Capt. Kelley
6/26/2009 8:19:00 PM

Tango-Romeo-Oscar-Uncle-Tango

Fishing Report "San Antonio Bay":

As predicted, wind stability and improving water conditions are setting the stage for "Trout Connectivity" in coming days. Capt. Steve Boldt reported water conditions in upper SAB slightly worse yesterday than expected but yielding limits to 18" on Trout.

Particular To Freelining A Finfish:

Wind direction and juxt-opposed tides continue to keep things just off kilter enough to prevent a wide spread "jail break" but it's coming sooner than later. I don't know if we're going to have to have a special planetary alignment or something to get things in normal seasonal form? Right now, strong incoming tides are the UPS of inner bay fishermen. The tides are delivering Trout shipments all over the bay systems as foraging Trout colonies move with bait, water temperature, and water conditions.

The fish delivering tides are a nuisance, however, when combined with a juxt-opposed South wind or as today a Southwesterly wind early in the day. When the wind slicked off, (just my luck as it went from 90 to 110 degrees in about 10 minutes), I was able to get in position with the waterflow fishing South with the tide and that's when it got interesting on Trout to 21" with the Stephen R. party from "Vicky-T". We managed 25 Trout with limits on the horizon. We just couldn't get it done fast enough to beat impending heat strokes around 11:00am. Picks to follow.

We dumped quite a bit of water overnight, the bays looked gutted with exposed shell masses clearly visible. I think this is probably a function of the Westerly component in the wind and it should line back out quickly. Until then, find the distant edge of submergent structure and move shallower rather than vice versa.

Come home when you can!

Capt. Kris Kelley
President/CEO
Castaway Lodge, Inc.
109 W. Austin
Seadrift, TX 77983
1-888-618-4868 Office
361-785-4487 Fax
361-648-3474 Cell

 


Capt. Kelley
6/24/2009 6:00:00 AM

Green Goes The Waters Of Home

 

Diurnal winds are breaking and we’re in a gear shift from a Redfish emphasis to full throttle Trout fishing. Forecasts for the winds to break as early as Saturday were met by disappointment as the flags whipped briskly over the launch. Monday, things dialed back a notch and you could tell there was a change in the pattern. Bay waters started blushing the favorite color of an Irishman and mid-bay structure opened up a bit. The fish responded favorably with solid action on Trout to 21”. 
 
The Seasonality Question
 
The weather has definitely been a little different this year which leads a fishing guide to ask “what month are we in really”? That’s a question of seasonality. You can obviously look at a calendar and know what month it is. The question becomes “what month are the fish in”? Questions of seasonality aren’t uncommon in this business. Fishing logs and patterns can hold steady but their coincidence with the calendar may be off. Water temperatures can play a large part in this occurrence.
 
I noticed in May that water temperatures were much cooler this year compared to last year. I pulled CBI data and sure enough, we were about four degrees cooler with a six degree fluctuation overnight. We had yet to see temperatures above 85 degrees while the same time during last year, we had already seen 88 degree water with little fluctuation overnight. 
 
We had a lot of fish hung up on sand all the way into the middle of June which is very unusual. When the diurnal winds started cranking on June 11th, I thought “man this feels more like May than June”. It’s my feeling that July is actually going to be more indicative of a classic June than what we just came through. Trout over the last two weeks have steeped themselves on area shell. Unfortunately, Mother Nature threw a blanket over it during the past weeks and it has been virtually unfishable. With the winds laying here as we approach July, it should result in some awfully strong fishing over shell in Espiritu Santo and San Antonio Bays.  
 
President/CEO
Castaway Lodge, Inc.
109 W. Austin
Seadrift, TX  77983
1-888-618-4868 Office
361-785-4487 Fax
361-648-3474 Cell
 
 
 

 


Capt. Kelley
6/22/2009 6:00:00 AM

Cedar Bayou Going Viral

 

This report was written on Sunday, winds had yet to subside. Fished today, Monday, June 22, 2009 and the winds finally broke and the fishing and water conditions responded favorably. The water is greening up and it looks like we are in for some awesome July fishing. 
 
Fishing Report
 
We’re still fighting big winds and gutted water but it looks like the “end is near” as predictions for more seasonal wind stability are on the horizon. Scattered Trout and disintegrating bites have been holding us at the quarter to third limit mark. Doubling back for Redfish as a game saver has been productive to full limits on the “slow side” over mud/grass firing cutters in mud pockets. 
 
