As these 36 hour tuna safaris by the partyboat Capt. John go, this one was excellent as far as the multi-species catch and the weather in the open Gulf was concerned. Virtually without saying, the captains and crew, as always, fell into that category of excellent also. With Capt. Johnny Williams at the wheel as we left Galveston's Pier 19 and Capt. Shane Steber aboard as the second required captain on these extended length trips, the forty of us fishermen were set on "go".

Leaving Tuesday a little after 7 AM and shortly thereafter entering the calm waters of the Gulf, the trek sort of ESE began. Two stops were made over rock structure in around 80 ft. of water, about 70 miles out. The target was primarily kingfish, and they were home. When we left the area, 25 had been decked and iced, along with a ling, a couple of big Jack Crevalle and some red snapper. Most of the kingfish were over 20 lbs., the heaviest being 26 lbs. After leaving this area, a run farther offshore to the south began. Our next stop was at a "hump" about 126 miles offshore that came up to 200-300 ft. from the surface. This stop has red snapper to 16 lbs, a ling, scamp grouper and a yellowmouth grouper all joining us on deck. Next, a run farther offshore for the over night tuna fishing was begun.

?ĮShortly after 8 PM we arrived at a "floater" rig about 150 miles offshore, in around 3,800 ft. of water. With no moon yet and a swell of about 2 ft., all looked sort of "swell". Looks can be deceiving, as we all know, and the six drifts that were made from the platform to about a mile down current were less than productive, again, "sort of". The less than productive part was the six blackfin that were on the small size - the up side was the trip's one keeper yellowfin tuna. On the second drift, James McCrory had his 7 oz. Power Jig inhaled. This is one of those saltwater deep jigs in the "Butterfly Jig by Shimano" design. This particular jig, by ProFish Co., was a silver/white with a read head section. This family of deep, vertical jigging design lures are usually intended to be retrieved with a fast, erratic retrieve motion. In this case, while fished deep, just a slight rod tip motion was used. This, combined with rod bend and mono stretch, was without a doubt imparting little motion to the jig, still the strike came. In the next 10 minutes or so, James' line was involved in several tangles as his yellowfin made its fast and erratic runs, twists and turns at boatside. His 80# mono also rubbed hard on the bottom of the Capt. John. With tons of luck on his side, along with the untangling efforts of the deckhands, his tuna was brought to gaff and onto the deck; a nice 65 pounder. James' winding, pulling, cranking, listening to the deckhands and staying calm with his first yellowfin tuna fight was an important part of his "luck".

With that smattering of blackfin and the one yellowfin tuna being the total take at this deep water platform, a decision was made. Around 12:30 AM Wednesday a run of about two hours to another platform was started. This production platform, about 120 miles offshore in 700 ft. of water was the tuna hotspot of the trip. No yellowfin were taken, but 86 additional blackfin tuna were. These were a much better size and weight class; over 90% of them were 20 lbs. or more, topped off by three from 30 to 34 lbs., indeed sizeable blackfin tuna. They hit chrome diamond jigs and deep jigs by Williamson, Shimano, Pro Fish, etc. Eight hit Tuna Hunter top water plugs and several ate Spanish sardines. When we left this platform and its blackfin tuna bit a little after 7 AM, deckhands Ben Arnold, Dan Bunday, Payton Martin and David Hicks were tired and ready for a move, too -- it doesn't work without their smart and hard work, always remember the deck work. When we left this platform, the run back to Pier 19 began.

Stops at two more production platforms about 70 to 80 miles offshore, in 170 to 210 ft. of water were fished. They produced red snapper, vermilion snapper, lane snapper, Warsaw grouper, ling, bluefish and Atlantic sharpnose shark.

The next scheduled stop was at Pier 19. With another of those multi-species catches to unload, this had indeed been a 36 hour trip that will be burned into the memory of all the 40 fishermen, from the many first-timers to the regulars. It was a beautiful hang as we approached Galveston's Pier 19 with a lot of tired but smiling fishermen.

