Waking up early has always been a challenge for me, but this past June I had no problem getting up at 6am for my first ever Offshore Fishing Trip.  Every summer my family rents a beach house for vacation.  We've been to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Sandbridge, Virginia just outside of Virginia Beach, and our most frequent destination, Surfside, Texas.  The price is right! 

This year we decided to go Offshore Fishing and my duty was to find a guide.  So, what do I do?  I call on my friends at CCA.  In particular, Mr. Tim Fading.  He schooled me on the whole party boat vs private charter.  Tim asked me if I was looking for a Private Charter or a Party Boat situation.  Here is a sample of our email conversation (try not to laugh too hard):

Tim,
  My husband is looking for a small group to go out with under $500.  He is not going  out to party, so I'm not sure if partyboat is the way he wants to go.  He just wants to go out with some great fishermen and catch some nice fish.  There might be 2-3 total in our group - my husband, brother and maybe me.  Whatever advice you could give us would be most appreciative.  We will be in the area June 8th thru the 22nd.

Debra,
  I'm sorry, but that made me laugh.  A partyboat is just a boat that takes out multiple groups from 10 to 50 or 60 people, depending on how big the boat is.  If 500 is the total you want to spend, you might be in trouble. Bay charters are typically more than that now.  Offshore on a private charter is anywhere from 800 to 2400, depending on boat size and the number of people it can hold.  Let me know your thoughts on this.  Thanks.

I have a lot to learn about this hunting and fishing business, but am willing to take my lumps.  With that being said, I found Capt. Elliot's Party Boats in Surfside, Texas.  It was $85 per person (Tuesday special) for a 12 hour tour and we had to bring our own food and drink.  Perfect, we booked it.  It was to be me, my husband, my dad, step-mom and 16 year old sister.  We were all super excited.

Monday night we get a call from Capt. Elliott's saying the trip was cancelled due to lack of interest, but we could book for Wednesday.  Well, we wanted the Tuesday special, so I said we'd book it for the same price and they said "that's probably what will happen, but we'd discuss it the morning of the trip."  This was the only mistake we made.  More on that later.

The night before the trip proved to be very interesting.  My brother had been offshore fishing on a private charter before and was very anxious about the packing of the cooler.  I thought, why not make sandwiches tonight and get the cooler packed and ready to go so we don't have to do it in the morning.  "NO" he says, "Our sandwiches will get mushy and our chips will get smashed.  Let's do it in the morning."  Ok, I said.  Then he started getting worried about how much water and gatorade we were going to have bring.  It was a serious panic situation.  "Do you understand that we will be in the middle of the Gulf for 12 hours?  There isn't a 7-11 around the corner to pick up some more water.  It's gonna be hot and I'm not running out of water.  We're going to have to take at least 2 coolers and the small one for our catch."  Ok, I said.  No worries, I was just excited to go. 

Morning came and the sandwiches got made, the water and gatorade got packed, and no chips were crushed.  We loaded up in the van dressed in our TexasHuntFish.com T-shirts and headed out.  Of course, my brother made us stop at Buc-Cee's for more water.  What a worry wort.

As the sun came up, we arrived at the dock.  What a beautiful day we had in store for us and not a cloud in the sky - brother nervous about sunburn and dehydration even more so now.  With sun block and coolers in tow, we headed into the office to check in.  We were greeted by the Captain and someone who appeared to be an office manager or assistant.  I introduced myself and said I'd be doing a write up for TexasHuntFish.com and they became very surly saying, "Make sure you tell everyone about how these new snapper limits are putting us out of business.  And how the government is wiping out the party boat business." 

Well, my next question was totally blown off as you can imagine.

When they asked for payment, I asked, "Will we be charged the Tuesday special rate since we were originally booked for Tuesday and you cancelled the trip?"

"You'll have to ask the manager, but they're out til Monday."

Yea right, Monday.  We paid our $100 per person, because we didn't pack water and lunches and get up at 6am for nothing.  And I really wanted to see how this would play out.

So, we boarded the "Big E" and set out for our 12 hour tour.  The ride out was spectacular.  We got to watch the sun come up and the water turned from brown, frothy chocolate milk to the most crystal clear, blue water you have ever seen.  It was calm and glassy as we made our 63 mile trek out to sea. 

About 20 miles or so out, we made our first stop for snapper.  The crew was amazing and taught everyone how to bait their hooks, what were fishing for, where we were, and that they'd be making rounds to help anyone who needed it.  The crew was AWESOME. 

At the first stop, the entire boat almost hit the snapper limit within 15 minutes.  So we packed it in and headed out another 20 miles in search of Ling, more snapper, and Amberjack.

I have to say it was really fun fishing with my family.  Everyone except the men folk were first time offshore anglers.  We were excited each time our line got tugged and so were they.  My dad really enjoyed watching my little sister pulling in fish.  Even though she was tired and sixteen, you could tell she was having fun.

Ok, so remember me telling you about my brother being so nervous about the heat and the water situation?  Well, the "Big E" was equipped with a lounge.  There were big comfy chairs in air conditioning, out of the sun, parked in front of big screen TV's showing movies.   I can't razz him too much because if the situation would have been any different, we would have run out of water long before the Capt. turned the boat around. 

The trip was super smooth and we only saw one girl get sea sick.  It was flat out, not a wave in site and someone was yaking.  Of course, we all took motion sickness pills, because we didn't know what to expect - tehe.

The long and short of this story is that I caught the biggest snapper of our group and had a smile from ear to ear when we got back.

As for rating Capt. Elliott's service, there are two parts to the equation. 

Part one was the actual fishing experience and interaction with the crew - Excellent.  The crew was experienced, knowledgeable, ready to help, and extremely funny.

Part two was the administrative side - Poor.  We never recovered the $90 for the Tuesday special, and our calls and email were totally ignored. 

Now, while our fish were being cleaned, my brother did some investigating and found out that the "Big E" was up for sale for $1 million and we have since learned that it has been sold.  So, I didn't really expect to get any money back.  I would gladly hop on another "Party" boat, but it looks like Private Charters are going to be the way of the future.

~Debra

Hunt Hard. Fish Smart. Explore Texas.

Images and Files: View all 28 photos / videos here.