I would like some opinions on how this boat runs. I've been out twice now on this boat and both times all that was caught was snapper with 1 other game fish (shark, kingfish) caught. I was glad we limited out on snapper but that happened within the first 30 minutes of fishing (12 hour trip.)

My "beef" with the New Buccanner is the gear and their methods of anchoring (I do realize its not the easiest thing, but they do it every day!). First off, on my second trip, I was given a reel that was spooled with 3 seperate lines, meaning when I dropped my sardine down to the botton, there were 3 knots that had been tied to connect the lines to each other and the spool was only half-full (no telling how old the line was!). If I were to have hooked in to something big, chances are I would have been spooled very quickly. Also, when anchoring, we spent over an hour of fishing time waiting for them to re-anchor atleast 5 times. For over an hour, the boat was drifting and of course, all 100 fishermen (tourists, whatever you want to call them) were having there lines cross each other and even small snapper were getting 5-6 people in a knot. All in all, during the 5 hours we were supposed to be fishing, we only spent 3 of it actually fishing due to the re-anchoring and drifting that caused everyone to get tangled up.

Also, it is listed as a 12-hour trip. However, we left 30 minutes late and arrived back in Galveston 30 minutes early. It seems to me that this outfit doesnt care too much about the satisfaction of their customers once they pay. Also, I was almost scared to ask the deckhands for any help because they were not the friendliest I've met!

Anyone else gone out on this boat and experience the same problems or frustration? Next time, I'm bringing my own gear and going on the Capt. John. Recently, their reports on multiple species of fish has been much better.

Now I realize that the trips are mainly for visitors to the island, and yes, they did put us on fish, I guess I just expected a better experience. Maybe instead of the cap. john, Ill save up my money and go on a private charter instead!

Well, with the halibut charters here in Alaska, they often advertise 8-hour trips, but they are in fact more like 5-6 hours. I learned quickly that the 6-pack boats (non-cattle boats) are much much more guest friendly, and funner to fish from. You go farther, faster, and the captains can cater to you much more-so than the cattle boats. You may want to spend the extra money and get a private charter next time.

Hooked. Yes, the Capt John is much better customer service-wise. Try to avoid weekends if you can, as the boat will still be packed full then.

My experiences on Galveston Party Boats have been mixed over the years ... one of my favorite trips was an overnight (24 or 30 hour). The captain was telling up about the limits on various fish, and said that red snapper counted towards the total reef fish limit (they dont - the regs state clearly that reef fish are lane snapper, vermillion snapper and gray triggerfish).

I gave my copy of the fish regs to one of the deckhands who seemed to know what he was doing ... about 15 minutes later, the captain made a new announcement with the correct limits. Have also had enough bad trips with them - meaning bad service, not the fishing itself - that I think very carefully about going with them.

The Capt John is consistently staffed with friendly crews & you can tell that they all are working to make your trip enjoyable. The fishing may not be very good sometimes, but thats part of the game.

"capt John" is the only head boat I would dare step foot on in Galveston.....

i have been on the buttaneer several times through the last 20 years.. never a successful trip out of about 10 that I have been on... small beeliners was about the best I ever did...

We've had some good trips on the Buck. But as mentioned, I prefer Capt Johns. The most memorable experience was last summer. We had a three 12 hr trips booked on the Capt John, but high winds cancelled two of those days and we only got one day in.

As dissapointed as we were, we were glad we didn't go the first two days since the seas were 5-7's and VERY steep. Second day had 6-8's.

While the Capt John stayed in, the New Buck went out anyway. We were at the dock watching them come in and over half the boat was really sick. People were still puking when they pulled up.

If you get to go, and there is a big guy as a deckhand named Tony or Dallas, get to know them. They are the best in Galveston. Tip them up front and they will take really good care of you.

Best advise if you're going offshore, invest in your own equipment. Even if it isn't that expensive of gear, it will be much better than the boat rods on the boat. You never know what you are going to get and those rods are really, really abused over the years.