The catch totals:
?Ģ 92 blackfin tuna to 34 lbs; 3 of 30 lbs plus, 90% of 20 lbs. plus.
?Ģ 1 yellowfin tuna of 65 lbs.
?Ģ 87 red snapper to 18 lbs., 8 of 11 to 13 lbs.
?Ģ 56 lane snapper to 4 lbs.
?Ģ 138 vermilion snapper to 3 lbs.
?Ģ 4 ling to 35 lbs.
?Ģ 1 snake mackerel
?Ģ 1 bluefish
?Ģ 2 gray triggerfish
?Ģ 3 ocean triggerfish
?Ģ 1 Atlantic sharpnose shark
?Ģ 1 Rainbow runner
?Ģ 1 bermuda chub
?Ģ 2 squirrelfish
?Ģ 22 whitebone porgy
?Ģ 4 Jack Crevalle to 31 lbs.
?Ģ 12 Almaco jack
?Ģ 5 barracuda to 28 lbs.
?Ģ 1 scamp grouper, 12 lbs.
?Ģ 1 yellowmouth grouper, 12 lbs.
?Ģ 1 Warsaw grouper, 22 lbs.
?Ģ 25 kingfish to 26 lbs.

I told you that this was a multi-species catch! Now, for several of the individual catch totals:
James McCrory, Pottsborough, 5 vermilion snappers, a double red snapper limit and the 65 lbs. yellowfin tuna.
Fredricka Kuever, League City, (10 years old), and Dad, Andres, with red snapper, vermilion snapper and 4 blackfin tuna.
Richard Eberle, Texas City - This "Master Partyboat Fisherman" shone again with a catch which included 10 blackfin tuna to 30 lbs. a double vermilion snapper limit of 20 to 3 lbs, 2 barracuda to 18 lbs., a 25 lb. ling, a double red snapper limit to 6 lbs and a double kingfish limit to 18 lbs. When you're on the boat, to see how it's done--watch Richard.
Rita Baumann, Texas City-she had 5 blackfin tuna, 2 lane snapper, 10 vermilion snapper, 6 red snapper and 1 ocean triggerfish.
Peter Letts, Dickinson, 3 blackfin tuna, 1 almaco jack, 5 red snapper, 5 lane snapper and the snake mackerel.
Tom Gregory, Magnolia, with 8 blackfin tuna to 29 lbs.(all on Tuna Hunter, topwater poppers), 1 barracuda of 28 lbs. that also hit one of those Tuna Hunters, 6 vermilion snapper, 2 whitebone porgy and double red snapper limit to 5 lbs.
Mark Holl, Nacogdoches; 2 blackfin tuna, 10 vermilion snapper, 5 lane snapper, 6 red snapper and 3 kingfish.
Jason Danks, Galveston, with 3 blackfin tuna, the 12 lb. scamp grouper, 10 vermilion snapper, red snapper to 5 lbs., 1 squirrelfish and 3 kingfish to 26 lbs.
Kenny Dong, Sugarland, had 9 blackfin tuna, double vermilion snapper and a double red snapper limit.
Dartanian Chandler, Dallas; 6 blackfin tuna, double red snapper limit to 7 lbs and 6 almaco jack.
Ryan Weatheread, Maybank City, with 6 vermilion snapper, 2 jack crevalle, 4 blackfin tuna and a double red snapper limit to 14 lbs.
Baron Jones, 4 blackfin tuna, 2 kingfish, 2 lane snapper, 1 vermilion snapper, 1 whitebone porgy and a red snapper limit.
Patrick Lemire, Texas City -- my catch was made up of 5 blackfin tuna to 23 lbs. that were taken on a 7 oz., Bethnos Deep Jig in a silver/white color pattern - most hits 200-300 ft. deep; a double red snapper limit to 7 lbs., on Carolina-rigged Spanish sardines or a 3 oz., sardine tipped Snapper Slapper in blue/white colors. Most blackfin and red snapper hits were while on the sink.

It was a great catch, with weather and fellow fishermen to match, along with the captains and crew to top it all off. Give the office a call at 409-762-8808 or 713-223-4853 to make your reservations on one of the Capt. John's offshore fishing trips. Whether it's of the 12 hour variety or one of these 36 hour tuna safaris, the Capt. John is the place to be.