Fishing Report

Fishing clients from Oklahoma, Houston, San Antonio, and the Carolina's were well pleased with the duck hunting. The fishing is another story as we've all of the sudden hit the tough and cold Winter conditions of calm, clear, and cold.

What had been producing strong catches for guests at The Lodge which was mud/grass stopped producing for us on a fishing blitz late week and through the weekend. Five different trips, some fishing intensive, some fishing after duck hunting, but the results were all the same. From the upper end of Hynes to The Island, it was a slow grind with few "solids".


Duck/Goose Hunting

The best stretch of weather to befall the Texas Coast was had by all over the last week. That kept our guides coursing coffee and nicotine through their veins as they tackled their assignments through 16 hour days and treacherous weather at times with clients stretching from both ends of the continent. It’s the adrenaline rush from a pre-determined outcome; the heritage and lifestyle of the waterfowler; the challenges of weather, client capabilities, the potential to be experienced, and belaying all the obstacles that attempt to prevent it. Special thanks to our Team including Capt. Steve Boldt, Capt. James Cunningham, Capt. Jake Huddleston, Capt. Matt Raley, Capt. Chris Cady, and Capt. Doug Russell.

We’re hoping to dry out a little, but it looks like rain as early as tomorrow. Duck wise, things are looking better on the coast. Geese are still a little sketchy in the County but that’s likely to change at the drop of a hat. With hard core weather since the split, you get a good look at bird populations and there’s certainly no shortage in the area. That was evident with our clients taking heavy straps and full limits through that stretch. Friday, as High Pressure set in, things dried up air traffic wise. Such was the case Saturday morning as things looked pretty tough for Tom L and guests. Surprisingly, we manage to limit two out of three shoots, don’t ask me how. Bluebird conditions looked like an impossible situation. Strong afternoon shoots on Redheads and Pintails followed the “Saturday morning miracle” with guests arriving mid-day for an afternoon shoot and a Sunday morning combination hunt on geese and ducks. If Saturday was a challenge, Sunday truly looked impossible with a slick off. Two of our bay hunts managed half limits on Gadwall, Shoves, Motts, and Widge. The inland combo hunt turned up the volume with a strong showing of 20 ducks and 6 geese including an eagle head blue goose.

We’ve got a light schedule over the holiday week with a few shooters coming in from Cali. We’d like to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

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

Fishing Report

 

Fishing afternoons after duck hunting proved to be a challenge with fog, slick conditions, and a huge flood tide. Capt. Chris Cady managed to limit on Reds and Drum on Saturday with Capt. Doug Russell coming up with a few keepers of Drum and Reds. Shrimp and cut mullet are producing best over mud and grass. The emphasis around here has been “ducks” and the second opener was far better than expected for our clients with full limits for the majority and “bent barrels” for some others. 

 

We’ve got a full slate at The Lodge for through Christmas week and we’re hoping to shed a little water. The Seadrift tide gauge has been creeping from 2.15 to 2.65’ here over the weekend and that’s well over a foot more water than we should have. 

 

Duck Hunting

 

The much awaited second duck split opener turned out better than expected for our guests. While I’ve complained about Seasons far better than this one “to this point” the feeling coming off the weekends hunts is much like that of a pilot that made it to the runway with a dead engine. 

 

We’re under siege on the coast by a myriad of conditions that are not conducive for us including but not limited to huge bull tides and sever inland flooding, river flooding, flooded fields, fog, post frontal slick-offs, and scattered birds. While we have access to a vast amount of acres inland, there are countless acres that are flooded with failed crops that are inaccessible. This lends itself to a “quick pop” early followed by “we’ll just go sit over here and not fly” scenario. 

 

Extreme pressure inland landed limits for 4 groups Saturday morning with some as early as 7:20am. Two out of four of our bay shoots limited with the other two groups shooting poorly with enough birds to “get the job done”. We exerted plenty of pressure on the bay as well. Saturday we had tight fog but interestingly enough it had wind with it and that was a saving grace. 

 

Sunday, fog with a “slick off” pretty much sent things into a spiral with near limits coming on two of four bay shoots including some geese and the other two taking single digits. One of the groups absolutely should have “broke double-digits” but simply couldn’t hit them. Inland shoots pretty much came to a grinding slow down with one taking 20 birds and a goose and the others shooting low double digits. 

 

Layout Boat Hunting

We are getting ready to break the new MLB Super Mag out tomorrow with the Dunn group from the Carolinas. If you are into Layout Boat hunting, “stay tuned”. 

 

 

Fishing afternoons after duck hunting proved to be a challenge with fog, slick conditions, and a huge flood tide. Capt. Chris Cady managed to limit on Reds and Drum on Saturday with Capt. Doug Russell coming up with a few keepers of Drum and Reds. Shrimp and cut mullet are producing best over mud and grass. The emphasis around here has been “ducks” and the second opener was far better than expected for our clients with full limits for the majority and “bent barrels” for some others. 

 

We’ve got a full slate at The Lodge for through Christmas week and we’re hoping to shed a little water. The Seadrift tide gauge has been creeping from 2.15 to 2.65’ here over the weekend and that’s well over a foot more water than we should have. 

 

 

The much awaited second duck split opener turned out better than expected for our guests. While I’ve complained about Seasons far better than this one “to this point” the feeling coming off the weekends hunts is much like that of a pilot that made it to the runway with a dead engine. 

