The good news is we got another long period hurricane swell and had a blast riding some fun waves. It was a Texas surfers’ treat with fairly clean conditions at the peak of the swell. The bad news is that the people impacted in Louisiana are struggling, as we all understand the aftermath of being hit by a category 4 hurricane. It’s hard to believe that they were impacted by seven storms last season and now they are dealing with another. Hopefully we can all give them help and pray that the recovery process goes well.
When deciding where to catch this swell, my first thought was to go to SPI. That would have been the right call, but the logistics of a six hour drive and overnight stay were not in the books for me. I would have to settle for somewhere closer. I kept an eye on the forecasts, and for a while it seemed that Galveston would get the best part of the swell with offshore winds at its peak. As the storm got closer and raced across the gulf, I knew the timing window for the swell would be critical. The wave height predictions started out with an overhead swell. Each day the forecast dropped and ended up being a waist to chest high event. I decided to go back to Surfside around noon on Sunday as the swell would be at its peak around four that afternoon. I knew it would be crowded, but I was able to find a parking spot on Beach Drive close to Crab Street about one pm. The winds were fairly strong out of the northeast which put a good chop on it. At the peak of the swell, the winds were forecast to go straight offshore. That did not happen, but the winds did lay down a bit when the bigger swells started to arrive.
I decided to wait until four to paddle out, so I set up my camera to shoot some video for a while. I usually get into the water on a clean hurricane swell too early and wear myself out before the best conditions arrive. I shot around three hours of video (and it took me approximately the same amount of time to pull the best clips from my camera). The swell continued to build as predicted and by four, I was itching to get into the water. My timing was perfect, and the paddle out was easy during one of the thirteen second lulls. As a large set approached, I set up on the outside and caught a large wave. I took a steep drop and began to bounce up and down on the chop. The board went into auto pilot, and I was left behind sitting down hard on the chest high face. After my leash got stretched to the max, I came up laughing and excited about the juice these waves were offering.
For the rest of the afternoon I caught a lot of fun waves that offered numerous tactical possibilities. Nose rides, closeout hits with air drops, and off the lips were the menu for the day. Did I mention juice? Yes, the speed and steepness was surprising on some waves, which is unusual for Surfside. Needless to say, I had a blast! At times I found myself in a crowd, but that is to be expected on a good swell. The nice thing about Surfside is that there is plenty of room to handle the crowd. All you have to do is paddle away from the cameras and you are usually in a more open area.
By sundown my fun meter had peaked, and I rode my last wave to the beach. The sunset cast a pink glow on the remaining waves as Poseidon slowed his pulse. It is amazing how quickly the swell began to fade as I drove away thanking God for the chance to ride on his creations again. The stoke meter from this session is still running high as I write this. I hope everyone got their fill, and remember those in our neighboring state in your prayers. Exodus 22:26
On Friday, August 20th, 2021, Hurricane Grace was about to make landfall in Mexico as a category three hurricane with 120 MPH winds. The largest swells from the hurricane were making their way across the gulf toward the Texas coast at a steady pace. The swell peaked Saturday with bouy readings of nine to ten feet at eleven second intervals. Finally there would be a reprieve from the continuous summer doldrums. I arrived at Surfside beach just before daylight. As with any large, long period swell, there would be a lot of anticipation and hype. This scenario was no different. There were a lot of surfers lined up on the granite rocks listening to the sound of crashing waves trying to see the size of the swell in the dark. The Saturday morning daylight soon began to expose the surf conditions. What we witnessed was a long period swell that was coming from the south. The waves on the Quintana Beach side of the ship channel were breaking much further out with some well-overhead walls. The mystic “white whale” was pitching tons of water on the end of the south jetty. There was a lot of water moving on that side. I watched several people attempt to paddle the channel in an effort to get to the larger waves. You will see in the video, a surfer rounding the end of the south jetty heading towards the bigger surf.
Most people, even those with a lot of experience, opted for the cleaner, smaller waves on the protected side of the north jetty. I started out surfing in front of Crab Street with only a few people out. I caught some really fun waist to chest-high waves with some nice workable walls. It didn’t take long for the crowd to fill in the lineup. It soon became a challenging slalom course to weave through all the surfers in front of me. That was ok with me. I just paddled down to a nice sandbar further down the beach. The further I went from the jetty, the larger the sets became. It was much less crowded also. The early morning waves were not only bigger, but also cleaner as the wind wasn’t blowing as hard as it did later in the morning. Guess you could say the early bird got the worm. After three hours of fun waves, I got out of the water, ate a snack and shot a little video.
