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Believe it or not NOAA Fisheries is giving recreational fishermen three whole days to go after red snapper in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico. It is the shortest snapper season in history and is a direct slap in the face to all salty recreational anglers, and a huge favor for commercial fishing. How could a federal agency be so out of touch with the tax paying citizens that keep them in business? One of our Texas politicians said last week “that red snapper is a manmade fishery management disaster.”

“NOAA Fisheries continued its march to completely shut down the recreational red snapper fishery in federal waters with its announcement that the recreational season for red snapper will begin on June 1 and last just three days in 2017,” says Ted Venker with the Coastal Conservation Association. “While the recreational season is being decreased from nine days in 2016 to just three this year, it was also announced that the season for the charter/for-hire sector is being lengthened to 49 days while the commercial sector continues to enjoy year-round access to their privately held red snapper shares.

Here’s the million dollar question. If the Gulf population of red snapper is in trouble, why is there still a commercial harvest?

“On the same day that NOAA Fisheries announced the shortest recreational red snapper season in history, Mark Ray, chairman of CCA Texas, was testifying before a Congressional hearing on dismal federal management of the fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. Ray told the House Subcommittee on Interior, Energy and the Environment, chaired by Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas), that red snapper is a man-made fishery management disaster.”

That’s a fact. For years recreational anglers have been complaining about the mismanagement of red snapper stocks in the Gulf of Mexico. Offshore fishermen don’t have to spend millions on studies to determine that snapper numbers along the coast of Texas are off the charts great.

“By any measure, the red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico should be held up as a shining example of proper management and good conservation,” says Ray. “After decades under intense federal management, this is the best that anglers can hope for – a three-day season in federal waters in 2017. I don’t think anyone would declare the current situation a success. All we ask for is a system that allows all stakeholders the best opportunity to enjoy and use those resources. ”

The 2017 season for private recreational anglers is the shortest on record and at least one U.S. Senator wasted no time voicing his displeasure at the never-ending downward spiral of recreational fishing access under NOAA Fisheries.

“I am deeply troubled and disappointed with NOAA’s decision to considerably shorten the federal recreational fishing season for red snapper in the Gulf. NOAA’s announcement is unacceptable,” U.S. Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama said in a news release. “NOAA’s rule is a significant step backward in our progress to increase limits for private anglers in federal waters. I look forward to working with President Trump and Commerce Secretary Ross to develop a system that actually serves the U.S. recreational fishing community.”

“Over the past year, a series of investigative newspaper articles and TV reports has highlighted the highly controversial schemes favored by NOAA Fisheries that give shares of red snapper away to commercial entities to use for their own profit,” said CCA in a news release. “Under these privatization programs, known as catch shares, almost three-quarters of the entire red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico is on the way to being privately held by commercial entities, further frustrating anglers who have watched their opportunity to pursue red snapper all but disappear under federal management.”

“With a three-day season and a federal system that seems committed to funneling access to our public marine resources to fewer and fewer people, there isn’t much for recreational anglers to work with under federal management as it currently operates,” said Bill Bird, chairman of CCA’s National Government Relations Committee.

Bird says that he is encouraging other elected officials to join him in his efforts to work with the Trump Administration to chart a new course for the management of our marine resources.

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center conducts multi-disciplinary research programs to provide management information to support national and regional programs of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional Fishery Management Councils established by the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. The Council prepares fishery management plans, which are designed to manage fishery resources within the 200-mile limit of the Gulf of Mexico.

Want to make a comment on the new snapper regs? Here’s how. Go to www.gulfcouncil.org and click on the thermometer in the middle of the page. From there you can read up on all the pending actions, watch the video presentations, read comments, and submit your own. All comments submitted through the online form are automatically posted on the NOAA web site for Council review. Other comments are manually posted every couple of days.

Winds backing down had the bays greening up nicely with Trout action on fire. It started Friday as winds started laying down and Capt. James Cunningham was reporting improving water conditions with swarms of Trout hitting area shell pads from one end of the bay to the other. Saturday’s trips followed right in line with all guests on all boats hitting Trout limits early on. A wind pop Saturday night rocked the bays and Sunday proved difficult mid-bay with tore up water and a falling tide. Later in the day things started to clean up and the fish responded accordingly. Capt. Donnie Heath managed solid Redfish numbers for guests with Capt. Braden hitting the Trout hard but finding slow Redfish action. We’ll start getting into a nice rhythm as winds start to stabilize moving into June. May has traditionally been a blustery month and you’ve got to pick your strike timing day to day when the winds are cranking.

Capt. Donnie Heath reported that the tide fell out pretty good on Sunday trapping a herd of Jack Crevalle in a very shallow back lake. He estimated the school at near 75 fish in water barely deep enough to cover their backs. That made for some crazy action chasing those fish for a bit. Jacks in less than a foot of water is just “insane”. They hooked one up on topwater and that led to a 25 minute battle royale from one end of the lake to the other. Good fun!

Airboat Trips

Capt. Chris Cady broke in the new 2017 Air Ranger on Sunday with guests of Mi Amigo’s Auto Group. Solid Redfish limits were found working the back lakes and small pocket lakes focusing on mud pockets.

Planning A Trip, Check our availability HERE

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The fishing is always best when you can get away!

