Frequently Asked Questions
We provide all the rods and reels, tackle and bait for the trip. Fuel is also included in the price of the trip. We are happy to provide fish cleaning services as well, especially with a generous gratuity of 15-25% for your trip.
We have a cooler on board with ice for your trip, or you can bring a cooler with snacks and drinks as well. We are committed to reducing the use of single-use plastic bottles and only have refilled, reusable water bottles on the boat provided. But feel free to bring your choice of beverages and packaging. No glass bottles allowed.
Yes, anyone over the age of 17 is required by law to have a valid Texas saltwater fishing license. There are a number of options for licenses available, but we recommend a one-day all-water license for most cases.
You can purchase the licenses online or in person at Academy, Wal-Mart, or most any sporting goods store. Make sure when you purchase the license, it does include the oversized red drum tag on the license for any inshore or nearshore trip if you would like to keep a big Redfish on the trip. A physical tag is needed for retaining these fish and online license is not sufficient.
We have availability for fishing charters year-round. Depending on the time of year, we may encounter a majority of a certain species or variety of species. This is often due to the time of year, recent or current weather patterns, or conditions of the day. If you are looking to pursue or catch a particular type of fish, give us a call so we can schedule your Galveston fishing charter at the best time for what you’ve got in mind. We do try to deliver the best possible experience on every trip given what mother nature may have in store for us on any given day.
We have a variety of trips available so we are able to welcome nearly anyone to join us for a great day on the water. The biggest determining factors are typically the length of the trip and proximity to shore. Given the attention span of your group, or knowing someone is prone to seasickness—that may influence the length of the trip or the decision between a bay/jetty trip, nearshore, or deep sea fishing trip.
This typically depends on the type of trip booked and the time of year for the trip. To ensure a healthy population, red snapper are managed under a season that is set every year by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Traditionally, the season opens on June 1st and goes through the end of July. Outside of this time, we can still catch red snapper—but we cannot keep them.
Catching red snapper is common from 40-100 miles offshore. Along with other species as time may allow.
On a full day deep sea fishing trip, we typically don’t do much fishing inside of 40-50 miles and may go up to 100 miles from shore as weather and conditions allow.
Depending on the time of year, you may also catch King Mackerel, Dorado or Mahi Mahi, Sharks, mangrove snapper, vermillion snapper, amberjacks, wahoo, blackfin tuna, cobia or ling and many other species. Some fish are more common than others and may be further offshore depending on the time of year or weather, but you never know what you’ll catch on a Galveston deep sea fishing trip.
Depending on the type of trips and the weather for the day, this can often vary. The longer you have for your deep sea fishing trip, the better the opportunity for catching big red snapper and other species as well.
If you want a big red snapper, we definitely recommend a red snapper special or full day deep sea safari trip for your best opportunity.
To ensure a healthy population, red snapper are managed under a season that is set every year by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Traditionally, the season opens on June 1st and goes through the end of July.
Outside of this time, we can still catch red snapper—but we cannot keep them. We are happy to offer catch and release trips for red snapper if you’re interested as well.
We only offer private charters for up to 6 people. Our pricing is per trip, not per person. All of our Galveston Deep Sea Fishing trips are the same price for 1-6 people. Since the input costs for the trip don’t really change depending on the number of people— neither do our prices. We offer a simple, straight forward price for the trip.
YES! We often catch sharks on all of our deep sea fishing trips. There are special rules and regulations in order to keep them, but catching them is much more fun anyways. We don’t recommend keeping or eating sharks, but we will also not prohibit you from doing so if you prefer to take a legal shark home to eat from your trip. We catch sharks on many different kinds of trips; just make sure you let the captain know if you really want to catch one.
Sharks are seasonally caught though, and most common from May to September. Availability for booking shark fishing trips is reflected on our online booking availability as well.
We try to combine a variety of different fishing techniques on each trip, depending on the weather and conditions of the day. On a given day fish may be trolling one place and drifting or anchored at another. Reef fish may be feeding on the bottom or up in the water. Depending on how the fish have been biting we may do bottom fishing, drift fishing, trolling, fish with live bait, or casting for a variety of different fish.
