Lone Star Billfishing

I remember riding on a 31-foot Bertram during one of my first offshore-fishing trips—I was getting soaking wet in the pre-dawn Texas darkness, my feet wedged against a cooler filled with J-hook-rigged Spanish mackerel and silver mullet, and we were going marlin fishing. I was thinking, This is the greatest day of my life! and at the time, it was. Nearly 50 years and millions of man-hours later, billfishing in the Lone Star State has undergone an evolution that none of us could have imagined. From gasoline-powered boats with paper depth recorders and loran-C to 80-plus-foot sport-fishers with GPS, omnidirectional sonar, a dozen or more tuna tubes, and crews who can fish day and night for extended periods, it’s been a hell of a ride so far. The impetus for the early pioneers of billfishing in Texas can be traced back to two defining events: the Tarpon Roundup in Port Aransas, Texas, in 1932 and the Texas International Fishing Tournament, founded in 1933 in Port Isabel. Capt. Kirk Elliott, a member of the Draggin’ Up team, says: “Over the years, the boats were able to pack on more fuel, had more range, found cleaner water, and began to find more pelagics.” And there, the story begins.

The Tarpon Roundup was started by a handful of guides in Port Aransas as a friendly competition among themselves, as well as a way to promote hunting and fishing in that part of the state. Over the years,