12 Hour Party Boat trip out of Galveston

I will be in Surfside in mid June and was thinking about doing a 12 hour party boat trip out of Galveston. Do many people bring their own rod(s) on the 12 hour trips?

I have done several 4 hour trips which are pretty much hit or miss. I have seen some people bring their own rods on the 4 hour trips but because they are using different pound test line and weights, they tend to get tangled more with the person fishing to their left or right since their bait drifts different then everyone else's bait.

I always bring my own rods, reels, etc.

I always brought my own gear. But those of us that did fished different from the standard drop to the bottom and pull it up guys around us. Trick is to be able to cast away from the side of the boat and let your bait swim/flutter down with minimal weight. I was never a big fan of snapper (Don't shoot) and wanted to target kings and ling. If you have a rig for it cigar minnows work good for kings and hardheads with the fins snipped work good for ling. Just my $.02.

Just did 12 hour trip yesterday out of Galveston. There were several people who brought their own tackle and bait . We just used the tackle on the boat.

You can bring your stuff or use theirs. If your going to do several trips a year then investing in your own gear would be a good idea as some of the head boats gear gets abused. But in my opinion if your just going to do a trip here and there then save the money and use the boats gear.

Thanks. I was coming to the conclusion that I was going to use their gear and see what others bring and how they fish it. If I buy offshore gear now, I wouldn't know what to get other than a Penn Senator reel and 6' boat rod.

It's a costly addiction lol !!
But nothing better than dropping a 3-5 pound live bait in to the depths and hold on for life lol

Once you get salt in your veins then it's impossible to get it out

You going out on the New Buccaneer?

Lots of good used reels out there just be sure they have been cleaned every trip, the Senators are bullet proof and not expensive last forever with care. I use Senators and Avet, never a problem yet and dad's Senators were all bought in 1959 and look almost new still, will be using them again next month. A 6/0 Senator is a great all around boat reel just maintain it and not expensive, get the USA made.

I have not booked anything yet. I have not decided between Galveston Party Boats and Williams Party Boats. I will be going on a weekday. Williams Party Boats is $10 cheaper but they don't allow small ice chests of drink and food. Since they are priced pretty much the same, is one any better than the other for 12 hour trips?

I wouldn't fish Williams if it was free. GPB all the way.

One would have to be able to put their "fish politics" aside to fish with Williams wouldn't they David?

I don't remember asking you.

Williams can and does catch fish but they drive the boats S-L-O-W. Most people on here prefer Galveston Party Boats but you will catch fish on both.

I don't remember you asking anything, come to think of it.
but thanks for playing, smartass

That and I don't like catching spadefish and eating microwaved food..

And I don't remember asking you

Despite the pissing match developing, I did receive some very useful information from both the posted comments and PMs received. Special thanks to Lenahorse.

I prefer GPB but with that said I used to work on the new Buccaneer years back under Capt Midnight ( Bob R).

The Capts have changed but yet it's still a good old boat. Call Andy Hernandez in the office and tell him Luke Seymour sent you and he will get you taken care of. If you have any questions that haven't already been answered then feel free to message me.

Just came back from GPB 12 hour trip. We caught some good fishes all in all total 750 vermillion snappers were caught.

So I am kind disappointed since its a 4 hour trip going out and 4 hour coming in. So in the leftout 4 hour we only gotta fish actual 2-1/2 hours to 3 hours max. So out of 12 hours we only fished for 3 hours thats an awful waste of time.

You have to go where the fish are. Evidently it was worth it if you caught 750 vermillion snapper. They live in deep water which is far from Galveston. Fishing closer in can be a bigger waste of time in my opinion, IMO. If the fish were closer in, the trip wouldn't be 12 hours. It's all figured in.

I have fished all the boats mentioned here and had good trips on all and a few duds, the clincher was the food policy on Williams a friend is very diabetic they forbid him taking his sugar free food on board, that did it after a not too good discussion in the office we obtained a refund finally, as much fun as pulling teeth, went next door and explained the situation and were treated like royalty and had a good trip, stayed with Andy and Ed ever since. Now go to Freeport.

Yes I have done 4 hours too which is total waste of time, unless its sight seeing. But again my concern is out of 12 hours we only gotta fish hardly 3 hours. The spot where we were getting most fish, the captain decided to move from there (not sure what he was thinking) but pretty much everyone on boat was pissed.

Just my thinking but if say 2/3's of your 750 fish came from the 1 spot -500 fish do you not think it wise to leave a few on that spot for seed ? not trying to stir the pot or offend anyone !

That was my thought too, but again I am a noob so no idea but as I said everyone was pissed. Cause no other spots had any other fish except red snapper which the deck hands promptly killed and threw back in sea. Also they imposed a 10 per stringer limit where as twpd website says the following

Vermilion Snapper

Daily Bag:No limit
Length in Inches (Minimum - Maximum)10 - No limit

The daily bag limit on Vermillion snapper is ten (10) per person in federal waters. There are very few Vermillion snapper in state waters is the reason for that.



You change you ways or something?

just trying to make sure we don't have a need for a FLM march !

It doesn't matter what TPWD rules say. They only apply out to 9 nautical miles, then the Federal rules take over and they say 10 fish daily bag. You need to follow the rules where you are. BYW, I doubt the deckhands "killed" the snapper and threw them overboard. By law they have to be vented before releasing but I do wish they wouldn't use a knife to vent them.

You are missing the point. If it takes 4 hours to reach the fish (which is about right for Galveston, which is the farthest seaport in the US from the 100 Fathom line ), it will take 4 hours to get home, leaving 4 hours to, first, find the fish, then catch them. You had a fairly regular Galveston trip on a boat that tries real hard to put you on fish. Good fish and avoiding red snapper requires traveling quite a distance.

I have fished both mostly for tuna. I catch more bottom fish on Williams and more tuna on GPB. I have my own gear fish my own way and catch tons. I use Shimano Spheros and Talicas that I bought used on eBay with ugly stick tiger lite rods.