 

We’re under siege on the coast by a myriad of conditions that are not conducive for us including but not limited to huge bull tides and sever inland flooding, river flooding, flooded fields, fog, post frontal slick-offs, and scattered birds. While we have access to a vast amount of acres inland, there are countless acres that are flooded with failed crops that are inaccessible. This lends itself to a “quick pop” early followed by “we’ll just go sit over here and not fly” scenario. 

 

Extreme pressure inland landed limits for 4 groups Saturday morning with some as early as 7:20am. Two out of four of our bay shoots limited with the other two groups shooting poorly with enough birds to “get the job done”. We exerted plenty of pressure on the bay as well. Saturday we had tight fog but interestingly enough it had wind with it and that was a saving grace. 

 

Sunday, fog with a “slick off” pretty much sent things into a spiral with near limits coming on two of four bay shoots including some geese and the other two taking single digits. One of the groups absolutely should have “broke double-digits” but simply couldn’t hit them. Inland shoots pretty much came to a grinding slow down with one taking 20 birds and a goose and the others shooting low double digits. 

 

 

We are getting ready to break the new MLB Super Mag out tomorrow with the Dunn group from the Carolinas. If you are into Layout Boat hunting, “stay tuned”. 

 

As I said in a report last week, with our duck season closed until the 12th, we are shifting into "high goose gear". Weather seems a little bit more advantageous but the fields are in horrible condition. Rain, more rain, threat of rain, rain in the forecast, and then somemore rain, and by the way "it's raining", ok misting.
Some of our birds are hung up, of course, in a failed corn field and that row crop is something to behold when it's wet. We pulled off an 81 bird shoot out of it this morning with the Jack F. party including all of our Specks and the rest being a mixture of Snow and Ross including this "Blue Phase Ross" beauty. Capt. Jake Huddleston was on the calls.

The only high ground in this rotten field is a road that bisects the property. With about 3 dozen full bodies, we managed to get about "mid-field" and set up with foot pits on the edge and surround them with tall corn stalks. Fortunately, walking in the row crop near our setup wasn't that bad as the geese had stomped it down pretty good. No doubt, the birds will be back in it shortly but we at least put a dent in them.

We did our best to pick up the cripples but "sailers" were just beyond retrieving. We probably left another 15-20 in the fields, getting around is just next to impossible and deep walking into the fields "is impossible". The dogs did the best they could. There's a few pictures of what the Caracara's and Buzzards were up to just in the short duration of our hunt.

We'll take some more weather, maybe trim the rain back a bit so we can at least get around without doing $1,500 worth of damage everywhere we go.

We are trying to fill some spots around Christmas week if anyone can make it. We've got a few openings the remainder of this week.

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

November/2009 Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Castaway Lodge!   We wanted to take a second to wish everyone the very happiest of Thanksgivings!   Our guests are always in our thoughts and this year has found us thinking of so many, so often.  It's been another outstanding year at The Lodge and our guests and their generosity are the reason.  We are thankful to live in "the land of the free and the home of the brave", experiencing the wonders of Texas great outdoors with the best friends anyone could ask for.  Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving! Redfish Over Grass/Ducks In The Blocks  Having clients hunting and fishing with us over the Thanksgiving Holiday is a tradition dating back 15 years with us.  With 11 guests arriving as early as Tuesday, from both ends of the Nation, we knew it was going to be another memorable Thanksgiving Holiday.  A mild cold front Tuesday led our guests to full to near limits of ducks, and set the stage for some awesome fishing.  With water levels quickly rebounding "post front" our guests enjoyed blistering hot action on the flats with full-limits of Redfish and Black Drum. "Read More" Lodge Gear & Clothing  This summer, we introduced a line of Tee-shirts that everyone went crazy over!  Along with our signature hats, and variety of shirts, we are adding a new long sleeve shirt called "The Team Tee".  It's a high quality Gildan long sleeve tee with our logo and "Team Castaway" down the right arm.  We thing you are going to love it!  Issue: 1 In This Issue Cast & Blast Highlights New "Team Tee" Coming! Ducks, Seadrift To WI Ducks, Seadrift to Wisconsin "This season, I'm forecasting the "near February" closure of the Duck Season to be more important than in any season in past memory.  Delayed Winter in the North and an absence of freezing conditions has delayed the migration.  We've still got openings during the week and around Christmas in December.  January has a few weekend dates and plenty of weekdays available at this time.  Call us to schedule your trip today, 1-888-618-4868."    "Read More"   Capt. Kris Kelley Castaway Lodge, Inc. GROUPON  SAVE 20%  CAST & BLAST Min. Party of 3 December 26 & 27  This is our first ever "Groupon" offering, and here's the deal.  We are offering 20% off the price of a Cast & Blast Package which is normally $500 per day per person and includes a two nights stay with lodging and meals at The Lodge.  Your Groupon Price is good if you can put a group of 3 together and make a reservation before midnite on December 1st.  We've got 2 slots available, so don't delay! The adjusted price is $400 per person per day, 2 day minimum which is a $200 savings per person.  The clock is ticking>>>>>>>>>>>>call 1-888-618-4868 toll free today!  Offer Expires: Midnite on December 1st

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