Are there any charter captains on the TX coast (preferably Port Aransas or Port O'Connor areas) that offer open charters? I'm not referring to party boats with dozens of clients, but rather offshore charters for 4-6 fishermen where individuals sign up until the boat fills up rather than having to pay in full or try to assemble their own party.

I've fished open charters in Florida and in Hawaii in the past and it was a great option - didn't have the crowds of a party boat, but I didn't have to herd cats to assemble my own party either. I haven't seen anything similar here in TX - does anybody know of any to recommend?

Thanks!

BlueFin Charters out of Freeport will have open charters. They are always on the fish and the pricing is reasonable too. My daughter and I recently went out with Olivia J Charters out of Freeport. I don't think he takes more than 6 with a minimum of 4 at $150 a piece.

Thanks for the information - I never really fish Freeport or anything else closer to the Houston-Galveston area, but I may have to look into this one. If I understand you correctly, both Olivia J and Bluefin have open charters?

Bluefin will run open charters every once in a while. You just need to contact them and ask when they may have the next open charter. http://www.bluefinfreeport.com/index.html

Olivia J is an open charter. Smaller cat boat but goes out to target snapper, kings, shark, etc. My daughter and I enjoyed going out with him during the bull red run. Only 4 total were on the boat.

This was from our trip on Olivia J last October. The blue cat boat you see in the slip behind us is the boat.

Some questions come up in my mind and it deals with primarily "what do you want to fish for?" The fact that you mentioned party boats makes me think you are talking about offshore. There are quite a few charters that cater to 4 - 6 people both inshore and offshore. Another thing is .... "how far offshore?"

James Seagall divides his time between Port O'Connor and Freeport and would be one to call. Another in the Port Aransas area would be Reel Beast Charters. Both are good guys.

Google them and the info should be right there.

Just to clarify, when I said charters that cater to 4-6 people, I was referring to open charters where the other fishermen would not be in my party but other walk-on fishermen (I've found that to be impossible - hard to coordinate that many people's schedules, and everyone is gung ho about the idea until it's time to go and pay). Basically, I'm looking for the same scenario as a party boat but with a small group of people. Not many private charter captains offer such an option, unfortunately, though I've found boats that do this other places I've fished.

For offshore fishing, I have far offshore in mind - i.e. bluewater fishing for mahi, wahoo, billfish etc. However, if there are open charters that hit the oil rigs for amberjack when they're in season, that's something I would go for as well. I'll definitely look into the boats you mention if they run open charters and do bluewater trips.

Not many "open charters/walkons" with the exception of Bluefin Charters. One thing you might do if you have your own gear and lots of experience offshore is to look at 2coolfishing dot com under "Crew Wanted" forum. Many times if you're flexible and can help with fuel, ice, bait, cleanup and are a crew member that doesn't require "babysitting", you can get on a lot of trips to the floaters for tuna, marlin, deep dropping etc.

Olivia J would not be an option for "FAR" offshore. Bluefin would be a good option.

I called Bluefin and they said they have a couple of open charters per month during the summer, will definitely try to go out with them.

For nearshore fishing, I've always enjoyed catching ling (cobia) around oil rigs and buoys, wonder if that's something Olivia J targets specifically.

Yeah, I've gone out as "crew" with some of the 2coolguys, worked out pretty well a couple of times. Just looking around to expand my options in the meantime. Bluefin definitely looks promising.

Call them and discuss with the captain. He has caught plenty of Ling and Kings. I have no doubt he will get you on the fish.