Posted By Kris/ In Castaway Lodge Fishing / Sunday, April 25, 2010

There's A New "Dog" In Town

As We Speak

Activity in the back marsh environs and mud/grass in general has escalated with the arrival of herds of Black Drum in the Pony Class from 15 to 24”. As water levels have reached a typical Spring Flood tide, the silver bruisers have made their way into the memories of our guests. I’m also seeing some Redfish pushing outside of the slot in the low 30” range. This is all about water levels and the bountiful bait concentrations in that area.

There’s A New “Dog” In Town

The lodge welcomed Tommy Barker, a legend in Texas Law Enforcement and Bonding for a weeks long run at the back country bounty. I knew I recognized him but couldn’t place Tommy. You may remember when “Dog The Bounty Hunter” got popular, there was a story out of Midland/Odessa about a bonding company that said “We Don’t Need No Dog In Texas”. It made national news and I remembered catching the story. Well, that was Tommy and it pretty much established him as a “media darling” in that field. What a fascinating fellow with a supporting cast of family equally distinguished. The stories of “real world” bonding and law enforcement were simply mesmerizing. It was truly a pleasure fishing with this group.

Pre-Dawn Shock & Awe

We started the trip off with the worst fishing I’ve experienced this Spring. On Sunday, I was sitting on top of a huge push of water coming off the heels of a Saturday cold front. With rain, thunder, and lightning pre-dawn, I was concerned about the “shock and awe” effect on the skinny water fish. Winds diminished quite a bit and I was really struggling to find anything of interest (it happens, sometimes severe weather will dump the flats and the fish will head for deeper water especially after thunder and lightning). Visibility was tough and there just wasn’t much shallow on the flats. It was the worst day I’ve seen this Spring; 30 gallons of fuel; about a half dozen fish spotted; 3 fish landed; absolutely brutal. There were plenty of should-a-could-a-woulda’s. By the time I figured out that I wasn’t going to “see” any fish, it was too late. Lesson learned, I should have been “spot” fishing “blind” and taken my chances. Hind sight is 20/20.

Quick Rebound

Monday was another story, winds increased behind the cold front and were clicking near 20 knots. Still buried in water with overcast conditions, I made a decision to “fish blind” right off the bat and encountered a strong bite in best guess locations. We were limited out before noon with Redfish centered in the mid-slot and there was no sign of Black Drum in the mix. In talking with the group I mentioned “now you have a frame of reference, from worst to best”.

Bet On Black….and Red
(Tuesday/Wednesday recap)

As water levels receded a bit from Sunday’s deluge, mid week saw the arrival of herds of solid slot Black Drum mixing with Redfish. Tuesday saw the Redfish bite diminish somewhat as Black Drum eased into the area dominated by Redfish. We managed limits of Drum but just couldn’t get a lot of traction on the Reds, landing 5 solid slot Reds for the effort. Archie and Judy S. from Georgetown managed full-limits of Redfish on Wednesday but couldn’t come up with any action on Black Drum. Capt. Steve Boldt took the Barker boys for a change of scenery Trout fishing landing a ton of throwbacks and around 10 keepers to 18”. Steve had them dialed in on Tuesday taking limits in short order. As winds went slick Wednesday, the solid Trout headed for different pastures but a good time was had by all.

Thursday found gulf moisture returning to coastal waters as clouds and winds ramped up. It turned out to be one of those special days in the protected back country environs of Matagorda Island. With water dumping out, schools of Black Drum and Redfish were on the prowl in 8 to 12” of water over mud/grass. Working mud pockets, Tommy B. and guests finished a 5 day stay at The Lodge with their largest catch, 12 Redfish, 1 Oversized pushing 30.75”, and 15 Black Drum from 16” to 20”.

Lodge News

Our new 24 Haynie Cat Daddy will be coming out of the mold tomorrow and heading for decks and interior finish. The new Mercury 225 Pro XS has made it’s way to Chris’s Marine in Aransas Pass along with my 6’ Power Pole and Bob’s Machine Shop 6” Lightweight Jackplate. All will be there waiting on rigging end of next week.

Capt. Kris Kelley
Castaway Lodge, Inc.
1-888-618-4868 Office
361-785-2587 Local
361-648-3474 Cell
www.seadriftbayfishing.com

 
Tags Lodge Redfish

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