Castaway Lodge Report

On the back lakes beat, Redfish tightened up schooling mid-week for rediculous action on bruisers to 29.5". Working mud pockets in a foot of water proved to be a great idea with full limits dominating the boards. Black Drum have been sluggish over the back lake environs and I don't see them getting real comfortable centering up until we get a little higher water levels on the scene. Regardless, we did manage some solid catches along with our Redfish with some hefty "jail break" add ons in the 18 to 23" range. Our guests are continually impressed with battling the striped bruisers and inch for inch they will challenge any Redfish you might run into.

Trout seem to be everywhere at present with popping cork/shrimp or artificial being the go to for boat fishermen. Drifting shell and mud/shell has been producing decent catches but limits haven't been hitting the boards lately. Capt. James Eastep is waiting for the fish to center up on sand/grass and thinks April will be the month. With a Spring Tide yet to appear, you can just about bet when it shows up things are going to break loose.

Getting that big Full Moon behind us has made all the difference in the fishing and the catching of late. I didn't ever get the full scoop on that full moon but heard that it was the largest in a couple hundred years or something to that effect. I've never paid much attention to "one" negative as it applies to fishing. A Full Moon phase in an of itself hasn't ever appeared to be an insurmountable "negative". However, when you add a number of adverse conditions and pile them all up on one particular day or stretch of days you can bet it's gonna get tough out there. Take a Full Moon with a 30 knot wind, low water, and poor tidal action. You could say that combination of conditions is a 1+1 = Negative 10. Over the years, the best offense during these "dog days" has been to find a small bite and work it into the ground. That requires a much less aggressive approach on the water and setting aside the "run and gun" play book for a bit. The key, however, is locating something to work with, a bite of some kind, somewhere. When you find it, don't leave it unless it absolutely plays out. Searching for greener pastures in conditions of this nature will often lead you down a dead end road.

As it applied to fishing during the last Full Moon, it was very interesting to see the fish scattered and in absolute shutdown mode early. One particular night during the moon phase, heavy overcast set in overnight and the action the next day was off the charts early. This could have been coincidence but it sure made you think that the clouds blocking the moonlight had made for less foraging overnight. As we got the moon behind us, action returned to pre-moon normal with strong action early and very aggressive feeding.

The weather has been awesome and I'm going to order up more of the same for April. If you get a chance, stop by our Castaway Lodge page on Facebook. Come see us.

Capt. Kris Kelley
Castaway Lodge
1-888-618-4868

Castaway Lodge Report

On the back lakes beat, Redfish tightened up schooling mid-week for rediculous action on bruisers to 29.5". Working mud pockets in a foot of water proved to be a great idea with full limits dominating the boards. Black Drum have been sluggish over the back lake environs and I don't see them getting real comfortable centering up until we get a little higher water levels on the scene. Regardless, we did manage some solid catches along with our Redfish with some hefty "jail break" add ons in the 18 to 23" range. Our guests are continually impressed with battling the striped bruisers and inch for inch they will challenge any Redfish you might run into.

Trout seem to be everywhere at present with popping cork/shrimp or artificial being the go to for boat fishermen. Drifting shell and mud/shell has been producing decent catches but limits haven't been hitting the boards lately. Capt. James Eastep is waiting for the fish to center up on sand/grass and thinks April will be the month. With a Spring Tide yet to appear, you can just about bet when it shows up things are going to break loose.

Getting that big Full Moon behind us has made all the difference in the fishing and the catching of late. I didn't ever get the full scoop on that full moon but heard that it was the largest in a couple hundred years or something to that effect. I've never paid much attention to "one" negative as it applies to fishing. A Full Moon phase in an of itself hasn't ever appeared to be an insurmountable "negative". However, when you add a number of adverse conditions and pile them all up on one particular day or stretch of days you can bet it's gonna get tough out there. Take a Full Moon with a 30 knot wind, low water, and poor tidal action. You could say that combination of conditions is a 1+1 = Negative 10. Over the years, the best offense during these "dog days" has been to find a small bite and work it into the ground. That requires a much less aggressive approach on the water and setting aside the "run and gun" play book for a bit. The key, however, is locating something to work with, a bite of some kind, somewhere. When you find it, don't leave it unless it absolutely plays out. Searching for greener pastures in conditions of this nature will often lead you down a dead end road.