The same scenario repeated itself on Sunday. Arriving early again was the ticket. The surf was a little smaller but much cleaner for the first three hours of daylight. There were still some chest-high sets rolling through with some clean workable faces. It was what all surfers hope for in Texas. This was evident by the amount of people that were entering the water as the morning wore on. I surfed for four hours that morning, and the wind really picked up during the last hour. Around eleven I got out and drove down the beach to shoot some more video. The combination of strong winds and an outgoing tide made for some not so perfect conditions. As you will see in the video, the surfers were doing the best they could with the declining conditions. Most of the footage I put in the video was from around noon on Sunday.
Being a surfer in Texas means patiently waiting for the next swell. As I am writing this blog post, there are predictions of another possible hurricane swell coming into the gulf this coming weekend. We usually hope and pray to be on the dry side and not to be impacted by a direct hit or to be on the dirty side. As Texas surfers, we learn to be content with what we can get, be it micro, short period swell or overhead, long period swell. All I know is I am very grateful for two days of fun surf on the Texas coast. I thank the maker of the swells we ride – the creator of heaven and earth. [Isaiah 40:28] I hope everyone had a good time and got the opportunity to make it to the coast for some fun in the sun!
See you on the next swell. Thanks for reading my blog, and enjoy the video.
The past few weeks have been prime summertime conditions for night time jetty fishing and morning surf fishing. However, the relentless winds of early June and early July made it difficult to fish in either place. I have learned that a southwest wind is not conducive to good water color at the Texas City Dike on the channel side. With the wind blowing at a moderate speed from the south though, I took a chance and went for it. I arrived in time for a rising tide and stained water with six to eight inches of visibility. Another thing I’ve learned about night fishing is that the best bite occurs when the lights have been on for at least an hour. This gives the bait time to congregate in the light. So after an hour, I had a lot of freshly hatched shad filling up the edges of the light. As usual the trout were not far behind. The action was slow at first. When the tide started moving better, the bite was nonstop. From 2 a.m. to 4:30 a.m., I caught and released over fifty speckled trout all on artificial lures. I kept five small fish and the rest were released to fight another day. The largest one was twenty-two inches and looked to be full of eggs. The most effective lure was a Down South four and a half inch swim bait in the purple reign color. They seemed to hit anything that imitated a shad. In the video you will see trout approaching the shad near the rocks early. Then later you will see the trout pushing them off the rocks into the light and busting into the schools in a feeding frenzy. It was really cool to see and even more fun to catch and release them.
The next week I had a light south southwest wind which I have learned is good for night fishing the gulf side of the Surfside Jetty. The gulf side is protected from this wind direction and allows for some cleaner water. As long as the tide is coming in while the lights are up, I have had some success. I set up my lights at midnight and planned to fish the incoming tide. The tide would be high at 5:30 in the morning. After an hour, the bait started to slowly trickle into the bright lights. A few shad, some glass minnows and a lot of shrimp and finger mullet were the attracted menu for the evening. Again, the bite was slow until about 2:30 a.m. From then until 5:15 a.m., the bite was stupid good! I was using a Down South Super Model swim bait in the white ice color on an eighth-ounce jig head. Keeping the bait high in the water column was the ticket. An erratic retrieve seemed to be the best. It mimicked the stop and start of the minnows and mullet. I pinched the barb down on the jig head so I could shake the trout off at the base of the rocks. This allowed for a better survival rate upon release. One of the better trout I caught that night was another twenty-two inch fish. You will see the strike and see I used the net to land it for a photo opportunity. That night I kept five smaller fish for my friend who is having a fish fry. I think the smaller fish taste better and the larger fish are our brood stock that we should all let go. This is especially necessary after the freeze and fish kills we had last winter. I think the release them over twenty-inch movement has gained a lot of momentum up and down the Texas coast. I hope it will pay off in the future of our fishery.
