In 1998, our Founders Chris and Deb Martin bought a trailer house in Seadrift, Texas, overlooking San Antonio Bay. Their decision to make Seadrift their weekend home was inspired by the fond memories Chris made as a child while visiting family in Victoria and fishing out on the bay. Chris spent his weekdays in Houston working for Bridgestone while Deb cleaned houses, then the two would head down to Seadrift each Friday for a weekend of fishing with Chris’ customers from Mustang Tractor. Deb would arrive early to prepare food and to clean the trailer.

As time passed, guests recommended that Chris get a license, allowing him to offer guided hunting and fishing trips. That same year, Chris acquired his Captain’s License, and from then until 2001 he continued to sell tires during the week, and Deb continued to clean houses each weeknight. Weekends for Chris were reserved for guiding, while Deb did all the cooking.

Within the first year of their weekend guiding operations, requests for the Martins to host customers every day of the week began to steadily increase. Chris and Deb called upon family help in order to keep up with the growing demands of the business. In 1999, T.J. Christensen (Deb’s son) put the pursuit of his Wildlife Management degree on hold to help expand their weekday guided trips while Chris and Deb continued working in Houston.

In the summer of 2001, Chris and Deb acquired a house in Seadrift on a private canal situated just off of San Antonio Bay. In late July, Chris turned in his two-week notice and announced his early retirement from Bridgestone. On August 1, 2001, the Martins moved into their new canal home, which marked the beginning of their new business that would be called Bay Flats Lodge.

Now that the Martins were able to host 12 guests, Chris began writing and shooting photography for several well-known publications and websites to get the word out. The resulting rapid growth in business led to the need for more staff, so Chris and Deb hired a couple more guides and additional housekeeping and kitchen staff to help out. Deb left her home cleaning business in Houston to focus all her attention on hosting and booking guests.

Over the next few years, demand for the lodge continued to grow. By the end of 2004, Chris and Deb recognized that they couldn’t say yes to all of the demand. The Martins spent a year looking for the perfect place to lay down more roots and eventually purchased a two-acre tract just across from the Swan Point Landing Marina. By December 2005, construction began on a new 11,000 sq. ft. lodge, an additional guest house suite and a 2,000 sq. ft. outdoor kitchen facility.

Construction of the new lodge was completed in 2007 and the doors opened on April 1st. Today, we are proud to say our team has grown from just Chris and Deb back in 1998 to 23 management and hospitality employees, and 24 professional guides.