Welcome to our new Fishing series,
Meet the Captains! We have heard the calls from our readers for more fishing insight, and there's nothing better than going directly to the fishing captains. Our first captain featured is Glenn Harrison, who represents Double Mermaid Outdoors.
Harrison has a deep passion for fishing and extensive knowledge about the fishing world and the outdoors. Fishing has been a part of his life from the very beginning, since he started at two years old.
"It's my passion," said Captain Harrison.
Majoring in Natural Resources at Texas A&M, Harrison moved to South Padre Island from Dallas in the mid-90s to be near water and have more fishing opportunities. Harrison, now 55, has been a captain for 18 years and looks to share his experiences and knowledge with others around him.
Glenn started Double Mermaid Outdoors to integrate his family-owned business, Sisters Interiors, an Interior designer store on SPI, with his love for fishing and a way to put his stamp on SPI life. Captain Harrison takes his customers to the lower Laguna Madre, his favorite fishing place, usually setting sail around 7 a.m. You will be in the bay area of fishing, where you can catch Flounder, Salmon, and Redfish, just to name a few.
"Never been fishing? Not to worry," says Captain Harrison. "The people who are fishing for the first time usually do better than the so-called "experienced" ones because they listen,"
The jubilation of seeing others catch fish makes his job easy. "The sheer joy is inspiring," Harrison said. "Taking your passion with you to make other people happy is what it's all about."
Captain Harrison credits SPI's fishing over any other place in Texas with the amount of fish available and the access to catch the fish. Captain Harrison offers bay and off-shore fishing, where catching Wahoo and Marlins is more accessible than any place in Texas.
A lot can change in a decade. Captain Harrison sees the community's increased engagement with Winter Texans, and more families want to spend the day fishing.
He emphasized how there is an effort to take care of the fishing population; using the "catch and release" method, meaning catching the fish and releasing it back into the ocean, has helped keep a healthy number of fish available.
