Leaving a Legacy for Those Around Us in God's Great Outdoors
Author: legacyoutdoorsblog
I am a retired teacher and coach with 38 years in public education. I have a love for the outdoors and all the opportunities it provides. I love to fish, hunt and surf. Through this blog I hope to share some of my experiences in Gods great outdoors.
It has been over a year since I have had the opportunity to go to Sundown Valley Ranch. I always welcome the invite and the opportunity to experience the country lifestyle of central Texas. Feeding cows, spraying fence lines, loading feeders, repairing fences, looking for deer and hogs, and of course the fishing. The weather did not cooperate with the plans we had, but we made the most of it. Most of the chores that were on tap got done despite the continuous downpours and relentless wind.
As for the fishing, the weather seemed to slow things down a bit. The bass were still in a pre-spawn mode. They were hanging on the drop offs close to the bank. The larger fish on this trip were starting to move up to the spawning flats looking for a place to create a nest and lay their eggs. The cold winter seemed to have set back the clock on the fish spawning cycle this year. Normally they would be in full spawn mode with the bigger fish on the banks. The cooler weather and a lot of rain had the water cooler and dirtier than normal.
So the challenge was to weed through the smaller fish and find what the larger fish wanted to eat. My first lure of choice was a topwater lure. I caught a lot of smaller aggressive fish paralleling the banks the first morning. That afternoon I found the bigger fish on the flat among a few lily pads. The pads were sparse and trying to make a comeback after the big freeze late this winter. On the first day, I caught a total of 20 fish mostly in the two pound or less range. The next day started with glassy water early followed by some howling both winds. My goal was to catch a grass carp on a fly rod, but the water was way too muddy for me to see them and for them to see a fly. I switched to a conventional rod and a spinner bait. I thought the flash and vibration would trigger a bite in the muddy water. My largest fish that afternoon came on the flat among the lily pads. The spinner bait came to an abrupt halt and he took a short side ways run before succumbing to gears of my Concept reel. The total count for that day was about the same. That evening the sun peeked through the dark clouds to create a beautiful sunset, which Sundown Valley Ranch is known for.
On the last day, the winds started out light and gained momentum from the north as a front pushed its way through. The sun came out, and we had blue bird skies and a high barometric pressure. This usually makes the bass fishing a little more challenging. I had to resort to my old faithful. A shallow running crank bait made by Sixth Sense lure company in a shad color. That did the trick. All the fish caught that day escaped the Go Pro footage as my Scan Disk cards were full. I was relegated to the good ole cell phone pic for the rest of the day. The thump and sudden stop of a crank bait bite is one of my favorite ways to fish for any species.
I was hoping to see a rainbow with all the rain and clouds as the sun peeked through. My wife shared with me this morning a passage about rainbows from the book Reforesting Faith by Matthew Sleeth, MD. . He states and I quote: “The rainbow appears in the first and last book of the Bible (Genesis and Revelation). Revelation 4:3, written by the apostle John two thousand years ago, describes the rainbow as a circle of light surrounding the throne of God. But aren’t rainbows half circles, not full circles? From the viewpoint of humans standing on the ground, yes. But with the advent of flight in the last few generations, we can now see the full circle of the rainbow. While the Bible is not meant to be a science textbook, I find examples such as this one reassuring. A rainbow is all the light we can see symbolizing a God we cannot see.”
What a great perspective. I have always felt closer to God in all my outdoor experiences. The beauty of God’s creations can’t help but make you feel in awe of all he has done. I hope you get to get outdoors and experience God’s amazing creations with those around you. Thanks again to my brother-in-law for the invite to Sundown Valley Ranch. I always enjoy my time with family and friends there!
I caught some early morning glassy surf in Surfside Texas Saturday. I started with a full wetsuit for about an hour and then came in and changed to board shorts and a rash guard. After another hour of fun waves I got out to shoot some video. As soon as I got set up to shoot, the cold front hit the coast and the winds switched to the north. It was gusting about 20mph. I started shooting and noticed the familiar style of a surfer I have surfed with over the years. I loaded up my gear and made my way down the beach to get some closer shots. The sun was now out and the wind was really holding up the waves. The form seemed to get better as the tide was going out. The surfers name is Bruce Woods. Here is a shot of him surfing one of the largest waves ever ridden in Texas.
