Offshore Fishing with Bill Platt

This is a great time of year to go offshore fishing. The blue water is close to the ports and there are large numbers of game fish that can be easily caught. Naturally, fishing pressure is heaviest closest to shore. But the problem with offshore fishing for many anglers is that it takes many hours to reach the best fishing water. Typically offshore fishing vessels don’t travel faster than 20 miles per hour. Due to our relatively flat shallow Gulf off the Texas coast, the best areas to fish (for unpressured fish) are 40 miles or more out in the Gulf. The further you go out, the better the fishing. But the boat ride can get boring. Actual time spent fishing offshore in most boats is about the same amount of time that is spent getting to and from the fishing destination. Even when seas are calm, the long boat ride becomes dreaded.

Over the past five years, there has been a noticeable change in the type of boats used for offshore fishing and in the personality of offshore Captains. New style boats provide stability, safety and speed for anglers wanting to get to offshore hotspots in a hurry. Captains are eager to get fishing quickly too. Recently, I was aboard one of these new style offshore boats and found out first hand why they are becoming so popular.

With several victories on the Southern Kingfish Tournament Trail, Captain Bill Platt from Galveston agreed to take me offshore on a 36 foot Contender powered by three 300-hsp Yamaha outboards. Having never been aboard such a vessel, I was in for a surprise. “We will be going about 100 miles offshore today and should catch a lot of fish,” Platt said as we idled out of the marina. The winds were light and the Gulf was as flat as I have ever seen it. Just before we reached the end of the jetties, Platt closed the plastic dashboard to cover his electronics. On the face of this cover was a sign in bold letters saying “Drive it like you stole it.” I smiled and thought this is simply some kind of macho way of bragging on how fast the boat goes. I soon found out this was exactly how he drove. Platt pushed the throttle wide open on his 900 horses of muscle and the 36’ Contender became an offshore racing boat. I watched the speedometer climb to 60 miles per hour before he put the boat on autopilot.

Cruising in the Gulf at this speed is something that should only be done by someone that is an expert Captain. It should also be done only when conditions are flat. Platt has professionally fished Kingfish tournaments for years and he told me this type of boat was vital to his style of fishing and was key to his success. “I get to the best fishing spots as fast as possible and that leaves us more time to fish. We should be there in less than two hours. Hold on and enjoy the ride,” he said.

I gripped the rail and did exactly as told. Oil platforms and shrimp boats that were in the distance seemed to not take long to get past. Other conventional offshore boats just seemed to putt along as we overtook them. The further out we went the prettier the water got and the fewer recreational fishing boats we saw. One of the season’s first tropical storms was brewing East of us several hundred miles and the flat seas were an indication that high seas would be imminent in a day or two from that storm. Platt kept a keen eye on our path and his electronics, which included a radar system. A notebook of offshore hotspots was sitting on his dashboard. In this book were literally hundreds of locations that he had to fish. These locations are kept secret as it takes years to find them. Platt’s profession is installation of highly specialized marine electronics on upper end boats. The electronic equipment on this Contender will precisely record any changes on the Gulf’s floor even at speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour. If he runs across an area that looks like it may hold fish, he stops, marks it on his electronics and then fishes it briefly to see if it is worth saving.

At 70 miles offshore we came across several shrimp boats that were anchored. We slowed down to get a look. The crews were busy culling their catch from dragging their nets all night long. Literally hundreds of fish fed ferociously on the catch being thrown back into the sea. I grabbed a sardine, hooked it on and tossed it to the stern of one of the shrimp boats. Before I could engage my reel, a fish had taken the offering. I quickly engaged the reel and set the hook. Anticipation runs high when offshore fishing because the angler never really knows when they get a strike what they may have on the other end of their line.

After a 15-minute battle, a 30-pound black fin tuna was gaffed and put in the cooler. The next cast produced a clone of the first fish. My tuna bag limit was now met. Then I noticed a different looking fish about 30 feet below the boat and Platt told me to drop one of the live baits down as quickly as possible. I did and it was hammered. After a 35-minute battle I brought a 60-pound Amberjack aboard. Not bad for three casts.

During the next 6 hours we traveled another 100 miles catching the limits of Kingfish, Red Snapper and even more tuna. The crew was beat and I felt like I had been in the weight room all day long. But the boat ride back to port was quick. It was now only 4:00 pm and we were cleaning hundreds of pounds of fish. The trip had only lasted 10 hours but we covered over 250 miles that day on the water. Without Platt’s Contender, we would not have been able to accomplish so much in so little time.

Offshore fishing has changed thanks to modern day fishing vessels and thanks to Captains like Bill Platt that are willing to travel to unpressured waters to reap the bounty of the sea. To contact Bill Platt call (409) 739-3489.