Big Back Bay Redfish! Combat Redfishing with Captain Jeff Larson

Here we go! Cast and Blast Season is in full swing. We sure hope your shotgun swing is true to the target. We are getting ready for the opening day of Rice Rocket Season. That’s Blue Wing Teal for the newbies getting into the early season for the 1st time. Teal Season is so much fun! Yes, we can do without all the Mosquitos but they are part of the Early Teal Season Experience. Teal move fairly early in the morning before the sun gets up and starts heating things up. If we get lucky this year we might see 60 degrees one morning. Usually it is just hot and muggy. We have been seeing tons of Teal all around the Eagle Lake Garwood areas. That’s where most of the Rice Production is that’s closest to us. We have hunted the Bay with limited success. You just have to be on your toes when hunting Teal in the Bay.

Since Teal fly early in the mornings, you can tie on a fishing trip after you finish shooting your limit of Teal. Heck! You can get on an Alligator Hunt then go flounder gig at dark. It’s a power packed month and the sky’s the limit. You just need a cooler full of Energy Drinks instead of Beer. So buy lots of Mosquito Spray and Energy drinks to make it through the rest of September
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Dove Season has been a ton of fun. There has been some great shoots all over Texas during the special white wing season. We have been spoiled and going south of the border into Mexico. It has been a BLAST shooting a case of shells in the morning and a case of shells in the afternoon. Oh you can shoot more but your shoulder can’t take it. We have been to Argentina in years past and the Sorghum Valley of San Fernando is ranked in the top 5 of Wing Shooting Volume. A wing shooter would shoot his all time highest bird count. I call it AA, Almost Argentina. Mexico is back to normal, just watch the news it tells all. That being said our Mexico Wingshooting is a great place to go for a quarter of the cost and the same volume of shooting. Just give me a shout, I have a few available dates in October. The Season closes October 15th. Then Duck Season opens a couple weeks later. That’s going to be a barn burner.

Well, its getting time to get up and shake a leg. We are headed out Airboat Redfishing this morning. We will be targeting the back flats due to the water being normal. Plus the Black Drum have been plentiful.

Also don’t forget that the Tarpon Migration is in full swing. They have been getting some monsters along with plenty of sharks. Sharks and Jack Crevalle are some serious line pullers and can cramp your arms up for sure. But the Big Tarpon are the true acrobats that all fishermen want to hook into for the fight and the memories.

Good Luck this month with your Outdoor Adventures and give us a call if we can help book your Fall Filled Memories.

Don’t forget the Sunscreen either,
Captain Jeff Larson
281 217 0399

“Young Guns”
Capt. Chris Martis

If you haven’t ventured to the coast recently for a summertime fishing trip simply due to the blistering summertime heat, then you should start making plans to do so in September. The latter weeks of September generally signify the first real relief from high temperatures as Texas begins receiving some of the year’s first notable frontal passages from the north. It’s at this time in the year when the temperatures will begin to slowly drop allowing for milder conditions all along our coastal regions. The waters shall begin their greening process, and some of the season’s initial flights of ducks will start arriving from the upper states. The beginning of autumn will soon be upon us, and we all need to be ready.

Coastal bend anglers have an advantage over others in that they are presented with some of the finest fishing waters in Texas due to our locale. And because we have such good fishing, anglers should be spending just as much time as they can out on the water this month. It‘s rather easy getting caught up in spending unnecessary time determining whether it is best to be spending the day wading the pristine shallows of a protected shoreline, venturing into the back-country for redfish, or drifting open-bay shell pads. However, don’t let the choices overwhelm you, as another beautiful thing about the month of September is that you don’t have to make a choice between doing any of these things on any one particular day. Anglers can spend most of their days this month doing all of them

Once we begin experiencing higher tide levels later this month, start looking to the various back lakes on Matagorda Island and to the shell reefs of San Antonio Bay to start producing some of the finest trout action of the year. As for the reds, anglers should be able to chase them in Guadalupe Bay, looking for sand pockets and pushes (wakes) rather than tails. Maintain your summertime ritual of starting early in the morning and starting out in some really shallow water. Historical fishing records indicate some of the best top water action takes place during the last two weeks of September, so begin each day by tossing smaller top water baits like the Skitter Walk Junior, or the Super Spook Junior. But, if “Tops” don’t work, then “Tails” might. In this case, offer any of an assortment of plastic baits rigged on either 1/8 or 1/16 ounce jig-heads.

