About Your Guide

A Certified Damn Good Guide is someone who goes above and beyond to show you an incredible experience on your trip. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Andrew Neystel

Certified Damn Good Guide

Independent Guide 15 years of exp.

Talkative

Instructional

Quality

Laid-back

Beginner Oriented

Comfortable

About Your Guide

Andrew Neystel

Certified Damn Good Guide

Independent Guide 15 years of exp.

HELLO! My name is Captain Andrew. I have over a decade of experience taking guests on deep-sea fishing charters in the Gulf of Mexico. This section tells about my life and background so you can know a bit about your captain before the trip!

I first began to hone in my skills on the “party-boats” out of Port Aransas Texas. Over the years I have worked aboard every vessel from Fisherman’s Wharf, Dolphin Docks and Deep Sea Headquarters. I spent the longest time working under and learning everything from the legendary Captain Marvin Horner Jr. aboard The Kingfisher.

After years of dedication to consistent hard work while following my passion for fishing…an opportunity of a lifetime to take things to the next level came into my life. I starred in a new Discovery Channel reality TV show called Ice Cold Catch. (It’s on Discovery+, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Peacock, SlingTV, Fubo etc…) I found myself traveling to Iceland to work aboard the Valdimar, a battle-scarred, tested, and true long-line vessel.

The workload intensity matched the larger-than-life personalities of the hard-working captains and crew mates. I experienced the world’s most treacherous waters while fishing through Arctic cyclones off the west coast of Iceland. I also worked through storm season all around Iceland, the North Atlantic Ocean, Denmark Strait as well as north of the Arctic Circle towards Greenland. Although tough, it was an amazing experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

My dream was always to have my own fishing charter business. I want to share a bit of why I love fishing and being so close to nature with the rest of the world. Ocean conservation and responsible fishing are very important so that future generations of fishermen and fisherwomen can also enjoy the same beauty one day! Upon returning to the United States, I realized that the time is now to take a step further once more and that I’m ready to show everyone the Reel Deal about fishing!!!

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Rapid Fire Guide Q & A

What’s the biggest fish you’ve caught?

Tiger Shark....bigger than google says they get

If you were cooking for all your friends what would you cook?

Sashimi fresh, seared tuna, mahi tacos

What’s your favorite band?

The Movement

What’s your favorite movie?

Point Break, Into the Blue, Into the Blue 2 , Fools Gold, Rounders, The Perfect Storm

Rapid Fire Guide Q & A

What’s the biggest fish you’ve caught?

Tiger Shark....bigger than google says they get

If you were cooking for all your friends what would you cook?

Sashimi fresh, seared tuna, mahi tacos

What’s your favorite band?

The Movement

What’s your favorite movie?

Point Break, Into the Blue, Into the Blue 2 , Fools Gold, Rounders, The Perfect Storm

What’s your favorite sports team?

Dallas Cowboys

What’s your drink of choice?

Guabanana (Soursop) Smoothies in Costa Rica!!!

What was your last halloween costume?

Myself everytime

What do you want for Christmas this year?

A new extendable back scratcher, preferably with a holster so I can wear it out with my pearl snap shirt, cowboy hat and blue jeans.

How did you get started guiding?

I was sitting at the beach and saw a sportfishing boat heading offshore with shining golden reels, chicks in bikinis blaring music...told myself, " I want to do that!" Drove to Port Aransas the next morning before sunrise and walked up to the biggest boat I could find. The captain happened to be standing there. I said, "My name is Andrew Neystel and I don't know a damn thing about saltwater fishing. I want to learn everything and work on your boat." He said, "Be here tomorrow at 5 a.m." I showed up...and the rest is history.

What makes you different from other guides?

I have been providing charter clients with an enjoyable, good vibe and informative fishing experience for over 14 years now. I am patient, understanding and take the time to explain what to do the correct way in an easy to understand fashion. I don't just get you hooked up on the fish of a life time, I provide an education and funny experience while doing it!

