Having wave heights of only two to three feet forecast for the first part of the day and becoming smaller later, the ride was going to be a smooth one. Shortly after leaving Galveston's Pier 19 with 83 of us fishermen aboard the Capt. John, that ride offshore began. With the twin hulls splitting what little wave action there was, Capt. Tony Langston had them pointed in sort of a southerly direction.

Our first stops were at a wreck about 30 miles out in 70 feet of water. Although some red snapper and Atlantic spadefish, also known locally as "tiger snapper", were caught, fishing was a bit on the slow side. Running farther offshore with hopes of better fishing there and later stopping about twenty miles farther out at another wreck, fishing resumed. This stop produced the majority of the trip's red snapper catch, along with numerous "tiger snapper", plus vermilion snapper and gray triggerfish.

When we left the last wreck, a boat limit of red snapper to 8 lbs. had been decked and iced. Next on the plan of the day was stops and drifts by anchored shrimpboats while sort of fishing our way home. Names such as "Dr. Bill", "Provider", Rene Lynn" and "Miss Cindy" provided four drift fishing opportunities. These fish magnets can range from great to nothing, though. The thought is always ling, kingfish, dorado, bonito, sharks, etc. Well the first two produced nothing, but the third a bonito and a shark, while the "Miss Cindy" was Bonito City with a ling hookup thrown in. First, the estimated 50 lb. ling unfortunately was lost; second, the numerous bonito hookups had the folks on the rod end scurrying in all directions and back. No bonito alive seems to be able to run in one direction when hooked; they run in any and all directions, as if on some illegal drug. In spite of the over-and-under passing of rods, inevitable tangles and resulting lost fish, twenty were caught in about fifteen minutes. These offshore torpedoes are definitely string-pullers and excitement generators...a couple of things that offshore partyboat fishing is all about. Some of the others mentioned earlier would have been a good thing too, but as usual, the fish have at least fifty-one percent of the vote and today they voted to be elsewhere. Capt. Langston's decision to make these drifts on the way back did at least give us a shot at those others being there along with that group of bonito...you don't know what's there until you try, he gave us that.

The day's catch totals were:
?Ģ 166 red snapper to 8 lbs, a boat limit
?Ģ 21 vermilion snapper
?Ģ 4 mangrove snapper
?Ģ 1 kingfish
?Ģ 2 rockhind grouper
?Ģ 12 triggerfish
?Ģ 21 bonito to 12 lbs.
?Ģ 110 Atlantic spadefish (tiger snapper)

Rob Richardson, Lone Oak, with a red snapper limit to 6# and a bonito taken on a 1 oz., pink/chartreuse Snapper Slapper that was sardine tipped.
Wes Richardson & Keri Pape, Dallas, each with a bonito to go along with their red snapper limits that was topped by Keri's eight pounder (the boat's heaviest today).
Jim Marigliano, Dallas, had bonito and vermilion snapper and a red snapper limit to 5 lbs.
Ronnie Vaughn, Dallas, his red snapper limit went to 4 lbs.
Mike Decuir, Brenham, and his sons, John Michael (13) & Colin (10), along with John Michael's friend John Murphy all had red snapper limits to 4 lbs., 3 mangrove snapper, 8 Atlantic spadefish (tiger snapper), a rockhind grouper and the trip's only kingfish, caught by John Murphy.
Patrick Lemire, Texas City - my red snapper limit went to 6 lbs. and was taken on a 1/2 oz., pink/chartreuse Snapper Slapper Jr., tipped with a Spanish sardine - hits came on the sink at about 40 ft. down.

Today's catch was as good as the ride was smooth, and it was pretty smooth. The memorable part of the week, other than the fishing, was that this past Monday through today was the annual week long fishing get together by various members of the Richardson Family group. They were headed up by brothers, Rob, Mike and Ricky, and have been making this trip in honor of their dad, Weldon, who passed away in 1995. This week of offshore fishing trips with Williams Party Boats started in 1997. They have a commemorative plaque in honor of their dad with engraved nameplates of the family member's name, species and weight of the year's winner with the heaviest fish. This year's winner is Weldon's great granddaughter, 12 year old Sara with her 22.7 lb. kingfish that is also being submitted for the new Texas Saltwater Junior Record. More Richardsons are what our world needs these days. I know I'm proud to have known them all these past ten years.

While it's hard for the rest of us to duplicate that last paragraph, there are a lot of great times and fishing to be had on the Capt. John. Make that call to the office for your reservations at 409-762-8808 or 713-223-4853, there's a lotto-like situation out there on the deck.