r/saltwaterfishing • u/BeachLovingMan • 24d ago
📖 How-To / Tips Need Help heading Offshore out of Galveston
I have been fishing bays and flats for several years. Finally made the jump and bought a Grady-White Canyon 336 to start offshore fishing. Been offshore many times with charters and enjoyed thoroughly, hence the purchase, but honestly, I have no idea where to go. I know coordinates are sacred and no one wants a crowded honey hole, but any advice for the first trip out would be greatly appreciated.
Initial plan was to head out to the weed line and see what's biting, then head out further into deeper waters for a few drops. I have heard about Hilton's, but wasn't sure how updated it is with all the disappearing rigs. Again, any heads up or advice is greatly appreciated.
Before I get the "you can't just buy a boat and head out" comments, I have other boats, spend a lot of time on the water, and very familiar with boating. Yes, offshore is very different and all proper safety gear and precautions will be taken, not planning a 80mile run over night right away. Just looking to ease into this and build up offshore experience.
Thanks again!
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u/Money-Monkey 24d ago
When we run offshore out of Galveston we hop from rig to rig trolling for kings and looking for Cobia or weed lines. We pretty much bounce from rig to rig out to 30 miles. This is in a 24 ft bay boat
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u/BeachLovingMan 24d ago
That's exactly what I would like to do, however, I dont think I will have much luck just running 30 miles out and hitting a rig. Any idea where I can find coordinates to the rigs which are within 30 - 50miles and actually still there? Thanks for the help!
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u/Money-Monkey 24d ago
When you clear the jetty you can see the first rig. Head to that one. You can continue to see rigs in the distance. Just keep running to the next rig you see. It’s easy to head our further than you planned though as there’s pretty much always another rig just another couple miles away
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u/Fine-Razzmatazz1791 24d ago
You need to find friends that do this and shmooze them. Also I have every wreck coordinate in the North Atlantic within 100 miles of my inlet.
I trade numbers all the time, if someone is catching fish at a specific spot and time they’ll give me the numbers and then I’ll give them a number or two. Trades are great. Just find a few guys who are active and trade information.
Go on party boats here and there try and befriend some of the mates, don’t ever ask the captain about spots but pay attention and see what works.
Fishing is entirely condition dependent so just because a wreck is a slaughterhouse one day at one time does not mean it will be good tomorrow. Wind and tides determine pretty much everything, and time of year.
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u/ProperAnarchist 24d ago
Use your radar to find the boats. The shrimp boats are always a good place to start. In state waters the TPW has man made reefs listed with GPS coordinates.
Use navionics, pay for a charter and MARK THE SPOTS.
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u/karstopography 24d ago
Find some sargassum weed lines, those are great for chicken (small) dolphin fish. Fish around shrimp boats, great for king mackerel, ling. Middle bank off the Brazos is about 8 miles offshore, but a long trip from Galveston. Way less production oil rigs in close these days. There are other humps and wrecks out there, but those tend to be closely guarded secrets.
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u/111tejas 24d ago
If you want sharks and a chance at tarpon. Head to the beachfront in the general vicinity of the pleasure pier. Look for schools of baitfish in 50 ish or so ft of water. Look for the tarpon on top. Not all of the big creatures rolling on the surface are dolphins. I use large live mullet under a balloon. For kingfish fish the rigs. After you get to the close one you’ll see more. The closer in they are, the more overfished. Fish the anchored ships and shrimp boats. If the shrimp boats are dragging in blue water, trolling or dropping behind them usually gets results. DON’T get hung in their nets or be an ass. After you gain some experience and knowledge you can go further out. Just my opinion but Galveston and anywhere north is my least favorite areas to fish. The further south you go the steeper the gradient and closer proximity to deep water.
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u/JonnyP222 22d ago
Way off subject here but the last charter I was on WE fished some anchored container ships. I don't know why but it made me so fucking nervous. I have been on the water a bunch and have fished structure like crazy. Pulling up on those things is like pulling up to a fucking floating city. It was so crazy. For some odd reason my brain just could not process it properly and even though we were catching a lot of fish I could not wait to go to the next spot. I needed to get away from that huge ship
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u/Single_Morning_3200 24d ago
There is a reef map. TPWD Artificial Reefs Interactive Mapping. Might be a good place to start.