Castaway Lodge Report
By Capt. Kris Kelley
"Winds Make Redfish Top Priority"
What a difference three inches of water can make in the shallow back marsh environs! Without the water rise, things were looking pretty bleak with scalded flats scorched by winds and slicked off by big mats of grass beds that should be submerged. Limits were obtainable but it got down to pretty much a super shallow white knuckle endeavor with hard to approach and spooky fish. Add 3" of water and everything looked alot different on Sunday with the Mike L. party from Austin aboard our Air Ranger airboat. I suspected things were going to be much improved but had no idea we would experience the aggressive and wide ranging bite that we did. Mixed schools of Redfish and Black Drum were on the prowl. While limits of Redfish came to hand the guests also picked up their legal limit of Black Drum in the 18 to 23" size range and managed another 5 Reds which were released.
Late Week Look At Trout
Despite the wind, conditions on Friday weren't that bad but the bite was pretty weak drifting over available shell pads. Working artificial and live shrimp yielded half limits for Jerry S. and son Ryan. The best production came off soft plastic paddle tails with live shrimp not producing much at all. The tide has been inbound early and this kept the water fishable. Saturday didn't start off so well as break light found us smack in the middle of a tide change with torn up and gutted water through mid-morning. That made for the Trout Quest essentially the "fish of a thousand casts" with only sporadic success coming as the tide came in mid-day.
Wade Fishing
The wind has made it dificult limiting options to fishable waters. Fishing with guest Syd T., Capt. James E. was able to locate trout and redfish pushed against a windward shore. Our guests only wanted a few fish to take home so most of the day was catch and release. James said they managed 20 trout to 22" and 10 redfish to 27". The fish were located on mud and grass and soft plastics was the bait that worked. The 5 trout that were kept all had eggs and the spawn cycle is in full swing. The more fish that spawn the more fish we have for the future, keep what you need and pratice catch and release.
Drought Breaker?
How about that chance of rain this morning? A 40% chance here in Seadrift did elevate to 100% certainty as the wet stuff fell for about one minute. I hope you've got puddles in your yard! Come see us.
Capt. Kris Kelley
Castaway Lodge
1-888-618-4868
www.seadriftbayfishing.com
www.americanairboats.com