The next week I went back to the Surfside Jetty for another nighttime adventure. The winds were even lighter out of the south southwest, and I planned to fish the incoming tide and move to the surf that morning for some wade fishing. The tide was dead low at around midnight and the next high was forecast for nine-thirty that morning. At midnight I set my lights up on the gulf side which was still, glassy and trout green. To my amazement, there was not a single bit of bait showing up in my lights. We were on the back side of a full moon which usually is not a good situation for fishing. The tide was dead slack and the only fish hitting my lure were the ribbon fish on just about every cast. Around three a.m., I noticed the other lights on the jetty were shut down and gone. There was only one light set up near the end, and it was on the channel side. I assumed that side would be holding dirty water from all the runoff coming out of the inter coastal waterway. The southwest wind would also make the water more off color. I stopped for a moment and watched the person fishing that side bring in a nice size trout and then another. I grabbed my tripod with my lights still going and carried them to the channel side of the jetty. To my surprise, as soon as the lights hit the water, I saw mullet and shrimp scattering. After five minutes, I began to see and hear the familiar sound of trout sucking down the shrimp and baitfish. In my first ten casts, I caught four trout, and the action continued until my generator ran out of gas. The final count was around twenty five to thirty trout in the last few hours of darkness.
As the darkness began to fade, I loaded up my gear and headed back to my truck. The light glow on the horizon gave way to a beautiful sunrise and dead slick surf conditions. I made my way to the beach entrance and started looking for birds and bait along the shoreline. I drove for about two miles before I saw what I was looking for. The gulls were having a feast on the large shrimp being pushed all the way to the beach by schools of hungry trout. I hopped out of my truck, tied on a trusty topwater lure and stood in ankle deep water casting to the feeding frenzy. My lure hit the water, and after two twitches, it got smashed and the game was on. This scenario happened over and over until the school moved through. Every surf fisherman dreams of this type of set up which usually doesn’t happen very often. When it does happen, it makes it that much sweeter. After a while the action slowed down, so I loaded up and went on the search for more bird and bait action. After driving another mile or so, the scene repeated itself. With each stop heading north, the fish seemed to move further out from shore. The fish moved from the first gut to the second gut as the morning wore on. I also noticed at each stop there was a presence of small black tip sharks lurking near the schools of trout. In the third gut the porpoises were pushing the trout back toward the shore in my direction. That was in my favor and kept the action close. The numbers of shrimp in the surf was amazing, but they seemed to have no chance of survival against the schools of trout. This awesome scenario came to an end as a menacing storm moved down the beach from Galveston in the east. With five small fish in the cooler I loaded up and took the fish to my friend for his fish fry.
A Storm Is Brewing
The next morning I loaded up the truck and headed back to the beach at Surfside to repeat the previous day’s fun fishing. This time I took my Go Pro to document the action. As I waited for first light on the beach, I could see and hear more wave action that the previous day. The wind was stronger, and the waves were breaking stomach high on the first sandbar. There was a slight chop on the water until mid morning, and then it got semi glassy. As I drove the beach, I noticed no one was catching anything. Not even the anglers using live bait. I was getting close to San Luis pass before I saw the birds working bait beyond the second sandbar. I stopped the truck, grabbed my rod and waded in. As I reached the second gut, I cast my topwater lure as far as I could attempting to reach the bait being pushed to the surface. As long as I got it close to the bait I got a strike. No one was stringing fish that day due to the sharks. I slowly walked each keeper fish to the shore and let them ride the surf to the beach. There were a lot more smaller fish in the schools this morning as I chased the fast moving schools south down the beach. I was playing leap frog in my truck with several other anglers as we tried to keep up with the accelerated pace of the feeding fish. By eight a.m., I had caught five small keepers for my friend’s fish fry. I continued to catch and release more fish as we continued our game of leap frog. As the sun grew higher, the action slowed and the fish seemed to be more lethargic with their bellies full. Another morning of fun surf fishing was in the books.
I love this time of year when the winds lay down and the surf gets right. A night time jetty trip followed by a morning wade in the surf does the soul good. Every time I set up my lights at night or get the opportunity to wade the surf, it is a new learning experience. It seems the situations I encounter always make me either adjust to the situation or figure out another plan to be successful. I think that is what I enjoy most about fishing. Whether it be from a kayak, on the shore from a jetty, or wading the bay or surf, the challenge of figuring out where or how to catch fish makes the game that much more fun. When I was coaching (for 38 years) we had to be able to adjust and adapt to overcome the opponent. Fishing gives me a similar challenge with many variables such as wind, tides, water temperature, water depth, bait, sunlight, and so on.
