First time in St. Charles Bay

[deweygonsoulin]

I originally planned to do some sight casting with the fly rod in lighthouse lakes. Got down there and the area was mostly dry. With the weather being so nice (sunny and light s/sw winds) I was determined to find a spot that I could pole around and do some sight fishing.

Ended up driving to St. Charles Bay and launching from the shoreline. This was my first time in this area. The water was pretty low and I had to walk the kayak out about 50 yards from the shoreline just to get in water deep enough to paddle. But once I was out there the water was gin clear.

I worked my way down the shoreline ( I was in about 1-1/2 ft of water) and didn't see much but some very small sheepshead and mullet. After bout an hour of poling, I ended up running into some diving birds and saw some crashes on the surface. I anchored the kayak and made a blind cast and hooked up almost immediately with a rat red. I quickly released the fish and made another cast right in the same area. My fly got inhaled immediately and I was on with a nice sized red. I fought him for a few minutes and managed to get him in the net. I did not have a measuring stick with me, but this was likely my PB. My conservative guess is 26". After releasing him I made several more casts and was able to hook in with another red. This one was likely between 19-21".

I was pretty excited to hook up with 3 reds in the span of about 20 minutes. This definitely made my trip as I was worried that I would end up getting skunked. St. Charles bay is very clear right now and is definitely holding fish in the shallow areas once the temperature rises throughout the day.

Overall, this was one of the best days I've had in a while and I decided to call it quits after that and head back to the launch. I Will definitely be going back to this location in the future.

The photos are of the red that I am guessing is around 26". Sorry for posting one of the photos twice.

[Ron Mc]

Excellent effort and great results. Thanks for posting.

[shoffer]

Is this Dewey Gonsolin, the lawyer? If so, I worked with your dad at Mehaffey Weber one summer as a summer clerk. I now practice in Houston.

A little secret about Galveston - the water turns gin clear in the winter here also. You should try it.

I like St. Charles Bay. I have kayak fished it several times - also the place for my PB red inshore - a 33 inch brute from Cavasso Creek. I have caught bigger bull reds in the Gulf while fishing BTB, but that's my PB for an inshore red.

Thanks for the nice post and the pictures.

[2 Weight Willie]

Great post

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Wag]

Wow! So great for a first trip in a body of water. Thanks for posting!

[deweygonsoulin]

Is this Dewey Gonsolin, the lawyer? If so, I worked with your dad at Mehaffey Weber one summer as a summer clerk. I now practice in Houston.

A little secret about Galveston - the water turns gin clear in the winter here also. You should try it.

I like St. Charles Bay. I have kayak fished it several times - also the place for my PB red inshore - a 33 inch brute from Cavasso Creek. I have caught bigger bull reds in the Gulf while fishing BTB, but that's my PB for an inshore red.

Thanks for the nice post and the pictures.

Thanks for the reply. You are thinking of my father and grandfather. I'm Dewey III. I do get down to the Galveston and freeport areas pretty frequently. When the conditions are right I do sometimes like to make the further trip south.