Welcome to the second in our series: Meeting the Fishing Captains in South Padre Island with Captain Craig Woolly of SPI's "Fish On" Guide Service.
Captain Woolly has been a fishing guide in SPI since 2004 and has nearly five decades of fishing experience. Wooly has kept a large clientele and enjoys teaching people the ways of the water. Woolly is an avid tournament fisherman, winning several tournaments over the years, as well as seeing his clientele win their fair share of prizes. While Woolly doesn't fish as much as he used to when he started, his passion for the sport remains the same.
Before fishing, Woolly was a golf pro for over 20 years, heading three professional clubs in the Corpus Christi and Houston areas. When he left the golf business in the mid-90s, Woolly flipped houses before having an opportunity fall right into his lap.
Chris Kohner, Woolly's friend of many years, had many clients and asked Wooly to help him when he was overbooked. Woolly, who fished in his spare time and loved saltwater fishing, accepted and took the opportunities that Kohner gave him to learn to be an effective guide and help people learn to fish. Captain Woolly used that experience to help create his own business and hasn't looked back since.
Captain Woolly takes his clients to the Bay, where you fish out of the Lower Laguna Madre. "We're watching the sun rise as we start the day," Woolly said. "There's no better view than that." After their day is over and fish are caught, Woolly always recommends his clients go to Lobo Del Mar, where the Lobo chefs can cook their catch and reap the benefits of their day.
Woolly's favorite time to fish isn't in the Winter or Summer months but in the Spring and Fall. "The Weather is usually a lot better in the Spring and Fall… it's not so hot," Wooly said. "The end of September, October, and November are the best times in terms of weather. There's a lot of great fishing going on."
When asked about what separates South Padre Island from other fishing locations in Texas, Captain Wooly credits the uniqueness of the Lower Laguna Madre and the ease of finding fish.
"The average depth is 2.2 feet… it's a big flat for 68 miles," Wooly said. "The bay system here is more subtle than in the Corpus Christi area. It's way different than anywhere else."
Seeing his clientele succeed means more to him than anything else. "I tell people all the time, I want you to catch fish more than you do," Woolly laughed while answering how he handles first-time fishing experiences. "Especially kids. That first-ever catch will be one of those pictures parents keep with them forever."
While Woolly likes the SPI fishing community overall, he believes the city can help out this industry even more. Woolly says an improved infrastructure for fishermen and more access to free boat launches are things the city can improve on in the coming years. Woolly also believes better advertising through the SPI CVB can take fishing to the next level.
To book with Captain Craig Woolly on a fishing trip, visit his websitehttp://www.spifishon.com/, where you can see the rates and other people's experiences while fishing with him.
To read last week's interview with Captain Glenn Harrison, click here.