Castaway Lodge News
 
Check out Cedar Bayou going viral…..no, I’m not quitting my day job! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8r0sK2AXCc
 

 


Capt. Kelley
6/18/2009 6:00:00 AM

First Chain Shark Attack, 44 Magnum Barking, Brenham Dream Team

Big winds continue to crush open Trout water. This has led some to give up on Trout altogether and focus on Redfish. When you’ve got a “Dream Team” of Trout fishermen arriving, for them, Redfish just aren’t an option. The Lodge welcomed the crew from a little town famous for a “little creamery” and a Trout fishing “Dream Team”, yes, that would be Brenham. John, his son Greg, Dr. Gary A, Greg A, John H. and the newest member, Walt “Troutmaster” S. arrived at The Lodge with winds banging out of the South.

The boys dug in on Day 1 to come up with a little better than 1/3 limits on fish to 21” amid horribly gutted water and extreme winds. Capt. James Cunningham said, our hard head floaters have got a 5 to 6’ shark taking them like “topwaters”. Well, that’s just not conducive to center up a bunch of Trout for a “smoke n roll”. What the shark didn’t know was that his days were numbered when he met James. On Day 2, winds went to an even higher level but James said “we’re going to get that Shark”. “I’m bringing out the big gun”. James brought a shark rod and some balloons and started firing out bludgeoned Hardheads beneath the balloon. James said “he took it about 4 times but kept feeling the tension of the balloon and spitting it”, “on one pass, he took it 4’ from the boat and cut a huge gash in the water when he blew off”. James pulled the balloon off the leader and grabbed a handful of line and hurled the bait down wind “freelined” in an attempt to go “old school” on him. “I was grabbing a bait for a client when I heard him take the bait while the rod was in a rod holder. I grabbed the rod and let him run with it for a bout 20’ of line and then we “engaged” him and it was ON! Greg S. grabbed the rod and went to working on him. Greg said “at one point I eased up on him and the rod got a little limp, then he nearly jerked me out of the boat and that’s when I kept the pressure on the whole way”! “You’re fixing to hear the big dog bark” James said as we were down wind of his boat about a half mile. Sure enough, the sound of a 44 Magnum rang across the First Chain of Islands warming the heart like talking to an old friend.

With all that commotion, me and the rest of the Dream Team were steadily working on Trout to 20”. At one point, I thought we’d finally hit a vein and had a steady bow-up session in progress. Unfortunately, most bites in big winds and gutted water are disintegrating in nature and sure enough, we could only manage 8-10 before they shut down. We ended up with 17 Trout which was a little better than half limits. That looks just about like a homerun right now.

Castaway Lodge News

It’s a big finish to the week as The Lodge welcomes Arnold H. and son; Dr. Matt C. and family; Tammy C. and family. We've also got a pow-wow of the States leading environmental lobbyist/activist/attorney and Houston based real estate icons.


Come home when you can!

Capt. Kris Kelley
President/CEO
Castaway Lodge, Inc.
109 W. Austin
Seadrift, TX 77983
1-888-618-4868 Office
361-785-4487 Fax
361-648-3474 Cell

 


Capt. Kelley
6/17/2009 11:49:00 AM

No Spin Zone

 

Positive spin, “sugar coating”, sometimes it can taste a little gritty. While we are known for hitting home runs in conditions where you might not even launch your own boat, you can find yourself in a set of conditions you just can’t fish your way out of, but regardless, you’re doing better than most.
 
Reading A Fishing Report
 
Fishing has been absolutely awesome over the last few days as big winds have raised the bar challenging even the most experienced. Defensive fishing tactics and making your move on condition changes is key. Reading water is not very helpful at present as the bays are off color at present. Relying on known structure and fish concentrations and fishing the water present has been producing favorable results. Top quality bait fished aggressively, focused technique, patience, and timing are critical. Timing right now can count for everything.
 
Let’s Break It Down:
 
a)         Fishing has been absolutely awesome over the last few days as big winds have raised the bar challenging even the most experienced.        
 
b)         Defensive fishing tactics and making your move on condition changes is key.  Reading water is not very helpful at present as the bays are off color at present.
 
c)         Relying on known structure and fish concentrations and fishing the water present has been producing favorable results.
 
d)         Top quality bait fished aggressively, focused technique, patience, and timing are critical. Timing right now can count for everything.
 
