As Surreal as A Field Of Dreams
Legends Of Fall
Trout fishing continued HOT on Saturday checking in with Capt. James while I was deep in the back country airboat fishing on the Island. Around 9:00am he texted me that he was limited on Trout with Jim C. and guests and looking for some Redfish. From what I was seeing, Redfish were few and far between in the shallows but the Black Drum were shoulder to shoulder in places. We managed limits on the "Jail Breaking Bruisers" but came up empty on Reds.
Following that up with the guests of Jim K's Auto Group from Houston for their 4th trip this year, things took a turn for the "surreal". I'm not exactly sure what the odds are of us having a distinguished Major League Pitcher fishing with us here at The Lodge during The World Series that The Rangers are going to win, but that's what happened. Jim said "I'm bringing Scott Strickland down with us and he's a ball player. Thanks for the warning Jim; ball player for sure; 6 years as a pitcher in the "bigs" with The Mets, Astros, Expos, and Marlins with a lifetime 3.34 ERA; big heat and statistically, one of the best "sliders" in the game. Get out of town! I guess if you aren't playing in The World Series, then it's definately your time to take a break and bend a rod.
I'm not a hard core fan of any sport, truth is I just don't get to follow that much of it with our schedule here at The Lodge. When I fished with Colt McCoy, Jordan Shipley, Derek Lokey, and Buck Burnett with the UT Longhorns in 2007, I told Colt "I don't know much about College Football but I know two things; one, I know you are the QB of the Longhorns; and, two, you are one tough SOB! The few times I had watched a moment of one of their games he was getting beat up pretty good but kept getting up and making plays with the heart of a champion. We smoked the reds that day on my airboat in the back lakes and they were fine young men, class acts ALL. Derek Lokey told me "man, you saved my Coastal experience for me. Every time I've been down here fishing I've never caught anything". That's always a nice thing to hear.
I had the pleasure of fishing with Scott's father-in-law Walter and it was pretty fascinating listening to the stories of the years their family had experienced "the red carpet" in Major League Baseball. It was also fun watching Walter hammer Redfish to 29" in 10" of water. With things not 100% in the back lakes, we did manage to put together a strong box of Black Drum and Reds. The water was super low and falling which isn't the best case scenario "ever". Capt. James and Capt. Doug hit a gutted wall trying to work Trout with the water tore smooth up. Doug said he must have caught 1000 undersized Trout and both he and James did what they could sifting through the maze over shell and mud/shell in SAB before shifting sights to Redfish which also had its challenges.
Wendi and I would like to thank our gracious hosts in Fredericksburg, Texas. We went inland to catch a breath of that crisp Hill Country air for a bit. We hadn't been to the National Pacific War Museum since they had finished the remodel of the George Bush Gallery so we had to check that out. It was absolutely stunning, everything is so very well done. It's a great reminder of the sacrifices of so many so that we may be free. We also went outside the comfort zone to Enchanted Rock State Park. Trekking around that big chunk of granite was pretty stunning in the cool back drop of a crisp October morning.
It's a great time of year to get out and take a break from the stresses of everyday life. Come see us if that takes you toward the Coast!
Capt. Kris Kelley
Castaway Lodge
Seadrift, Texas
1-888-618-4868
www.seadriftbayfishing.com