You can start off with a TLD 25 (TLD 30 is even better and ideal for a fairly in entwo speed and a Chaos rod in the 60 lb class and be absolutely fine for 50 mile bottom drops.

Here is a good, general purpose boat rod that will not break the bank. Chaos K30-60 Lb Rod

As mentioned, match that with a TLD 30-2 speed reel (you can buy them off Ebay at a reasonable price), and you will have a good all around bottom rig for Snapper, Kings, Grouper, AJ, ect. Put 80 Lb Braid and a 60 Lb Florocarbon leader on it and you are set!

Well, I've been on the New Buc several times and we mainly only caught snapper. I think the next time I go back down there it will be on a private charter. Snapper's great, but having a variety with good service and hospitiable people is even better.

At this point in time, if going offshore, the captain and crew need to focus on other species than red snapper with the limit going to only 2 fish now! They need to put you on some good vermilion locations to catch your 10, added in some spadefish and triggers, along with kings, dorado and possibly amberjack. Some headboats are already calling it quits due to the NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) dropping the recreational red snapper limit to 2 fish/day and then to top that one, and "icing on the cake" allowing the minimum size limit for red snapper for COMMERCIAL ANGLERS to be 13"!! That's my biggest gripe and it's probably old news but it still steams me.

I have been with Capyn John. They do everthing in their power to put you on fish. I was told by locals the best in Party Boats

I don't think that we should isolate just one outfit. I went out on the Big E as my first offshore trip. Being a greenhorn, you have no idea what to expect. We went out in what was one of the worst days to ever go out. 10 - 15 ft seas. Needless to say plenty of chumming going on. We spent most of our time finding spots and then anchoring. Caught our 2 reds (important that the whole boat limit out) and a few beeliner. Now I have done that and now I know what to expect. I am not all that upset over the entire experience, but I will not do it again. Next time I will spend a bit more money and find a boat with fewer people, and with the objective of catching a greater variety of fish. For the price we paid, it was what it was.

Gig'n, if you take a poll on here, you'll likely find that the Big E and other boats out of Capt Elliotts have an excellent reputation. But they're down in Freeport, where the Capt John & New Buck are next door to each other ... easier to compare competitors.

I personally can't imagine being able to hold onto the rail in 10-15 foot seas, much less catch fish, so I imagine that under the conditions you did pretty good.

On the subject of too many people on the boat, I agree 100%. Even the overnight trips on all the above mentioned boats take 40 passengers, which is just too much. Check out the 3 to 5 day boats out of San Diego seaforthlanding.com for Mission Bay and pointlomasportfishing.com for San Diego bay. These boats cost $505 to $800 for a 3 day trip, including bunks & meals (the $800 boat gives you STATEROOMS and hot showers). They are proud to limit their passenger loads to 25 or less.

I've wondered lately how they can be profitable on such fares & schedules, when the Gulf boats insist on running so crowded in order to make a profit. Have a few thoughts, but nothing I want to shout out here yet ... :-)

Some good boats in every port.

I've had trips with mixed results on several docks, just depends on who's on board that day. One captain can be really, really good, the other captain, eh, marginal.

So don't be afraid of asking who the Capt and deck hands are.

I've never been on the Capt John but I've gone on the Texsun Two which is the boat that CJ replaced and it was always pretty good.

different outfits..... Capt John is a differnt boat.

The problem with going after BLiners is they are generally found in deeper waters which takes a longer run and cuts down on fishing time on a 12 hr trip.

We just finished a 12hr trip on the new buc last week...1st trip ever and on thursday boat was less than 1/2 full. Our whole group limited on snapper and caught a few shark. Capt worked hard to find fish but only 1 large snapper was caught. We went back on Sat for a bay trip now that was fully packed and only 1 nice redfish caught.

I would try Capt John next time to get a feel for them as well.