 
Translation:
 
a)         Fishing is always fun, some might call the experience “awesome”, but “catching” isn’t mentioned.  Big winds have gutted the bays to where you almost need to be a fishing guide to catch anything at all. 
 
b)         Grinding out the most pitiful bites to the point of obsurdity while using every ounce of experience gained over 3,000 days on the water and using it to catch quarter to half limits is about as good as it’s going to get. You are doing all this because 99.9% of everything is tore up and if something looks good, “it’s fishless”. 
 
c)         Grinding the same semi-protected structure, with a handful of fish on it, in water that would make a Nigerian Garhole and an Ethiopian Mud Slide look good, has been spitting up enough fish to make it worthwhile. 
 
d)         This requires a bait well full of “stud Croaker” that are hand picked by someone that knows what they are doing, never casting the same bait twice, using a narrow set of subtle rod movements, knowing what the bait is doing under the water and exactly how a Trout acts when it doesn’t want to feed, forcing it to feed, realizing you have a bite even when no indication is given, and bait reading skills only acquired through countless days and hours fishing this style, with an ability to go brain neutral and allow for emerging bites and passing fish intercepts, and just plain getting lucky.  Right now it’s better to be lucky than good. 
 
 
If the weather people have any credibility left at all, they are calling for a break in these scalding winds heading into the weekend!
 
Come home when you can!
 
President/CEO
Castaway Lodge, Inc.
109 W. Austin
Seadrift, TX  77983
1-888-618-4868 Office
361-785-4487 Fax
361-648-3474 Cell
 

 


Capt. Kelley
6/10/2009 7:36:00 PM

Living The Dream: "A Job Interview Everyday"!

Setting The Bar

Wind popped today as we welcomed Joseph D. and the Ben R. parties to The Lodge. Joseph had recently been on a guided trip to a popular destination in La. and had a horrible experience. “The Guide we fished with never moved more than 400 yards the entire day. The rods and equipment looked like something out of a museum, six foot rods with 65 Lb test with white cotton line and 3/8 oz. “hand poured” jig heads which the Guide was very proud of”. The line test was so heavy that even a 3/8 oz. jig head wouldn’t sink to the bottom. The boat was leaking and not only did we not catch fish, we didn’t catch any fish of any kind. Furthermore, it's not like this guy was giving this stuff away, we had to pay him $500"!

The Job Interview

When Joseph called to book the trip on a recommendation of a co-worker, I thought I was being questioned by Homeland Security or something. I could tell that he was very concerned about the level of service and “quality” of the operation. I just told him look “I don’t care if the weather looks like the second coming of the Apocalypse, we’re going to put you on fish”.

The Pre-Employment Screening, "Cream Rises To The Top"

We welcomed him and his wife to The Lodge and Wendi laid out a Sour Cream & Olive Oil Appetizer that we learned from a Palestinian client of ours, absolutely awesome! We visited for awhile and then fired up the grill for our 1 ¼” Center Cut pork chops, stuffed bakers, and a Caesar Salad. Everyone hit the sack with great optimism for the next morning.

"Time To Teach The Boss A Few Things"

Everyone awoke to their choice of some hot Kolache’s, Cinnamon rolls, muffins, bagels, coffee, milk, and juice. We headed to the ramp and I could see that the wind was a little sporty and shifting from East to SE. As we headed Southeast to pick up some fishable water, I mentioned that the bay offered little protected fishing in decent water at present due to the strong tides and Full Moon. No excuses, just letting them know we may have to dig our heels in.

The first stop we worked on technique and both Joseph and his wife Casey dialed in quickly. Second move it was on as Casey managed her first Trout, a solid 16-17” fish. Then Joseph fired off with a nice Trout and then another and another. Both Casey and Joseph were taking my instruction and the fish were showing them the results. About 8:00am, the wind really started going to the next level and we were a few Trout short of limits. We managed, however, to stay on them and not only did Casey catch the first Trout, but she caught the last Trout as well.