Hurricane Katrina. South Padre Island, Texas 8/29/05 Photo: Wade Dunkin, Surfer: Bruce Woods.
In smaller waves he has a distinctive style that I have always enjoyed watching. Here is a video I shot in Galveston that has Bruce on some smaller waves on a longboard. It was taken about twelve years ago.
Galveston Texas
Saturday was a really fun day at Surfside. I always enjoy taking some still shots or video when I get out of the water. Here is a short video of Bruce with strong offshore winds holding up the waves to play on.
Tuesday I took my third trip to my favorite bass lake to survey the progress of the spring spawn. The weather was perfect with mild temperatures and light winds. It was a post front day with plenty of sunshine and warming water. I started the day flipping a craw worm into heavy cover on a protected shoreline. My first fish came almost immediately. Small males were willing to take the motor oil with red flake colored plastic. I decided to move to the base of the cypress trees off shore as that is where I found them a week ago. To my surprise, they were not on the roots like they were before. I started targeting small grass clumps, and that seemed to be the ticket. I tied on a topwater lure with a noise attracting tail and worked the small clumps of grass and patches of brush in open water. If it was isolated and stuck up out of the water, I would cast to it. This seemed to get the best results as the fish were much more aggressive on this day. Nothing beats the way a bass attacks a topwater as it buzzes by them. The warming water had them jumping out of the water chasing bait. Several times I caught a fish after it gave its location away chasing bait and coming completely out of the water. Once hooked, they put on an impressive arial display as I reeled them to the kayak. It was a great day to be outdoors enjoying God’s creation and even better when the fish cooperate.
The spring spawn is still progressing, and I think the best is yet to come with the upcoming full moon. Sometimes the cold fronts keep coming through and pushing Mother Nature’s progress back a notch. As much as I want the spawn to be in full swing, I must slow down and be patient as God has everything in his control. Just as nature has its own timing, I should realize that our daily lives and the timing of things that happen to us are under God’s control. I can slow my tempo and take time to enjoy the daily things that happen to me and those around me; take time to appreciate the little things in life. Take a walk, go fishing, plant a garden, or turn off the T.V. and have a conversation. Matthew 6:34 says, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
A few weeks ago, the big cold spell put everyone in lockdown here in Texas. A week before it hit, we had warm, springtime temperatures, and the bass spawn was projected to begin. I made a trip to a local lake with my kayak to fish for the early arrivals in the warming shallow water. To my surprise, they had not moved up, and the water temp was still pretty cool. I decided to give it a couple of weeks and try again. Monday I made another trip and found some small males starting to move up and preparing the beds for the larger females. I began fishing with a ribbit frog in the thick cover on the north end of the lake. I had a lot of blow ups by small male bass but very few of them stuck. The water was very slick due to the lack of wind. The subtleness of the ribbit frog seemed not to spook them as it drew strike after strike. The largest ambush of the day caused a huge swirl on three consecutive casts without a hook up. I’m not sure if it was a large female or a snakehead. I decided the larger bass were still staging in deeper water. I tied on a small whopper plopper and started casting under, or close to, the cypress trees away from shore. This seemed to be effective for catching a few more small males.
Before starting my paddle back to the launch, a moving log caught my eye. The log was soon identified as my good friend Gary the Gator. Gary is a huge gator who patrols the lake with a slow glide and a cautious eye. We exchanged pleasantries, and I was once again on my way. The next full moon is at the end of this month. I am almost certain the larger females will be on the beds by then for some exciting angling.
This time of year, patience is the name of the game as the weather patterns fluctuate, and the bass move up and down the water column. In our present, I want it now world, we could all use some patience as we go through our daily lives. Colossians 3:12 says “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” This sounds like something we could all adopt in our lives considering our world’s current state of affairs.
I will be heading back soon as the full moon arrives, patiently hunting for that monster bass! Thanks for reading my blog, and enjoy the video of my recent trip. God bless you.
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.
A deep water wash out near a shallow flat.A deep water sand pit next to a shallow flat
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.
My Sled
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.
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.
Grey and Glassy
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.
Psalm 113:3
“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.
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.
Fishing The Dump January 12, 2021
Here are a few more pics from that day.
Check out the black gill platesThis small redfish was super hungry. Check out the fin in his gullet.
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
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]
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.)
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!
Kayak fishing for trout and redfish in Trinity Bay Texas 11/18/2020
Legacy Outdoors 