Gatekeepers: The Evolving Role of Fishing Guides on the Texas Coast

As leaders in the angling community, fishing guides are the key to maintaining healthy marine sportfisheries. Guides provide knowledge and access many anglers need to fully use our state’s remarkable marine resources. It goes without saying that all of Texas’ fishing guides have a vested interest in the health of marine sportfish populations, as few people rely on these resources more to generate income and provide for their families. Throughout time, fishing guide’s reputations have been directly correlated to their ability to consistently put clients on enough fish to fill a limit. However, as fishing pressure and angler awareness increases, there is a growing client base interested in more than just filling a cooler. This, coupled with a rapid increase in the number of licensed guides in the state (Figure 1), has led to a growing group of charter businesses offering more specialized fishing services. These captains aim to provide unique experiences to their clients, and a quick internet search will reveal a growing number of guides offering trips specifically tailored to sightcast, flyfish, or target trophy fish with artificial lures. In addition to increased specialization, there is an emerging group of elite guides devoted to actively contributing to sound fisheries science, spreading the use of sustainable recreational fishing practices, and pursuing long-term sustainability of the resource.

Why is this important? Because for many client-anglers, fishing guides provide the first contact with Texas’ marine sportfisheries and coastal culture. There is no better way to teach wise angling practices than by educating new anglers from the start. In addition, even experienced anglers look to high-end guides for tips, tricks, and general fishing information. When guides talk, anglers listen.

It is for these reasons that the Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation has spent years developing relationships with guides representing many sectors of Texas’ recreational sportfisheries. These guides, their clients, and the programs they support have provided our researchers with data, resources, and insight highlighting issues within our sportfisheries needing additional research. The guiding community’s unwavering support for our research has become central to fulfilling our mission. There is not enough room in this article to give credit to every guide and charter service that we currently work with, although we have plans to continue sharing the incredible work our other collaborating guides are contributing to. With that in mind, we would like to highlight some of the folks that we are proud to work with as collaborators and citizen scientists.

Hook-Down Charters – For those who don’t know him, there are few folks on the Texas coast with more zeal for our sportfisheries than Captain Wayne Davis. Besides consulting for KWigglers soft plastics, regularly contributing to multiple fishing publications, and being a full-time fishing guide notorious for connecting clients with trophy trout, Captain Wayne has been volunteering his time tagging large trout and common snook as part of a Sportfish Center pilot study. As if this was not enough, he and Captain Ernest Cisneros created the Empty Stringers Catch and Release Program. This initiative incentivizes guides and their clients to release fish caught during a guided trip. Participating clients can win lucrative prizes just for releasing their fish. Captain Wayne has become a close friend to our research team and is a valued contributor to our work. We are excited to continue collaborating with Captain Wayne and Empty Stringers through both our research and the ReleaSense.org initiative.

Ocean Epics – Eric Ozolins, or “Oz” as he is commonly known, has been supporting our shark research since its inception. When it comes to releasing big game fish to be caught another day, Oz is as skilled as they come. His world-famous land-based shark fishing charters are catch and release, making him an indispensable asset to our shark tagging program. For years now, Oz has routinely donated his time and effort to deploy Sportfish Center satellite tags on target shark species. His assistance with this research has led to multiple peer-reviewed scientific articles (the ultimate achievement for us fish scientists as these articles are the primary method of communicating scientific data to resource managers) and is providing a new understanding of how sharks use Texas’ waters. His hard-earned knowledge of shark movements along our coast continues to provide insight for our team and his skillset has been irreplaceable more times than we can count. You can track some of the sharks Oz has tagged, along with the rest of our satellite tagged sharks, at www.meetoursharks.org.

Port Aransas Fisherman’s Wharf – Is there an angler on the Texas coast who hasn’t heard of “The Wharf”? New owner, Will Cocke, has revitalized this landmark, transforming it into a state-of-the art family-friendly fishing destination. In addition, he doubled down on the Wharf’s longtime support of our work, extending every consideration imaginable to further our research and the health of Texas’ offshore sportfisheries. His commitment to sustainable sportfishing has allowed our team to train his crews on best release practices for red snapper (venting or using descending devices like the SeaQualizer™, yet another group of folks we are proud to collaborate with), capitalize on last minute weather windows, and even permanently modify his boats to accommodate our research needs. Furthermore, the professionalism of his crew allows us to integrate them into everything we do, from conducting remotely operated vehicle fish surveys to tagging 10-foot mako sharks. To put this in full perspective, our research team and Will’s crew were able to catch, satellite tag, and release 12 mako sharks in under 50 hours this spring, an unheard-of achievement. Our offshore research needs are constantly changing and often present technical challenges. Having the Wharf’s support has been essential to overcoming these obstacles and will allow us to continue our cutting-edge research on numerous offshore sportfish species.

The Billfish Pachanga – This offshore tournament is quickly becoming one of the premiere billfishing competitions in the Gulf of Mexico and is setting the standard for catch-and-release in offshore fisheries. Many of the Pachanga planning team, such as Gabe Goodman, are looking to the future of these tournaments by contributing back to a resource we all love, Texas’ billfish populations. Thanks to his group’s effort, all billfish caught throughout this tournament are photographed and released. The Sportfish Center is currently working on ways citizen scientist anglers can collect samples from these elusive fish during the tournament.

Texas’ fishing guides provide us with the meaningful participation and critical on-the-water experience necessary to carry out cutting-edge scientific research. As we respond to the recent freeze and face difficult challenges within our fishery, Texas’ guides are now more essential than ever. The Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation is proud and fortunate to be affiliated with these dedicated individuals. During the upcoming year, we look forward to strengthening our existing relationships and creating many new partnerships as well. Our staff remains committed to the continued integration of many types of anglers into our citizen science opportunities. This is just a small sample of the great work and participation going on in our recreational fisheries. Stay tuned for more highlights of what these incredible folks are doing to help conserve our saltwater sportfish during the upcoming year.

Quentin Hall is a Research Specialist and Angler Engagement Coordinator for the Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation at the Harte Research Institute. He turned his lifelong fishing and hunting habits into a career, receiving dual bachelor’s degrees in Animal Science and Fisheries Management from the University of Missouri and his M.S. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M. While Quentin’s research focuses on a variety of studies ranging from juvenile sportfish recruitment dynamics to sportfish movements, his real passion is connecting anglers with the science supporting their fisheries.