Post Employment Interview

Joseph was very concerned not only about the quality of the trip but also that his wife had a good time as well as catching some fish. I told Joseph, “it’s not her you’ve got to worry about, it’s you”. Women are naturals at certain styles of fishing and they will absolutely “bring it”. Women are very tractable, generally have few bad fishing habits, and most always listen to their Guide. That results in a high rate of being “bowed-up”. Casey said “I had a much better time than I thought I was going to have and I really got the hang of it, so much fun!”.

More fishing……….

I just got off the phone with Capt. James Cunningham who was struggling a bit early. He said we made a move and stuck a 28” Trout that was pictured and released. He said it looks good, “we’ll see”. Pictures and report to follow:

Come home when you can!

Capt. Kris Kelley
President/CEO
Castaway Lodge, Inc.
109 W. Austin
Seadrift, TX 77983
1-888-618-4868 Office
361-785-4487 Fax
361-648-3474 Cell

 


Capt. Kelley
6/8/2009 3:05:00 PM

Port O Report: Castaway's Boldt Takes Cup!

 

Get your Port O’Connor fishing reports from Castaway Lodge on your RSS Feed by cutting and pasting this link into your RSS browser: http://www.portoconnorfishing.com/FishingReports/tabid/219/rssid/3/Default.aspx
 
It was a busy week for us at The Lodge with the “who’s who” of heavy Texas Commercial & Industrial Construction and Energy joining us for some explosive fishing. Late week we were taking strong boxes to full limits while building to a Guides Cup win at The Spaw Maxwell Tournament in Port O’Connor on Friday.
 
While we’ve yet to enter a weather pattern of consistency regardless of the absence of screaming winds. Of late, we are fishing 1 day in 10 on a traditional South or Southeast wind. This has kept things interesting as wind directions swing wildly in 180 degree arcs. Areas that are producing one day may be unfishable the next while unfishable areas may turn into paradise over night. This has had us splitting up to cover the bases and some days that plan works better than others. 
 
While we’ve been very fortunate to produce good numbers and size of late, we are no where near our “stride”. It may just be that kind of year and unpredictability will certainly keep things interesting. With June unstable at best “environmentally”, it’s got our sights set on a strong July and hopefully a period where one days successes bleed into the next.
 
Area shell reefs and shorelines continue to be our focus producing Trout to 26.5”. Ben W. landed this personal best Trout fishing with Capt. James Cunningham and was photographed and released near Mesquite Bay.
 
Sight Casting In Three Acres of Redfish
 
Capt. Steve Boldt led our guests from Tellepsen Commercial/Industrial Construction to victory in the Spa Maxwell Guides Cup event on Friday. With a tip from Capt. James Cunningham, Steve dialed in on an area wade fishing with Brown Lures. Texas Gold Rush burned through heavy grass using a 1/16oz. Tru-Loc jig head produced the badly needed three Redfish and 10 solid Trout pushing 20” to take the Cup. 
 
Steve said “the Redfish were so thick we were basically picking and choosing which fish we cast to”! “No, that one’s too small, ok, fire at that one”. 
 
Steve called me mid-afternoon to tell me that “we’ve got our stringer and we might have had a shot if our Redfish had been bigger”. I asked him, “what’s does the tournament stringer consist of”? Steve said “we have to weight in 10 Trout and 3 Redfish”. I said “hold on a minute big boy, you might be surprised on this one”! “I can imagine that some caught their Trout and some caught their Redfish, but I doubt that too many contestants put it all together”. Sure enough, Steve sent me a text message that evening informing me of the win and receipt of his $1,000 prize! Congratulations!
 
President/CEO
Castaway Lodge, Inc.
109 W. Austin
Seadrift, TX  77983
1-888-618-4868 Office
361-785-4487 Fax
361-648-3474 Cell
 

 


Capt. Kelley
6/1/2009 6:26:00 PM

TNT Chicken Dinner!

Special thanks to the organizers of the Tails N Tunes Tournament in Port O this weekend. Proceeds benefitting wounded warriors, what a great event! One thing you can’t do is bet against the one arm fish catching bandit, Capt. James Cunningham. He’s more gifted with one hand than many are with two. From tying blood knots one handed to multi-tasking in the middle of the hottest bites, he can, and does, “it all”. With wounded warriors the focus, he is a champion to those overcoming disabilities while amazing those of us “without them”. For those that don’t know him, questions abound like “how can he fish; can he work a rod; how can he shoot a shotgun; how can he take a fish off; how does he tie knots; what happened to his hand, and so on.