Life is like that too. Just when I think things are going the way I want them to, life throws me a curve ball. I have to adapt and adjust to cope with what life deals. It is not always easy to figure out. The best book of knowledge I can recommend with the answers to all that life can hand you is the Bible. If there is something you are dealing with and don’t know how to handle it, pick up this book and read the examples of how Jesus dealt with his time on this earth. Read how God’s love for us and his grace gives us hope no matter what our circumstances are. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is notfrom yourselves, it is a gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” Take some time to pick it up and read. Proverbs is a great place to start. I love this book as it is filled with wisdom that helps us in our daily lives.
I hope you enjoyed my recollection of my fishing experiences these past few weeks. I have put together a video of images from my last few trips. Enjoy it and feel free to share any of my lessons learned with a friend who likes the outdoors as much as you do.
As we continue on a blessed journey through life, we become more aware of the many cycles of life that surround us. For me from a human stand point, I have experienced the birth of a my grandchildren and the death of a parent. I can’t help but be excited for all the wonderful things in life we get to experience as we go through this cycle. Knowing that God has plans for each and every one of us makes it that much more exciting. In nature there are thousands of plant and animal life cycles to be observed every day. Nature can provide some amazing opportunities to see some impressive paintings only God can display.
As a retired elementary school teacher, my wife provides some creative opportunities for our older grandchild. Pulling from annals of lesson plans, she chose the life cycle of the butterfly since it presented itself in our own kitchen garden. Her classes used to draw and journal about the stages of the butterfly. Starting with the egg and continuing with the larvae or caterpillar stage, next comes the pupae or chrysalis followed by the emergence of the adult butterfly. It all climaxes with the release of the butterflies back into the wild.
Our back yard has become a haven for butterflies as we have a lot of plants that attract and host butterfly life cycles. The Passion Vine on our fence, which is a host to the Gulf Fritillery butterfly, is attracting new prospects every day. You can see the yellow eggs deposited by the adults and easily harvest the larvae to feed and observe. The fennel plant in her kitchen herb garden was recently covered with many swallowtail larvae that devoured the plant in a couple of days. She transferred them to a container and fed them well until the chrysalides began to form. What a great science lesson for a young child to watch and wait as the caterpillars journeyed on through the stages of becoming adult butterflies.
I decided to document the cycle with my camera and to preserve the amazing reaction of a young child, my granddaughter, as we set them free after they emerged from their chrysalides. I have to admit, my wife and I were having just as much fun as our granddaughter watching and waiting for the colorful butterflies to emerge.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for everything under the heavens.”
Take some time and identify those cycles of life that are surrounding you today. Stop and enjoy the beauty they provide. Appreciate the precious moments you have. Many will pass you by if you let them.
God bless you and thanks for reading my blog!
Enjoy the video and feel free to share it with others. If you would like some more information on how you can harvest and feed the caterpillars on their journey to becoming a butterfly, you can contact me through my word press e-mail.
Last year was a tough year for everyone. Adjustments to the realities of Covid 19 forced us to make some drastic changes in our lifestyles. One of these changes involved finding creative ways to exercise away from the gym and crowds. For me the answer was a twenty year old bike restoration. New tires and tubes, along with a little WD-40 and some lights, was all it took, and I was up and riding. It started with slow casual rides of about 5 miles. It has evolved to ten and fifteen mile rides lasting an hour to an hour and a half. I have enjoyed finding new places to ride around the city. One of my favorite places to ride is a park near the house. It has a wide circular path in a habitat restoration area. The City of Houston has planted trees and foliage all around this pathway. This spring the wildflowers have bloomed on both sides of the path. Along with the flowers and plants, there are many different species of animals and reptiles crossing the path. As I ride on the circular path, I keep saying to myself that I need to bring my camera and get some shots of the many varieties of colorful foliage and wildlife before they disappear with the sweltering summer heat.
