Capt John 10 Hour Offshore Saturday July 23, 2016

Captain Johnny Williams was at the wheel again today as the party boat Capt. John left Galveston’s Pier 19 with 82 of us fishermen aboard.

As is the usual during the time when the red snapper fishery in federal waters is closed Atlantic spadefish, sharks and assorted bottom species are the offshore targets.

Several production platforms “rigs” were fished on todays 10 hour trip. They ranged from 24 to 14 miles out to the east and southeast.

Those usually eager to bite and always able to strongly pull for their size, Atlantic spadefish were todays primary target. Not only do they have these good fishing features, they also eat very well.

At the first platform the spadefish were there but lacked their usual bite. Spinner sharks were caught and released as were red snapper. I was on “ling watch” and did a fine job of “looking” but no “seeing.”

Two other nearby platforms were fished where a nice mangrove snapper of around seven pounds was caught. The red ones and mangroves were visible in the clear green water and while the red ones bit and were released only the one mangrove bit. The spinner sharks were there too.

The next two platforms were about five miles inshore and were the days last fishing stops. They each had a few more spadefish, along with a stingray, gafftop catfish and Spanish mackerel being caught.

Todays totals were:

185 Atlantic spadefish

1 Mangrove snapper

1 Spanish mackerel

1 Stingray

1 Gafftop catfish

This was another of those trips where the species leader volunteering to join the anglers on deck were the Atlantic spadefish. Most of the platforms also had hard pulling and fun to catch spinner sharks, they begin in the 3 to 4 foot long range and require that they had to be released for being too short. Once again I was surrounded by nice folks today, it was particularly nice to fish and acquaint with Wayne Norman and his wife. My biggest mistake of the day was not remembering Wayne’s wifes name for this report. I’m confident that it won’t be our last time fishing the Capt. John and I won’t make that mistake again, possibly another one, but not that one.

Wayne Norman and wife, Houston, Their catch included Atlantic spadefish, released alive spinner shark, red snapper and bull redfish.

Patrick Lemire, Texas City, My catch today was of the catch and release variety and consisted of 6 spinner shark of just over 4 feet and something like a dozen red snapper from 4 to 8 pound. They all swam away vigorously to fight another day.

See you on the Capt. John!

Patrick Lemire