These questions come from our own perception of the difficulty we have in achieving mastery of these things with two hands. Clients remark “he was on his cell phone helping a fellow guide; taking one of our fish off the hook; setting the hook on his own rod; baiting someone elses hook; and, tying a blood not with his feet all at the same time! There may be some embellishment there because he would never be on his cell phone. As to how he lost his hand, let’s just say that varies from Season to Season and is something of legend around The Lodge. James is an excellent Guide, fisherman, and a lethal marksman with a rifle and shotgun. Besides excelling at everything to do with hunting and fishing, he is also an Eagle Scout and active with the Boy Scouts and area youth softball and baseball teams.

He led his team to a win in the Redfish Spot Pot with a $2,200 payout and a Top Ten finish in the Open Division with nearly 25 lbs. If you think catching a Redfish with the most spots is “luck”, roll the dice. He’s won more spot pots than you can imagine and he knows where the “freckled fish” are.

Fishing Highlights

Blistering fishing in the bays led us to some heavy boxes of Trout and Redfish late week and through the weekend. Tim B. and guests hammered full limits of Trout to 20” with me working shell in SAB on Friday. Jim, David, and Tim managed to adapt to the complexities of shell with ease.

Saturday
Capt. Steve Boldt worked sand/shell mix to full limits of Trout to 23”, Redfish in the middle slot, and a Flounder with the Rick B. party on Saturday. James was fishing the tournament and finished with 34 Trout and several Redfish on the way to his Top Ten finish. They were also working sand/shell mix with the fish tight to the grass on area shorelines. The Jon H. party managed 28 Trout struggling with overall slick conditions, not too bad for some guys that hadn’t been fishing in two years!

Sunday
Sunday, we hit another slick off but moving water proved lethal for Lynn K. and son as their limit of Trout came together just short of 10:00am. Capt. Steve Boldt reported solid numbers of Trout with the Bill H. party while Capt. James Cunningham couldn’t’ repeat his tournament winning ways for the team from Travis Med.

Get Ready to Shift
What lies ahead in June will be some of the most explosive fishing of the season. In short order, most all of the fish on sand are going to be sliding out to the cooler shell environs. Here they will find milder water temperatures along with ample forage. Moving water to fish is like moving air to humans, it’s like turning on the a/c. Tides, current, and water movement will become more and more important as we head toward summer time temps. The move from sand will be water temperatures exceeding 85 degrees in combination with a lower water level. Super heated sand and mud will be much less attractive and success there will be more sporadic and short-lived.

Capt. Kris Kelley
President/CEO
Castaway Lodge, Inc.
109 W. Austin
Seadrift, TX 77983
1-888-618-4868 Office
361-785-4487 Fax
361-648-3474 Cell

 

Monthly Archives

Dear Kris & Wendi:


Trent and I had a blast on the GATOR hunt. An 11' 400 lb gator is nothing to sniff at and I know we'll be happy with the mount and skin. You run a first rate outfit. I enjoyed the fellowship and the fine chow. Tell Jake & Jack they need their own reality TV show

Jamie and Trent Page
Austin, TX

Kris,


Thanks for a great day on the water! Good weather, good fish and good company.... it doesn't get any better. You do a fantastic job. I hope to meet up with you again sometime soon.

Brett H.
Houston, TX

Miss Wendi & Capt. Kris,


Man what a day! The only problem was it was over too fast. Thank you both for your kindness and all your help. All the time I spend with sons is great but to spend it with good people also, makes it priceless. Have a great day!

Johnny & JD
Houston, TX

Kris, Wanted to share with everyone the great memories you provided. It was a mom and daughter weekend to remember. Thank you for all the fun, great food, experience and most of all your amazing patience. I don't know how you drew the short straw to have two women, but you gave us an amazing expe

Lori & Jean
Alvin, TX
Our second trip with Capt. Doug Russell of Castaway Lodge was just as fun as the first trip. We hit our limit on redfish and went for the trout. Doug is such a great guide! He is polite and knows where to find the fish. Even though this time we didn't stay at the lodge, we still had a great trip. We
Jeff & Pam Petterson
Austin, TX
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