Couple of questions for you fellas!

1) If you could only choose between mid May, and late August to take a trip offshore. Which would you choose??

2) Out of the abundant amount of "guides" in Port A. Who could you recommend that's reliable in there trips?

I've never been offshore before and really have an interest in it. I usually just stay on the beach and Trough hop, but would love to try it out deep.

Thanks for any and all information guys!

The Month you choose will give you: In May, less of a crowd to deal with but, the fishing offshore is Just getting started the King will not be in strong yet and that is a nice fish for sporting fun to catch. 2 per person limit. However, In MAY you take the chance the Kings are not in yet, and too early for the JUNE 1st till? ending sometime in July Snapper season. So either May or August miss Snapper if you where going to fish more than 9 Miles offshore for Snapper.
August will have more of a crowd and more fish as a general rule, offshore to choose from. If its all about catching fish, August might be the better pick if its about a nice time and less people in Port A and Lazy town feeling May be your month. Either month will be a great experience, but if fishing is your focus I would pick August.
As far a guides I fish mostly Party Boats and all three docks, there do a good job on catching fish, Fishermans Wharf with Larger AC catermans, Deep Sea HQ, with a good fleet and Dolphin Docks as well. I fished all of them, BUT, if you have the budget and want to fish a 4-8 people charter a boat, hopefully someone else will drop their thoughts in... Have A great time and hope to see you at the dock....

Call The good folks a Deep Sea Headquarters and talk to them about what to expect May vs August. Both months will provide possibilities. That's their job to put fish over the rail. Capt James Wheeler is a family friend and his crew make it a point to fill the boat with whatever they can. I've been on all the boats down there as far as the party boats and a couple of the private charter boats too. All are in the business to catch fish. My best advice would to be for you to take a minimum of a 12 hour trip. Good luck.

August for sure, better weather window unless something is brewing in the gulf. Next: what is your budget? If you are doing a head boat trip take the 12 trip. I had an offshore boat there for years and fished whenever I wanted but now am fortunate enough to have relatives and friends that I can go with any time so while I do have opinions of the headboat companies I will leave that to others to recommend unless you pm me. I will suggest you get scopolamine patches from your doctor before you go and hydrate well the day before and I don't mean beer!

PS I've had my captains license since 1978 and can't tell you how many guys I took out that said I don't get seasick that were the first ones down and had to bake in the sun until the trip was over.

Given the current federal regulations, may is a much more difficult time to successfully fish offshore. The majority of our migratory fish are doing what their name implies, migrating. As for non-migratory spcies, the government has pretty much messed that up for everyone. And it truly is a shame, because late spring can be so rewarding, if you didn't have to spend the whole day avoiding fish...

But something special happens in Texas in August: the shrimpboats begin to really hold good numbers of fish. On shorter trips like 5 and 8 hrs, this can mean kingfish, sharks, and ling... but out in deeper water, typically on 12 hr trips, there is an opportunity to see huge scools of tuna behind these boats.


On a party boat, this can be some of the most exciting and frustrating fishing you will ever be part of. Depending on the day of the week, and which boat you choose, you could be in an All out fish frenzy with 15-40 anglers hooked up to high speed fish, pulling drag and shooting every which direction. Now of course it isn't for the faint of heart... but I sure do love it! After 25 yrs in various fisheries, it is still my favorite form of fishing.

Capt. James