Galveston Bay and Jetty Fishing Trips are a specialty trip only offered in Galveston. It’s a great mix between bay fishing and deep sea fishing that offers the opportunity for big fish without the time commitment of a full day of deep sea fishing. There are plenty of fish to catch and a lot of really cool things to see in Galveston from a whole different perspective while you’re on the water.
Honestly. If the fishing wasn’t good, we wouldn’t offer the trip. It often depends more on the weather conditions than the time of day. We can’t control the weather, but we spend enough time on the water to find fish nearly every trip of the year. There’s an average of 1 trip in every 150-200 that doesn’t catch some fish, so the odds are in our favor.
If we truly believe we won’t be able to catch any fish on the trip, we’re going to contact you and tell you exactly that. With the opportunity to cancel, free of charge. We also have an average of 1 trip in every 150-200 that doesn’t catch some fish, so the odds are in our favor.
This doesn’t guarantee that everyone on your trip will catch fish, because we can’t control the fish or the skill level of the fishers. But we do everything we can to help every angler learn and have the best chance possible.
Deep Sea Fishing in Galveston is best from around mid April to mid October, weather permitting of course. The fishing is good all through the Spring, Summer, and Fall but for certain species some months may be better than others.
Our most popular trip is the half day (6 hour) deep sea fishing trip. It allows for a great fishing experience without committing to a full day of fishing. Depending on the time of year, we may catch a variety of species. King mackerel, red snapper, spanish mackerel, sharks, and other species may be caught on this trip.
The red snapper special is an excellent option as well and only offered for a couple months of the year. We typically focus on getting everyone some red snapper to take home, and spend the remaining time fishing for king mackerel, cobia or ling, and more. This is very similar to the half day deep sea fishing, but with additional fishing time and opportunities to catch more and bigger fish as well.
The full day deep sea safari is a 12 hour trip, and a full day of fishing. It offers the most opportunity for a variety of fish to catch and also to take home. This is the best trip we offer and is an awesome experience for sure! If you want to catch a bucket list fish, this is the trip to try and pursue it. In addition to species for half day trips, we could also catch amberjacks, grouper, wahoo, and more.
This typically depends on the type of trip booked and the time of year for the trip.
On a full day deep sea fishing trip, we are typically fishing around 50-70 miles offshore and may go up to 100 miles from shore as weather and conditions allow.
Red Snapper special trips are typical 40-60 miles offshore as well.
The best ways to share your trip with others and commemorate you fishing experience in Galveston are simple and easy.
1) Leave us a 5 star review online. Google, TripAdvisor, Facebook, etc.
2) Get a fish mounted to hang on your wall. We partner with Gray Taxidermy, the world’s largest taxidermist. They have an awesome ability to celebrate your catch as a replica mount with airbrushing and color matching as well. Just let your captain know you’d like to get the fish mounted and we’ll get it all taken care of.
3) Take some or all of your fresh caught fish to Huli Huli Hut, about 5 minutes from the marina, to enjoy your fresh off the boat seafood from the trip.
Yes, I enjoy taking my fresh caught fish to Huli Huli Hut, about 5 minutes from the marina. They can prepare your catch a variety of ways with sides and salad to create a Galveston Seafood Feast!
Of course!
Fresh Seafood: Katies Seafood House, BLVD Seafood, Fish Company Taco
Other Dinner: Tauqilos Tex-Mex for their fajitas, Brew’s Brothers for their burgers, Mother Theresa’s for their flying pizzas
Breakfast/Brunch: Sunflower Cafe and Bakery, SkyKatz, and Leyland House are all great options to enjoy.
Island Cocktails: My favorites are the whiskey smash at Daiquiri Time Out and the Mexican Firing Squad at Marmo Lounge and Cafe! Both of these places serve up a unique offering of hand-crafted island cocktails.