Fishing with Capt. Stephen Boriskie

As we turn to September I have to say the second half of August was a huge improvement over the first half. My customers enjoyed solid catches of speckled trout and a bonus redfish here and there. Speaking of redfish we are looking forward to the days when they are back in huge numbers in September and I am sure they are on their way. As the tropics reach the peak of activity this month so too are the water levels on the rise as tides are forced into the bays from these weather systems. This will change the game for both the bait fisherman and lure anglers as well.

I am looking forward to this month for a few reasons as it signals a transition for me personally from the use of live croaker to live shrimp especially later as October comes into view. Another change on the way is cooler air and of course water temperatures because of the tilt of the earth allowing milder air to sink South and cool things off around here. I mentioned water levels already but it’s another change on the way to the Texas coast too. If you add all these events together they start to provide a roadmap to success as we enter the Fall of the year.

Why the switch from croaker to shrimp is still sort of a mystery to me not being of the more scientific community but I can see where the change is a natural part of the bay system cycle. The croaker we have been getting lately are much larger than ones early in the season (May through September) and the fish will begin to change their preferences overall from pounding these guys once the shrimp bite begins. Now of course there are times where the seasons are shortened and also overlap but on average these are the results I’m seeing over the past eight years. I can tell you from experience and limited field research it will happen again like in the past. Shrimp will be king and we all will be catching scores of trout, redfish and black drum again as it has been year upon year.

Get out here and enjoy the bounty of our bay system and see what it’s about. We have eighteen full time guides at the lodge and we are all getting booked consistently so that means to me there are folks coming down each month that are new to what we do here. This is a good thing as more and more attention is payed to these saltwater gems because as awareness increases so too does the effort to help protect our beloved waters and the creatures in them. More focus on the resources means better more healthy catches in the future. As you become less of a newbie and more of an experienced angler we invite you to join in these conservation groups like CCA Texas for instance, and that’s just one of the many who help. Come on these trips with us and let us show you why conservation is important and we can help you become a more learned angler by improving your skills and helping you land that lifetime best fish.

Capt Stephen Boriskie
Bay Flats Lodge, Seadrift, Texas
888-677-4868

Fishing Report – Redfish Retake Spotlight

After a big disappearing act over the Summer months, Redfish once again are coming out of the nooks and crannies of the back marsh to make for some exciting adventures.  Trout fishing by boat has been spotty of late and soon we’ll start running into live bait issues that will surely shift our focus on schooling Redfish.  Wade fishing is another story, Trout have been solid for guests getting wet but we did have a few struggles the past few days.  We’ll be looking to start slipping more artificial lures into the mix as we head for cooler temperatures and water temps start to decline.

Lodge News – Alligator/Teal/Dove Approaching

We managed to dodge the “rain bullet” and reports coming in from the fields on White Wing have been exceptional.  Teal are starting to hit the flats and build in numbers and we’re looking forward to the opener.  Alligator season opens on Tuesday and we’re looking forward to kicking off the season with a bang.  The schedule for September and October is very tight with a tremendous amount of folks joining us here at the lodge.

Big Duck Season

November/December dates are looking attractive to guests that can’t find any openings in Sept/Oct. So for waterfowl hunters it’s time to get on the move!  November 2nd will see the opening of the 2019/20 Texas Duck Season.  We’re working to fill out November and December focusing on waterfowl and Cast & Blast trips but if you’re looking for strictly fishing, you’ve come to the right place.

We’ve got lots and lots of great fishing ahead of us. So if you’re planning a trip, get started HERE
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 Capt. Kris Kelley, Castaway Lodge, 1-888-618-4868