Going on fishing charters need tips

This will be my second fishing charter coming up on june 26. It will be on the Big E out of freeport. Last time we went we did pretty good with keeper snappers some shark and triggers. But what i would like to know is that are there some pointers that anyone can help me out with to give me an edge on the party boat. edge as in fishing different species such as kingfish or amberjack, and maybe some ling. instead of just bottom fishign for the snapper, and bringing my own baits instead of just using there supplied squid. and to get the biguns, the sow red snappers. They did not supply us last time with live bait, should i bring some? any pointers would greatly be apreciated.

be the first ones on the boat in the morning. stake out your claim to the back of the boat on the right hand corner, if you are right handed. bring a 7 foot popping rod ,something heavy enough to handle a king ,but flexible enough to cast. i used a garcia 7000 reel. with premium 30 pound line. get a box of ice minnows they come in 5 pound boxes. most offshore bait places have them.they are about 5 inchs long. you are on the corner because you will be casting away from the boat probably 30 yards. and drift fishing with no weight. make up a bunch of steelon leaders ,about 18 inchs long. kingfish size hook on one end ,big barrel swivel on the other end, and you will need a lot of them. tie on a BIG at least 1/0 barrel snap swivel on your main line. so you can change leader lines in a hurry. hook the minnow thru the eyes and again thru the body with just the barb sticking out. cast out as far as you can. the current will be steadily pulling the bait farther out. it will slowly sink. leave the reel out of gear, with the clicker on. watch the slack in your line. if you see it becoming tight very quickly ,and when you feel a pull cross his eyes. DO NOT TRY TO USE YOUR THUMB FOR MORE DRAG. the spool will blister your thumb till it bleeds. tighten the drag some before you set the hook, but not tight as you are using 30 pound line.as the bait drifts away from the boat you can by hand keep pulling a little line off the reel letting it drift,if it sinks deep enough a snapper will hit it. keep a watch for ling they will come under the boat for shade. when he cruises by the boat cast right in front of him. keep those extra leaders handy ,so when they gaft that king and get him in the boat you can just unshap from him and snap on another leader and be back fishing while the deck hand is still wrestling that one. if you backlash when you cast out be very careful picking that backlash out, you do not want your fingers in the loops of that line when a king hits, they always hit running about 30 miles per hour. good idea to carry extra line,and maybe a spare reel. you are not going to catch kings fishing straight down with squid. thats the cheapest bait for the boat to furnish. and if you pay attention, when they get anchored and you start catching snapper,you will feel the boat drift a little. they are letting out the anchor driifting you off the fish. they are not going to let you load up on the snapper.they are in business to make money.and are not going to fish out their honey hole. then they holler reel in we are going to another spot. same thing there catch a few ,drift off the spot. then its time to head home. usually 90% of the people on the boat its their first trip and dont realize what they are doing to them. so use the time when you are anchored to the max. also king and ling are not there year round go in the prime months. there are boats that go after king and ling only,and dont play the games that the big boats do.

WOW!!!.. :winner: Good info Vernon, thanks a bunch! I have always wanted to go deep sea fishing but have not made it out there yet, except by cruise ship.

If anyone has experience with a good offshore boat and wants to go, please let me know when. Thanks!!

vernon....you are dead on target with your posting about charter boats.....i just got back from a trip out of freeport......that is exactly what we did.....we would find a hole...start catching...the captain declared it a "dead area".....pulled up anchor and moved to another spot. i ended up catching 3 small beeliners (vermillion snapper).....my buddy caught 15 beeliners and 2 red snappers but all the fish were smaller than what you would catch out of a lake. we ended up with two amberjack, one ling (cobia) and one 16 lb red snapper.

I had fun but we didn't catch a lot of fish.....there were over 100 people on the boat. We ended up just shy of 500 fish. Captain claimed it was a record.

Recommend:

1. a towel for the fish guts. by the end of the day, my bag, shirt, shorts and everything else was covered in squid innards.....LOL
2. a glove to take off the fish. the deck hands spent most of the time untangling lines.
3. an icepick or something long, thin and sharp to puncture the distended air bladder.

if i think of anything else, i will re-post.

good luck to you.

croxt all the big boats give you is a long boat ride. check on the smaller boats that take 4 to 6 people. get up a group split the cost. will not be that much more than the big boat. never go out of galveston its to far a run to deep water. the drop off are far out of galveston. and if you look at a offshore map as you go south down the texas coast they get closer to shore.as you go south you get away from the big muddy rivers pouring into the gulf trinity and brazos and all the polution associated with our area. the shorter distance the boat has to run to deep water , the more fishing time you get
.ole captain claimed 500 was a record then he went to the wheel house and had a big laugh about it

I agree with everything that has been said so far, but if you have to go on the big boat then don't forget the Sardines. Those big girl snaps love them. Although I strongly suggest you get a group together and charter a smaller boat to go out in. Not only do you not have to deal with the crowds, but you also get more one on one. Plus you can have the trip catered to your needs. Just remember that it's still fishing no matter how much it costs. Also another suggestion on where to go out from is Sabine. Lots of rigs closer in.

Hey guys, check out my link in the guide section to Taryn it Up. This a small charter boat out of Port Aransas that my wifes Aunt and Uncle own. It's a six person max, 54' boat. The Captain will put you on the fish and stay on em'.