemed to move more toward the middle of the flat. Schools of rat reds and trout were chasing bait fish as I lowered my anchor and caught several more. When the bite slowed down, I looked at my phone. It was eleven o’clock, and I realized that I was not where I wanted to be. I pulled the anchor and began my paddle back to the spot my nephew had caught fish on Sunday. I entered the narrow passage way into that grass flat and made a few casts. I thought this would be a good funnel area for fish to ambush bait. The tide was now going out fairly strong. When I was not expecting it, an upper slot red fish exploded on my topwater lure. As I reeled up the slack, the fish thrashed several times, and the lure came flying out of his mouth right by my kayak. That got the old heart pumping with excitement as I made my way to the open grass flat I was originally supposed to be in. With time running out, I made one drift across the flat with no luck. I decided to call it a day and head back to the launch. As I approached the mouth were I lost the big red, I made a couple more casts. My Down South lure came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the channel. The shaking head and less resistance let me know I had caught the largest trout of the day. I slid the trout back into the water and started my way back down the main channel to my truck.

As I paddled back, I reflected on how well the day had gone even though I got lost along the way and did not end up where I had intended. The foggy conditions had landed me on a spot were I caught plenty of fish, and again I could use my previous fishing knowledge to take advantage of the cards I was dealt. Life can be like that. Sometimes we are dealt situations that we may not have anticipated. If we learn to make the most of any situation that arises, we can have a strong influence on how things end up. Keeping a positive attitude, serving others and giving the glory to God in all situations is what Christ wants us to do. It is amazing how you feel and what you can accomplish with that mind set. Deuteronomy 11:22

I hope you enjoy the video from last Monday!

God bless you!

Tim Lumpkin

Blog: Legacy-outdoors.net

YouTube: Legacy-Outdoors

Facebook: Legacy-outdoors-net

Instagram: @tlump10

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

I got an invite to go wade fishing in Matagorda with my nephew last Friday. It was a beautiful day with pre-front conditions. The water temps were finally coming down into the 70’s, and wade fishing was on the menu. We started out before daylight and were greeted by a beautiful sunrise and a wind protected shoreline. The tides were super high with the fall equinox. When we began our first wade after we power-poled down between two drains, the tide was just beginning to move out, and bait fish and shrimp were coming out of the marsh drain. My first cast was actually from the boat to adjust my reel. To my surprise it yielded a 19 inch red. I did not have to wade too far from the boat before I caught a mix of 10 undersized trout and reds. Today our goal was to have fun but also to keep some fish for a family fish fry. My nephew caught over thirty fish in the opposite drain, but only two were legal size. One was a red and the other a trout. The bite dwindled as the sun got higher, so we loaded up and headed for another spot.

A deeper back lake was our next destination. It didn’t take long before we were drifting from back to front catching trout on every cast. Many times our lures would barely hit the water and the trout would be making a run for it. The only problem was these were all 14 inch fish, just shy of legal size. We saw some schooling action of what appeared to be some keeper size reds, but they did not want our soft plastics. When all else fails, tie on the old gulp and popping cork. Bingo – a drag stripping 27 inch 8 pound red! It was a perfect tournament red that looked a little beat up. One more keeper red later and a bunch more undersize trout led us to decide to move again.

Our next stop was also a marsh drain which produced more undersized trout and one keeper red. A frontal boundary was beginning to show to our north, so we decided to make our way back towards the harbor to be closer in case the weather turned bad. On our way we saw literally six to ten different sets of birds working in open water. This is one of the perks of fishing saltwater bays on the Texas coast in the fall. Most of the time you catch smaller trout and gaff top catfish under the feeding birds. We decided to try to fish the birds just in case there were some keeper fish among the schoolies. To our surprise we managed to finish out our limit with a few more barely legal 16 to 17 inch trout. Right before we left the schools, I put on a heavier, larger profile bait to get down under the small schooling fish. On the second cast, something jolted my 30 pound braided line and headed into the sunset. It stripped 30 yards off my reel in less than 5 seconds. I felt a strong tick as the fish made off with my mirror-lure, “double d” custom color, $15 dollar bait. I was guessing a small jack or a small shark wanted the purple and gold offering.

The dark clouds and rain were approaching fast, so we decided to fish a drain closer the harbor. We put on our rain suits and entered the back lake to find some dark-stained, marsh water coming out into the muddy, wind-blown water as the tide continued to drop. As the rain began to fall, and the cool wind switched to the north, we managed finish our red limit with a 22 inch fish feeding in the stained, outgoing current. We also caught more small trout that matched the dark-stained water they were living in.

We reached the harbor as the sun was dipping below the horizon and began to clean our day’s keep. We managed two 1-gallon bags of filets which would feed my nephew’s family and their visitors. We had to filter through over 100-plus fish to get our limit that day but would have kept fishing all day even if we had caught our limit early. That is just how much we both love to fish.

God blessed us with a beautiful day and some quality time on the water. I am always thankful for the grace of God and the love of the outdoors he instilled in me. I encourage you to use your God given talents to the fullest as you give Him all the glory. [Ephesians 2:8-9]

God bless you and thanks for reading my blog. Enjoy the video and don’t forget to subscribe and follow.

Tim Lumpkin

Legacy-outdoors.net

YouTube: Legacy-Outdoors

Instagram: @tlump10

Surfing in Texas means you have to be ready when a swell arrives. Hurricane Zeta provided the swell peaking at bouy 42019 about 3:50 pm on Wednesday. The wave height of 12.1 feet at 11 second intervals provided a fun playground for surfers all day and got bigger as the sun went down. The arrival of this swell was unique in that it was met with strong northwest offshore winds from an approaching frontal boundary. I have not seen that scenario play out in a while and was excited about surfing a good, long period swell with offshore winds.

I arrived at the Galveston Fishing Pier around two in the afternoon and took a few shots of the short boarders screaming down the line on chest high faces. The current was fairly strong from west to east and required a lot of paddling to stay in the best spot. As I was taking pictures, I noticed the right side of the pier had less current. A few long boarders were catching some good rights from just inside the t-head and connecting to the inside section. I quickly put my camera up, threw on my wet suit and paddled out into the lineup. As the afternoon went on, the sets got bigger and the prime takeoff spot moved further out past the t-head and about 75 yards to the right. Even with the strong offshore winds, I was able to get some no paddle takeoffs. The waves set up nicely with long wind-groomed walls which got steeper as you approached the inside sandbar. Occasionally, you could get a cover-up and come out of it. Most of the time you got worked as the wave pitched and closed out on you. I was definitely not tube dodging and paid the price time after time.

After sharing fun waves with good people for about three hours, I got out and got my camera to take some more pictures. I went out on the pier to get some closer shots as the sets were breaking out past the t-head. I mainly focused on the short boarders on the left side of the pier. There were several people getting barreled and having a great time.

Mother nature was showing off today and was a true blessing for the surfers. I can’t help but be concerned for the good people of Louisiana who took another hit from a category 1 hurricane. I pray that everyone stayed safe, that no life is lost and property damage is minimal. As I was driving home, I was reminded of the beauty of God’s creation by the deep red glow of sunset after a wonderful day in the water. I hope you got to enjoy the good surf with friends. Don’t forget to give God the glory for all he has blessed you with. Luke 2:14

Thanks for reading my blog and enjoy the video from today. God bless you.

Tim Lumpkin

Legacy-outdoors.net

YouTube: Legacy-Outdoors

Instagram: @tlump10