# "Gale Force Get Down"



## Capt. Kris Kelley (Jun 2, 2004)

*Castaway Lodge Seadrift Report*
*By Capt. Kris Kelley*

_Let me preface my report by saying "I wouldn't try this at home"..that would be "fishing South" in "high water conditions" on a strong cold front which had North winds to 31MPH for over 4 hours. This is pretty much a recipe for recreational fishing "disaster" and has led to many tearful endings. Bottom line, don't ever be South in this situation unless you have the capabilities and equipment to deal with it._

Around the dinner table Saturday evening Mike R. and I discussed the weather report for Sunday. North at 20-25 and gusting to gale force will definately get your attention. I indicated that it would probably result in a strong feeding pattern among Redfish and Black Drum. The question is always "will the weather change stimulate the bite or will it be so severe that it sends the fish running for deeper water. Another question is can we get to them in that kind of wind especially fishing South in a North wind of that magnitude. While I wouldn't try this at home, running an *Air Ranger Airboat* (_first in class among Fire & Rescue Teams_) has made this both a safe endeavor and a productive one more times than not. I expected severe flooding on the island and a few white knuckle moments and that's what I got. With so much water piled up in the bays, a big wind from the North is going to pile up the South shoreline and back lakes. Jumping into the back marsh was sure enough sporty as solid 2 to 3' rollers were beating the south shoreline of S. Pass Lake (that's noteworthy because S. Pass Lake is small and fairly protected. That's a treachorous situation to say the least. Entering the back country found shredded conditions in most areas, always a bad sign when there is a dominant smell of Methane as the bottom rolls over. I took a look at several areas where the fish had been holding only to find blown out chocolate milk and little feeding. We did manage to catch fish in every location but it was very slow and unproductive.

I made a mental shift "thinking about locations normally too shallow that will now be the right depth; still have fish on it; and have some decent water to encourage feeding". Real estate that is pretty much worthless 99% of the time now came into focus given the severe flooding. We fought our way to a super shallow flat that typically is too shallow but occasionally has a few fish on it. That was the ticket in the high water. I found some pockets of Trout green water holding near the shorelines and bleeding green murky about mid-way across the flat. We got situated stuggling to do anything on the boat because of the wind velocity but in short order found a strong bite on massive Redfish to 29". With 6 solid Redfish in the boat we released some smaller slot fish. Thinking about the pattern and pushing it forward, we made another move into a similar set up. I focused on the wrong end of a lake that is typically too shallow and seldom holding fish only to find concentrations working it and feeding hard. In a blur we had maxed the limit of Redfish while also landing a 29" bruiser and landing more upper slot fish that were released.

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*Capt. Kris Kelley*
*Castaway Lodge*
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## Capt. Kris Kelley (Jun 2, 2004)

*Always Nice To Hear*

Kris:

OK, so you were right, I'll say it. The fishing Sunday was great. I know that it can be a challenge when the weather shifts so drastically in a day. While it started a little slow, and for a little while, I thought that even you were worried when those lakes looked like chocolate milk and those first few bites were slow in coming. But the numbers don't lie, and the size of the fish was awesome. Dan P's. picture of that monster Redfish looks great and I'm sure he has become a fishing legend overnight at work.

We all made it home safely, impressed the wives with tales of great fishing and times at your lodge. Then yesterday we saw pictures of everything on the internet at your Blog and on Flickr.. Really great pictures. Of course you can't tell that the wind was blowing 20-30 with gusts up to almost 40.

Wanted to say that we all appreciated you and Christopher for the excellent work, laughter, food fun, and the energy you bring to a well planned out fishing weekend. Super job. You really know how to provide a great experience at a great value. We look forward to coming back as soon as possible.

Thanks again.

*Michael R.
Director, Product Development and Technical Service. 
*
Kris,


I just wanted to echo the comments from Mike. It was an awesome trip and I look forward to next time. It was my first time fishing in Texas. I had no idea it would be so fun. I have to admit when I didn't see a single boat on the water fishing, I was a bit concerned we may just be fishing instead of catching. You were right and everyone else was wrong. We spent more time catching than fishing. 


Dan P.
Global Engineering Services (GES)


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## Capt. Kris Kelley (Jun 2, 2004)

*"Shaken Not Stirred"*

Setting up for a little white nuckle adventure, always interesting. Lots of water piling up in the bays, high water & big winds swapping 180 degrees shouts "warning".

.TONIGHT...SOUTHEAST WIND 15 TO 20 KNOTS. BAYS CHOPPY.
.WEDNESDAY...SOUTH WIND 15 TO 20 KNOTS DECREASING TO 10 TO
15 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON. BAYS CHOPPY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...NORTHEAST WIND 10 TO 15 KNOTS BECOMING NORTH
20 TO 25 KNOTS AFTER MIDNIGHT. BAYS CHOPPY TO ROUGH. A CHANCE OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
.THURSDAY...NORTH WIND 15 TO 20 KNOTS DECREASING TO 10 TO
15 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON. BAYS CHOPPY TO OCCASIONALLY ROUGH.


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