We welcomed Jimmy D. and guests for a bachelor party trip aboard our new 20’ Air Ranger airboat Thursday. Steve was in-line for #3 and the college buddies assembled from around the globe to help him kick it off right this time! Doug left Dubai on Tuesday and landed in IAH by way of Amsterdam on Wednesday for the trip. That’s what I call “dedication” and Doug said he wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
We were off to a rocky start with 25 knots and gusting into the 30’s, elevated tides, and scalding hot conditions. Despite a little jet-lag, Doug set the pace catching the first solid slot Redfish. Bets were flying around and the guests agreed “next stop, $10 a head, first keeper fish”. Doug railed back with a hook-set and a small Black Drum fought his way to the boat. I could tell it was a pup but looked on the low, 14” end of the slot. As referee, I told Doug “this is where your fishing guide is invaluable”. I busted out the check stick and sure enough, the Drum measured 14 and an eighth inch. That’s the first keeper fish at this stop and everyone bucked before agreeing that it met the terms of the bet. We let the youngster back in the water, and the terms of the betting got a little more “well defined”.
Doug and Jimmy D. managed to limit out with the guest of honor and dad Don each catching a couple. On his way to full limits, Doug also ran into a 30.5" bull Red in about 2' of water. The fish took drag like a Jack Crevalle and just thrashed the small back lake from one end to the other.
Saturday’s inclement conditions saw some grown men “opting out” of fishing but that wasn’t going to be the case for a couple of hard core fishing gals. I welcomed Dee and her sister “Sissy” from Melbourne, Fl aboard the airboat for a back country reunion. Sissy is a “critical care, trauma nurse” and rod bending decompression with her sister was exactly the “critical care” she needed. Conditions were pretty raw but not even a challenge for the “well dressed”. I was hoping to see some declining water levels but that wasn’t to be the case. Tides remained elevated despite a strong offshore flow. There was too much water in the bays to move out in 18 hours. Sissy immediately caught a solid 24” Redfish before the bite turned off immediately thereafter. I caught a glimpse of several fish in some hard to reach places and we commenced to hauling water on each stop after that.
I eased into a runway lake and noticed some bruisers busting off the shorelines and kicking some solid mud stirs. For some reason, the fish weren’t feeding down wind of the boat, only upwind. Every cast was blasted into 15 knots of head on North wind and each cast came up “gold”. Full limits and some sisterly bonding made braving the conditions worthwhile.
Always With Us
Our guests that make Castaway Lodge a very special place, thank you!
Capt. Kris Kelley
Castaway Lodge, Inc.
109 W. Austin
Seadrift, TX 77983
1-888-618-4868 Office
361-785-4487 Fax
361-648-3474 Cell