Witnessing Capt. Chris Martin strategically maneuver a slow-moving topwater bait over a calm Espiritu Santo flat at sunrise, one could never imagine Chris having lived anywhere else other than the Texas coastal area. That’s right, Chris is originally from North Carolina, but his family relocated to Victoria, Texas, while he was still young. As a result, Chris has been fortunate enough to have been fishing Texas Gulf Coast waters, all the way from the Galveston Bay system to the San Antonio Bay system, since the young age of eight years old. Chris’s competitiveness started at an early age from team sports to winning first place halter and western pleasure at many horse shows across the state to include Ft. Worth Stock Show. When Chris was a sophomore in high school, he and his doubles partner won varsity state championship in tennis.
Chris attended St. Thomas University, and later moved on to work 20 years in sales and marketing. It was at this point that Chris decided it was time for him to chase his life-long goal, to pursue his passion and love for wade fishing and casting artificial lures.
Today, Capt. Chris Martin, and his wife Deb, permanently reside in Seadrift, Texas, where they have placed the finishing touches on what was once only a dream. They are the proud owners and operators of Bay Flats Lodge, which overlooks the pristine waters of San Antonio Bay.
Captain Chris is a former contributing outdoor writer for Texas Fish & Game Magazine, Salty Angler Magazine, and has written for Sporting Classics Magazine. He’s also an avid photographer, who also enjoys making short videos. Chris has worked with CCA Texas and their National Habitat Program, the Building Conservation Trust for years in the form of fishing trips with lodging and meals. The lodge also matches dollar-for-dollar all BCT donations they collect from guests. Chris also believes in and supports catch and release, believing it is the lodge’s first step in taking care of the bay systems and marine habitat.
Chris and the lodge have been highlighted throughout the years in the media. In 2019, Bay Flats Lodge became a featured sponsor for Trophy Fish Hunter TV on the CBS sports channel. Chris has hosted numerous Ducks Unlimited events including an all-women’s outdoor media camp. He’s been seen on NBC Outdoor Sports hosting Majesty Outdoors TV, and he’s hosted Benelli on Assignment both on Versus TV, and The Outdoor channel. He and the lodge were featured in A Hundred Years of Texas Waterfowl Hunting book by R.K. Sawyer, and he’s hosted the Gander Mountain Outdoors Fishing show. Most recently, Bay Flats Lodge served as the setting of an edition of the Savage Arms Migration Series – Redhead Paradise | Texas Gulf. The lodge was also displayed on the Local Knowledge Fishing Snow, in the episode called Texas Reds – Lone Star Low Land.
Following years of hard work and dedication building one of the most prestigious hunting and fishing lodges on the Gulf coast, Chris now enjoys traveling with his wife Deb. Many of their destinations are closely related to Chris’ closest passions, which are snow skiing and scuba diving. Chris’ newest-found affection, however, is a love of coastal saltwater fly-fishing that he’s developed. It’s a work in progress for him, but he’ll certainly become as successful at it as all of his other endeavours over the years.
Chris and Deb are members of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Seadrift.