As it applied to fishing during the last Full Moon, it was very interesting to see the fish scattered and in absolute shutdown mode early. One particular night during the moon phase, heavy overcast set in overnight and the action the next day was off the charts early. This could have been coincidence but it sure made you think that the clouds blocking the moonlight had made for less foraging overnight. As we got the moon behind us, action returned to pre-moon normal with strong action early and very aggressive feeding.

The weather has been awesome and I'm going to order up more of the same for April. If you get a chance, stop by our Castaway Lodge page on Facebook. Come see us.

Capt. Kris Kelley
Castaway Lodge
1-888-618-4868

This week has seen a big run of "big runs" with limits of Redfish pushing outside the slot to 31.5" along with action on broad shouldered schools of Black Drum. Elevated water levels made for some strong concentrations of fish prior to the waxing of the moon. With some strong winds, our emphasis has been on protected back country shallows.

On the Trout scene, Capt. Jake checked a nice box of Trout with Kyle W. and guests taking advantage of a lull in mid-bay winds to work shell reefs in SAB with PCS on saturday. Capt. James E. checked a whopper Trout and had solid action over shell wade fishing lures with guests Wednesday. James had an awesome day on Trout to 26" catching and releasing 24 keepers. He said the topwater bite was "going off" as water temperatures have warmed.

With tides falling out much of the day and a full moon, the bite definately changed up from last week. Hesitant, spooky fish made for some challenges but nothing that couldn't be overcome with some extra effort. Capt. Doug managed to stay hot on solid Redfish working potholes along with Capt. Jake and I. Find a lull in the Redfish action and Black Drum picked up the slack. The under rated bruisers topped off heavy Redfish stringers with sore wrists and big smiles.

Black Drum over shallow flats are fast movers. Redfish will stick to an area despite wide ranging water levels but Black Drum will vacate an area if spooked by falling water. Super skinny water Redfish can be hard to approach and even harder to catch. Finding the right balance between fish concentrations and water depths are keys to success. Barren stretches of back lakes mud flats with sparse emergent grasses and similar pockets along outer lake shorelines are where you'll find alot of the Redfish and Drum presently. Kicking mud stirs and humped up torpedo vees cutting through the water are a tell tale sign that they're looking the structure over for a quick meal.

Bait camps are presently coming flush with live shrimp and a variety of mullet and crab are pretty readily available. I'm expecting a pretty good push of water after the full moon disipates and that should set the stage for some awesome fishing as we head into the later part of March heading for April.

Capt. Kris Kelley
Castaway Lodge
1-888-618-4868

Castaway Lodge Fishing Report
by Capt. Kris Kelley

Saturday

Trout shut down on shorelines for our wadefishermen throwing artificials over the weekend but the Redfish bite for all or our guests went ballistic. I managed full limits of Trout working deep with Crane Technologies Mike T. and guests Saturday working PCS (popping cork shrimp) and PCA (popping cork artificial) over shell along with hefty Redfish to 29" over mud/grass. Reports coming off the wade fishing found Capt. James E. struggling on Trout which seemed to be the story over shorelines and guts. Topwaters had been producing as water temperatures have risen lately. Switching to paddle tails on lethargic blow-ups made quick work on Redfish.

Sunday

We experienced some awe inspiring action on Redfish over mud/grass with winds building mid-morning pushing mid-20's and beyond. I made one stop with Reid M. and family aboard the airboat and managed 12 slots to 25" along with another half dozen releases and countless missed fish initially. Capt. Doug was hot on my heels with his fish pushing the upper end of the slot and full limits for Matt M. and family down for Spring Break.

Monday

Winds are forecasted to back down as a weak front approaches the Gulf Coast. Near slick conditions with possible fog are forecasted and this can make for some trouble on the end of a rod. Right now wind and plenty of it has produced nicely for our guests. Winds are streaking mid-bay waters and where this meets oyster is where you will find the Trout presently. I'll be fishing with the sons of Jim K. tomorrow aboard the airboat as the Seniors enjoy Spring Break and a last fling before life gets a little more serious. It should be a good one.

Capt. Kris Kelley
Castaway Lodge
1-888-618-4868
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