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

Trout Reds and Flounder plus Black Drum, Sharks and Red Snapper. We are having a Great Spring wrap up with all species of fish hitting the cooler. Tons of good times already this year, You need to come get in on the reel screaming action. This year is turning into an above average catching year. As of today, There are still some great Big Trout getting ready to drop eggs and replenish our Bay System. Once you get into June the Big Girls start dropping the weight. They are pretty stressed out from dodging hard core Trout Fishermen to Dolphins and worrying about the right male fish to finish the process and where to leave the babies so they have a fighting chance. What’s a Lady Trout to Do? Lol.

Capt Pat Lester of Port O Connor has really been making bucket lists mark offs with some Big Flounder and Numbers of Flounder. The pattern is definitely on the up swing just like the Stock Market.
The prospectus from the latest fishing customers is that things are shaping up for America, especially Texas. We are always blessed to live in such a great State compared to others and other Countries.

Speaking of other Countries, We are headed to Africa at the end of the month. We have a few bucket list items ourselves. I’ve been going to Africa since the 80s and I have never had a problem over there or anywhere for that matter, despite how the media tries to exacerbate isolated incendents. I believe and somewhat know the Media really inflames the worse of every situation. One of my buddy reporter told me Bad News Sells. Remember the old adage, “Don’t believe every thing you hear…” Especially on the news. OK Soap Box Time is over.

Africa is the Ultimate in hunting adventures. There is so much primitive beauty over there it’s on my yearly bucket list. It just doesn’t always get marked off every year but it’s there. The coolest part about going on African Safaris is how each animal never goes to waste. My PH buddies (Professional Hunters) are top notch hunters and conservationists. The PH’s that I book make sure that every animal taken gets distributed to every near by village that doesn’t have the means to get solid lean protein. Hunters and Fishers are the biggest conservationists of the resource than any other organization that I have seen in my life time. Like I stated earlier, don’t believe the rhetoric of the extreme Anti’s. So I hope to be able to post some pictures while Brennen, Ron and I are exploring and hunting the Dark Continent.

Just last Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, I had the privilege to fish some of Steve’s relatives and close friends. They haven’t wade fished with tops and tails in a few years so we went out for some practice Saturday afternoon and were able to box some nice keeper trout on Tails. DSLs are the go to when fishing around here because they can take a beating without having to change plastics during the Major. You know how it is when you walk into em. You might have 5 minutes or an hour. But more times than NOT you have barely enough time to grab that 5 trout limit for dinner. We also used various colored tops, BCB, Woodpecker and BT. They all seemed to get the blow ups we all love to see and hear. The Reds were everywhere but on the small side of the stick. Just the other day, same spot, they were perfect slot Reds. You know how it goes. Nevertheless we had plenty of fillets for everyone at the Lodge.

Croaker season is in full swing. We put on a croak soak the other day with some newbies and Boy Howdy it was a trout melt down. Capt. James is steadily getting limits out of the boat with em. He always has the magical touch this time of year and it’s a contest to see who gets to go after reds once the trout cooperate for the day. Drum also. There has been a ton of Black Drum caught this year. It’s really one of the best fish to eat and fights like a hyped up MMA Fighter. Black Drum can pull a drag to the point of smoking a drag down on a reel.

Let’s get those dates in the books for some great times at the Saltwater Lodge. The Pond is full of Bass with a few sneaker Reds in the mix in case you don’t get enough fishing time on the bay. It’s never too early to think about Duck Season either. Let’s book it!

Give us a Call and ask for Scott: 361 785 3825

Headed to the Black Continent for some Adventures of a lifetime, Enjoy the Summer, and Make Memories

Capt Jeff Larson
281 217 0399

Coastal anglers might anticipate the month of May as being a time of dry skies, humid temperatures, and fluctuating tides. Lower amounts of precipitation this month will probably mean that salinity levels in area bays will also maintain somewhat constant levels which should positively influence all marine life along our coast, especially the trout, the red fish, and the flounder.

This month will also mean that we’ve reached a substantial subsidence in northerly winds that have affected us so strongly over the course of the past several months. We have probably already experienced our last significant front, and we should now be able to look forward to prominent winds out of the southeast which should bring with them greener water and the continuance of a good, steady trout bite above hard sand and grass.

Days will become longer as daylight hours continue to increase each day, and air and water temperatures will continue to climb. This month, anglers should look to begin fishing just as early as possible each day, with their goal each morning being to have already reached their first destination, and to have climbed over the side of the boat to begin their initial wading session of the day during the first hour prior to sunrise. This, hopefully, will help to put you in the same spot with any of the fish that may have ventured out of the depths during the darkness of night to feed in the shallows and to take advantage of the shallows’ cooler early morning temperatures.

Anglers can look for the effectiveness of their top water baits to only increase as we progress through the month of May and into summertime, but another favorite bait this month will be some of the more popular suspending and slow-sinking baits like the Corky and the FatBoy. The thrill of fooling a large trout or redfish with one of these baits ranks right up there with surface walkers for many artificial enthusiasts, so anglers should look forward to the month of May as a chance to knock the rust off their plugs and get ready for all the excitement that the Texas coast has to offer as we head into the the summer months.