The 38 fishermen aboard the partyboat Capt. John were in for one of those nice red snapper catches that will shortly be stopped. That stoppage will be the closure of the red snapper fishery in Federal waters, October 31 is the last day out there and it's going to be closed for six to eight months. While it would be nice if all the trips made before the closure had a catch like today's, it's not guaranteed...but you never know.

Capt. Tony Langston's area of choice was a series of rocks and a wreck about forty miles to the south of The Island in 75 ft. of water. Their offshore run began shortly after leaving Galveston's Pier 19 and later turning the end of the South Jetty.

Once in the day's fishing area, baits of cut squid or whole Spanish sardines hit the water. Those baits, fished from near the surface to the bottom, along with the efforts of the fishermen, had this catch ending up iced down in the fish boxes:
?Ģ 76 red snapper to 16#, a boat limit
?Ģ (15 of these red snapper went from 10 to 16#)
?Ģ 17 lane snapper
?Ģ 1 gag grouper of 10#
?Ģ 9 Atlantic spadefish
?Ģ 6 gray triggerfish
?Ģ 1 ling, 30#

Kenny Swanson, Galveston, had a red snapper limit made up of 15 and 16$ sows. He also had the trip's only ling, a nice 30 pounder.

One last reminder of the approaching red snapper fishery closure in Federal waters. Halloween is supposed to be sort of frightening and it is for those interested in catching red snapper. The six to eight month closure will seem like an eternity. If you want red snapper, now is the time to go. To have your red snapper needs possibly filled, get on the Capt. John soon. Give the Pier 19 office a ring at 409-762-8808. The tick, tick, tick you hear in your head is the red snapper clock and it's about to run down, call for your Capt. John reservations today.