South Padre Island deep sea fishing is both promising and rewarding. If you’re patient enough, you can have a real blast out there in the Gulf. The inshore waters of SPI are tempting, have no doubt about that, but if you want some nice game fish, you need to charter a boat to take you further out. This means heading anywhere between 30 miles or even 100 miles at occasions, if you want to get Blue Marlin, Wahoo, Mahi Mahi, Sailfish, Yellowfin, and Bluefin Tuna. Luckily for you, the game is there almost year round, so your trip can pay off big time.

When you get there, you will be mostly trolling for these big specimens. They are super strong, and you should find a captain and boat who can accommodate to your needs. This means heavy tackle, a big boat, a quality game chair (or a good harness if you’re up for the challenge!) As for the bait, it can either be live or dead bait, but you will want to consult with the crew and try a variety of techniques.

An important thing to have in mind — deep seas are not just about big game fish. They also hide the true gems of the Gulf waters — Snapper and Grouper. Getting your bottom gear ready can prove super lucrative and you will have an exquisite catch on a full day trip. To get a glimpse of SPI deep sea fishing, you can start with a five hour trip. This won’t take you far out, but you can go trolling for some King Mackerel, Tuna, Mahi. An eight hour trip gives you more time to fish, but the true deep sea fishing starts with a 10 hour trip.

Game fish might take a bit longer to get. The safest choice — if there’s such thing in fishing at all — is to go on an extended trip. Usually, these trips run somewhere between 10 and 14 hours, and are meant for hardcore anglers and those who won’t settle for anything less than Billfish. Of course, veteran anglers will enjoy overnight trips as they will go deep into the Gulf and spend a lot of time doing some hot action fishing.

There are some things to have in mind, but deep sea fishing can be super exciting even for less experienced anglers. Eight hours at sea can seem to be long, especially if nothing’s biting at first and if you get seasick. But, when all of a sudden you hear that drag scream, boy, it rarely gets better than that.

Of course, ‘catching’ is great. But remember — it’s the ‘fishing’ that counts. And Marlin and Tuna aren’t the only ones worth the trip. Mahi Mahi are awesome to catch as they’re feisty and tasty. Wahoo are fast and elusive, and Snapper are a genuine treasure.

You will need an extra layer of clothes, sunblock, a cap, sunglasses, and water for hydration, along with sea sickness medication. SPI captains who run deep sea fishing charters are skilled in what they do and equipped to make your trip enjoyable.