Well, I finally took the time to take a few photos and video clips of the beautiful scenery nature provides me with during my daily bike rides. My grandmother and my mom have both passed away. They both are responsible for my interest in the beauty of flowers and greenery that is all around us. They both put to action the phrase “stop and smell the roses”. My wife has always loved the beauty of a colorful flower bed and a field of wild flowers. We both are enjoying her bountiful results of planting and gardening around our house.
As I ride around the circular path each day, I enjoy seeing new blooms and new creatures. The ever changing landscape makes me appreciate the simple beauty God has put on earth for our enjoyment. Sometimes we get so busy in our daily lives that we miss the beauty God has put all around us. Not only in the flowers and natural surroundings, but also in each other. Everyone and everything has a uniqueness all to itself. No one thing around us is exactly the same. That difference makes the world such an interesting place to be, and we can celebrate it daily. The diversity and variety of God’s creations provides us a daily kaleidoscope for our enjoyment. Take the time to get outside and enjoy all the beauty God has placed in the most unlikely places in your world. Look for the good and colorful aspects in your life and celebrate the uniqueness of all that is around you. 1 Peter 3:3-4 says, ” Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather it should that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” I hope as you go through your day you can see the inner beauty of all those around you. Slow down, and smell the roses.
I made a short video as I always do with the photos and video I shot that day. I hope you enjoy it. God bless you and thanks for reading my blog.
On Thursday, May 20th, 2021, I checked the surf cams as I frequently do. There was a low pressure system moving into the Gulf from Mexico. I thought there might be a chance for some longer period swell. To my surprise, the winds were slightly offshore. They were mostly from the west and light. On the cams, there was definitely a better quality wave rolling in than there was the previous day. I watched several surfers catch some good waves on the cams and decided to make the trip to test the waters.
When I arrived, the parking lot at the jetty park was full. Fisherman were lined up on the jetty, and surfers were partaking of the fun waves rolling in. I found a spot close to the front granite wall to park and changed into my board shorts and rash guard. I grabbed my board and made my barefoot journey across the gravel parking lot. On the way, I saw a gentleman named Tom who was shooting video of the surfers for his YouTube channel Tex Dirtsurfer. I introduced myself, and he invited me to shoot some video later from the top of his truck top camper. He has a tarp cover made with pvc that provides shade and a great vantage point for shooting video. Check out his videos if you get a chance. He puts a lot of clips of many different surfers of all levels on his channel. When I got to the grassy hill which lead to the beach, I heard someone holler “coach”. I turned and looked wondering who would be calling me coach. I have been retired a few years and was two hours away from the town where I retired. I turned and saw Ron, a real estate acquaintance I have surfed with many times over the years. It was good to catch up and see some familiar faces from the Meacom’s Pier crew from Bolivar Peninsula.
The water was a warm 75 degrees and the wind was a steady 15 mph from the southwest. There was plenty of white water to paddle through as the waves were waist plus on sets. The nice thing about a longer period swell is the fact that there are usually lulls between the sets. That makes for an easier paddle when going out. Once I made my way out into the line up, I saw a lot of familiar faces. I thought to myself, does anyone work anymore? There were probably around 50 plus people tucked into the best spot next to the jetty. After an hour or so, the wind seemed to back down a bit in the early afternoon. That made for some longer, clean rides on some workable waves. After another hour of full on fun, the wind started to turn straight on shore and strengthen. This caused the waves to lose some of their form. I caught one more wave and rode it to the beach. After changing clothes and securing my board, I decided to shoot some video of the action in the water. I set up on the granite rocks at the base of the jetty park and got some straight on shots. I then moved to the jetty to shoot some video from an angle. I shot 150 short video clips of various surfers. When I got home, I deleted all but 33 to make a video. Out of those 33 clips, I narrowed it down to an 8 minute video including scenic footage.
I am truly blessed to have a wife that allows me to pursue the sport of surfing and is patient with me as I spend time writing about my outdoor experiences. By the way, she is my editor-in-chief who reads and corrects my thousands of spelling and grammatical errors. As a follower of Christ, I have a story, as many of you do, to the saving power of God. My intention when I started this blog was to share God’s wonderful creations around us. I will share my story some day of how I was one step away from death and how he saved me.
I hope you have a chance to get outdoors soon and enjoy God’s creations.
God bless you, and thanks for reading and subscribing to my blog. Enjoy the video!
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.
Legacy Outdoors 