Big Turnout At The Classic

Castaway Lodge Seadrift Report
By Capt. Kris Kelley
Ghost Writer Free - Authentic Mid-Coast
1-888-618-4868 - TEXT 361-648-3474 E-MAIL: kris@seadriftbayfishing.com

Castaway Classic Tournament

Well, the event came off without a hitch and we were proud to welcome some heavy hitting teams that came out to support this first ever event benefiting Castaway Youth Charities. We had a 22 boat field of top competitors and we kicked everything off with a Captain's Dinner and Live Calcutta on Friday night. Mr. Tom Lester came all the way from Corsicana, Texas to handle the auctioneering. All of the teams got to sit down to local caught fried Blue Catfish with all the trimming and it was a lot of fun visiting with great anglers from all over the State.

Prize money for this first ever event totalled $22,550 with first place taking home $12,430 in combined winnings. Top honors went to Mike McGuire and his team with Jarrod Jessup and Mike Fesco taking home 2nd Place and $5,665; Dwayne Lowery taking home 3rd Place and a $2,255 payday.

Youth Division - This tournament is a youth charity and wouldn't be complete without a Youth Division. There was no entry fee for kids and they could be on a tournament boat not included as a team member; fish from the bank or shoreline, you name it. We had trophies and prizes for the top 5 places.

Castaway Classic Youth Division - Official Tournament results for the Kids Division was just amazing and super competitive! Joey Estes checked in 7.61 Lb Big Redfish for the win with Brooklyn Russell checking in a 6.89 Lb fish for 2nd Place; Holt Yackel checked a 6.18 Lb. fish for 3rd; Morgan Russell weighed in a 6.13 Lb fish for 4th and Dusty Waghorne rounded out the top 5 spots with a 6.12 pound Big Redfish! Congratulations to all these great young competitors!

Thanks To Our Sponsors

Special thanks to great local businesses that sponsored the event including Dimension Energy; Clark Constructors; Coastline Trailers; and, Bubba's Cajun Seafood. Special thanks also to Mike McGuire with the 1st Place winning team for donating back $500 from their proceeds to the charity. On the BBQ Cook-Off side, special thanks goes out to Bryan Lynn for donating their winnings from the 1st Place Brisket entry and Terry Spoonemore with Team On The Rocks for donating back their side pot winnings!

Learning Curve

We learned a great deal from this first ever event and look forward to next year. We pulled all of this together through a very busy waterfowl season and the event came off without a hitch. The wins surpassed the failures and we managed to raise a little over $3,500 for the charity, far below our goal or really what's expected from an event of this magnitude. That rests purely on us. We will regroup and look to surpass that next year!

Fishing Scene - Capt. James Cunningham reported solid action with guests yesterday afternoon working schools of Redfish and Black Drum over mud/grass. Winds were elevated with this latest cold front that came in yesterday morning. This was an afternoon trip that didn't leave until 1:30 and good thing because it was misting rain off and on all morning and cold.

We're just now starting to see the schools of Black Drum mix with Redfish so it's looking like March is coming together. Big Trout are falling for slow suspending baits over mud/grass and wade fishing is in prime-time. We're still looking for a little warm up before we start blistering them on topwaters. Photo Gallery

We've got lots and lots of great fishing ahead of us. So if you're planning a trip, get started [HERE](www.seadriftbayfishing.com/calendar)

Capt. Kris Kelley
Castaway Lodge
1-888-618-4868
www.seadriftbayfishing.com