Somethings on the water will still buckle my knees and impress me beyond words. "As I was rolling through a back lake the other day scouting ahead of an afternoon shoot, I started kicking mud stirs as Redfish and Black Drum scurried from my approach. Farther along the shoreline the mud stirs were on both sides of the boat stretching 15 to 20 yards both directions. This went on for a quarter of a mile and left me pretty much in awe of what I had just witnessed".
Capt. James E. is reporting advanced patterns ahead of typical post Winter approaches with fish already tagging the mid 20's and getting "solid". Best approach is wading working a variety of low and slow soft plastics. Capt. Terry reporting productive Winter and Spring pattern drifts are taking mid teens of keepers working soft plastics over mud/shell. Capt. Doug reported slow bait fishing for Redfish while covering a bunch of water. Best action was working shell/mud for Trout with soft plastics.
What you haven't seen all Winter are the endelss scores of Oyster boats working the reefs due to a Season Closure resulting from Red Tide outbreaks in the Fall. Hynes Bay just opened for a few days but is closing back down due to freshwater runoff coming down the Guadalupe from excessive rainfall in the Austin area. These guys just can't catch a break, or can they?
Word has it that Espiritu Santo Bay is opening today. I'm not sure if SAB will open or not. Busting up that shell always seems to help the fishing, so be patient with these guys. They've got a tough job and you can't be any further down on your luck than they are right now.
Set up a drift in the muddy water moving either down wind or down current coming off the Oyster boats dredge area. During Winter and Spring months, off color water is where it's at and about the only source of that is coming from an Oyster boat dredge. The dredge is turning up small bait sources and dislodging them. Trout and Reds know it and you can have a lot of fun bending a rod with the sound of a dredge clanking while listening to your favorite Mexican music blaring over their boom boxes.
This one is in the books! We hope you had the opportunity to take it out with a bang. We've got an extended Snow Goose hunt going on as we speak. I haven't heard how that's going as of yet. We've still got some small numbers of Snows lurking around water and making for impressive wing shooting. Snow Goose Conservations Season starts TODAY!
We are announcing an agreement with the great folks that bring you all the fast action on the water to continue sponsorship of the Fishing Forum for another 2 years. What makes that possible? You do! Thanks to everyone for making 2011 just an outstanding year for Castaway Lodge.
We hope you have a great week, come see us!
Capt. Kris Kelley
Castaway Lodge
1-888-618-4868
www.seadriftbayfishing.com
Centrally located in Seadrift, Texas, Castaway Lodge encompasses two adjacent campuses covering 3.5 acres with 700' of bayou frontage and 15,000 sf of comfort, convenience, and privacy in the Heart of Seadrift!
