Full House at Castaway Lodge: Seadrift Fishing Report with Redfish & Black Drum Action

Castaway Lodge Fishing Report
Seadrift, Texas | April 28 – May 4, 2026

If you’ve been around this stretch of coast long enough, you know no two weeks ever look the same—and this one was a perfect example of that.

We kicked things off early in the week with Captain Chris taking to the airboat with Mike Dougherty, sliding back into water most folks don’t even think about touching this time of year. Quiet conditions, clean water, and fish that hadn’t seen much pressure made for a strong start.

“Those airboat days remind you how much untouched water we still have,” Chris said. “You get back there, and it feels like you’ve got the whole coast to yourself.”

By midweek, the lodge started to fill up, and by the weekend, we were running a full house. Brett Marbach with Marbach Plumbing out of San Antonio rolled in with a crew of 20—guys looking to trade traffic and job sites for saltwater and open sky. Exactly what this place is built for.

“We needed this,” one of the guys said at dinner. “No phones, no noise—just fishing and good people.”

On the water, our crew of captains stayed after it despite a few curveballs from the weather. James Cunningham, Chris Cady, Braden Proctor, Doug Russell, Terry Spoonmoore, and Jim Garrison all had groups rotating through fish and working different patterns as conditions shifted.

Friday brought the kind of heavy rain that slows everything down for a bit—but around here, you learn to work with it, not against it. The freshwater pushed, tides adjusted, and by the time things settled, fish were right where they needed to be.

“That rain wasn’t a setback—it just repositioned the game,” said Capt. Braden Proctor. “If you stayed flexible, you stayed on fish.”

Redfish continued to be the most consistent player across the board, especially in protected water and back lakes when conditions allowed access. Black drum made a strong showing as well, particularly around deeper pockets and areas holding a little more structure after the rain pushed water around.

At the lodge, the energy matched the fishing—coolers getting loaded, stories getting better by the hour, and that steady rhythm of a full house doing what it does best. Even with a little downtime from the weather, it gave folks a chance to slow down, sit on the porch, and enjoy what this place is really about. “Sometimes the best part isn’t even the fishing,” one guest said. “It’s everything around it.”

That’s the truth of it.

We’re rolling into May with momentum, water temps climbing, and fish settling into more predictable patterns. If this past week is any indication, we’re right where we need to be.

— Capt. Kris Kelley Style Report
Castaway Lodge, Seadrift TX
1-888-618-4868