Tap into some of the best fishing anywhere in the world with the right conditions and enough boat.

 Story and photography by Robert Sloan

We left the Galveston Yacht Basin at dawn and headed out towards the Flower Gardens to do some trolling for wahoo and maybe a sailfish. Along the way something happened we had not planned – a deep-water shrimp boat was anchored up in the deep blue water of the Gulf of Mexico.

On this particular boat we didn’t hesitate to take advantage of a good fishing opportunity. We idled up close to the anchored boat and saw nothing. I quickly scooped up a load of freshly chopped chum and tossed it out. No sooner had it hit the water than an entire school of blackfin tuna appeared out of the depths. We were bug-eyed and scrambled around trying to bait 10/circle hooks with chunks of chopped pogies. For about the next hour we had a blast hooking up with and boating blackfin tuna in the five to 10 pound class. We had a box full of iced down fish before we even got close to our destination. 

The one thing a good offshore angler does is take advantage of every opportunity that could turn out to be a line stretcher. It could be anything from a lone frigate bird feeding over a school of baitfish to a floating piece of wood. You never know.

Offshore fishing along the Texas Gulf coast can be a challenge. For the most part we have some of the most challenging water in the world. It’s often rough and just getting out 10 to 25 miles can jar your teeth out.

However, if you pick the right conditions and have enough boat you can tap into some of the best fishing anywhere in the world right off the Texas coast. Plus some of the fish we can target are hard fighting and provide excellent table fare.

The top three fish to target, aside from red snapper, are ling, dorado and wahoo. All three are very entertaining when hooked, and when it comes to fine dining can’t be beat. 

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