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Reel Deal Fishing Charters Trips

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Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Deep Sea, Nearshore Fishing in Corpus Christi

5Hr TX StateWater Rigs

92% (24) Guided by Andrew

25 ft 1 - 4 People From $1,250

Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Deep Sea, Nearshore, Jetty in Corpus Christi

Statewater Red Snapper

92% (24) Guided by Andrew

25 ft 1 - 4 People From $1,400

Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Inshore, Nearshore, Jetty in Corpus Christi

Nearshore & Bay Fishing

92% (24) Guided by Andrew

25 ft 1 - 4 People From $650

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Recent Reviews of Reel Deal Fishing Charters

3.5

based on 4 reviews

Apryl

Verified Review

Apryl

Verified Review

Nice captain and co-captain. As much as I don't want this to be true it happened, it was terrible and a waste of $1500. Me and my husband have gone deep sea fishing before and it was nothing like this experience. The day before and morning of we had unexpected trip changes via text the boat changed and the actual meeting spot. Ended up meeting 30 min away from Port Aransas, instead. Terrible trip overall, we did catch a few fish ,however, waters were too choppy, according to another captain we talked to afterwards no one was supposed to go out on the waters that day per the coast guard, we had no idea being from out of town. I got sea sick when we were left floating while the captain tried to fix the boat, boat was not clean in fact very dirty, my husband stood for most of the trip trying to block water from hitting me and my daughters as we jumped very big waves, and my youngest daughter got scared when the boat would not start back up, yes we were stalled for at least 30 min, I believe she has PTSD from it. Suffice it to say we went ahead and ended the trip early once he was able to get the boat restarted. Would not recommend.

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Response from Captain Experiences:

Hey Apryl. First and foremost, we’re sorry that this trip didn’t live up to expectations and we hate to hear that you had a less than perfect experience. We can’t control the weather, but we do try to do our best to make the right call on whether to postpone the trip or not, and we rely on the judgment of our captains. We always want to do our best to get you out on the water catching fish, but we never want to be unsafe while doing so. There wasn’t any official small craft advisory on the day of your trip, but it sounds like it was still a little too choppy for you and your family and we’re sorry the experience wasn’t more smooth and that you lost some fishing time due to boat issues. We’ve reached out separately to discuss a refund and see what we can do to make it up to you!

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Amanda

Verified Review

We had a great time with Captain Andrew and team catching fish and navigating the waves. We were put right on the best areas to catch the snapper we were after. Also, when we forgot a jacket onboard in all the excitement of disembarking, Captain Andrew went out of his way to get it back to us. Thank you for helping make my husbands birthday one to remember!

Amanda

Verified Review

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Response from Andrew:

Sometimes you can’t just go with the flow out in the Gulf of America! 💪🏼 Gotta put those diesel engines to work like they’re built for 😎

Response from Andrew:

Sometimes you can’t just go with the flow out in the Gulf of America! 💪🏼 Gotta put those diesel engines to work like they’re built for 😎

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Katelyn

Verified Review

This trip was so fun, we caught snapper, gafftop, and 2 stingrays, and one was a monster. Andrew knew where to go and his boat was very nice, he’s the best hype man too, always excited when a fish is on! Jeff was the bomb. He made sure we always had our lines ready and in the water and helped us pull up them Rays when our arms were wore out!

Katelyn

Verified Review

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Response from Andrew:

That was an epic time and y’all caught some epic fish!!!

Response from Andrew:

That was an epic time and y’all caught some epic fish!!!

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Adam

Verified Review

The booking was easy and seamless. Captain was on time and professional. However he did not put us on any fish and it turned out to be a very expensive boat ride.

Adam

Verified Review

The booking was easy and seamless. Captain was on time and professional. However he did not put us on any fish and it turned out to be a very expensive boat ride.

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Response from Andrew:

We tried fishing two different reefs areas about 8 different rigs. The same places that I fished and produced the day before. We got thrown with tough conditions all the way around, from choppy waves to a big party boat anchoring down in the middle of our best spot where we were catching fish. I tried my best, this is the first bad review I have ever received.

Response from Andrew:

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Response from Captain Experiences:

Hey Adam, thank you for this feedback. I'm very sorry to hear that the conditions were rough on the day of your trip. I know that Captain Andrew worked hard to get you all on some fish, and it's always disappointing to come back to the dock with an empty cooler. I do hope you will consider giving it another shot with Captain Andrew or any of the 1,600+ guides on our site. Please give...