Ninety years ago this summer, Barney Farley and twenty-four other charter captains pulled up to the docks for a three-day tournament they called the Tarpon Rodeo. North Millican took home the first trophy — though everyone in town quietly knew it was his wife Totsy who landed the fish. Two world wars and a pandemic have come and gone since. The Roundup hasn't.
Read the full history
Texas's Oldest Fishing Tournament
The full Heritage piece — from the 1932 Tarpon Rodeo through North Millican, Dorothy Fair, the WWII pause, and the post-war rename. Eight minutes, sourced.
The Day
What to expect
Friday and Saturday are the fishing days. Six divisions run simultaneously across the bay, the surf, the jetties, and offshore as far as boats want to push. Tarpon and billfish are catch-and-release; everything else gets weighed at the Fred Rhodes Pavilion in Roberts Point Park starting around 5 PM each evening — and the pavilion is open to the public, free, no entry fee for spectators.
Sunday is the awards day. Civic Center fish fry starts at noon, awards ceremony and raffle at 1 PM. The community shows up. The trophies get handed out. The same names show up on the perpetual hardware year after year — but every year there's also a new junior angler holding a fish that's bigger than they are.
Three things make this tournament different from every other Texas billfish stop: it's been running continuously since 1932 (only WWII and 2020 caused a gap), the kids' Piggy Perch contest is a real award category not a sideshow, and the sanctioning org — Port Aransas Boatmen, Inc. — has been the same Boatmen Association since the first cast.
Run of show
Schedule
Updated as we hear from the host. Check back the day before for any wind-driven changes.
Thu Jul 9 · evening
Captain's meeting + opening reception
Mandatory captain's meeting for registered boats. Public welcome to the reception — it's the night to catch up with the captains before they're too busy to talk.
Fri Jul 10 · before sunrise
Boats depart
First light. Offshore boats are gone before most spectators are awake. Fly, kayak, and bay-surf anglers can start anytime — they're scored by their best single fish either day.
Fri Jul 10 · 5 PM – 8 PM
Day 1 weigh-in (public)
Roberts Point Park · Fred Rhodes Pavilion. Free to watch. The first leaderboards post here. Bay-Surf and Offshore divisions are usually the most-watched — biggest fish, biggest crowd at the scale.
Sat Jul 11 · morning
Piggy Perch (kids)
The only fishing contest where the smallest fish is a trophy. Bait and tackle provided. Awards: Most Fish · Smallest Fish · Largest Fish · Best Sportsmanship. Free to enter. Best photo op of the weekend.
Sat Jul 11 · 5 PM – 8 PM
Day 2 weigh-in (public) + final standings
Final official weigh-in. Last chance to overtake a Day 1 leader. The leaderboards we're posting here finalize tonight pending official ratification.
Sun Jul 12 · 12 PM
Public fish fry
Civic Center. Open to the public. The best deal in Port A on a July Sunday.
Sun Jul 12 · 1 PM
Awards ceremony + raffle
Civic Center. All division winners, Junior winners, Top Woman Angler, Piggy Perch. Raffle drawings follow.
Plan ahead
Good to know
- Watching is free
- Spectators don't register or pay. Roberts Point Park weigh-ins are public both Friday and Saturday evenings. Show up around 5 PM either night.
- Where the boats live
- Most offshore boats berth at Port Aransas Marina or Fisherman's Wharf — both walkable from the weigh-in pavilion. Worth a stroll Friday afternoon to see what's about to fish.
- Parking
- Roberts Point Park has a lot but it fills early on weigh-in nights. Walking from downtown is faster than circling. Golf carts welcome.
- Ferry timing
- Tournament weekend is a high-traffic ferry weekend. Plan a 30–60 minute ferry wait Friday evening and Sunday morning. AM 530 has the live status.
- Junior anglers
- Bay-Surf and Offshore each have a separate Junior bracket. Awarded alongside the adult divisions.
- Top Woman Angler
- Cross-division award. Eligible across every division. Honors a lineage that goes back to Dorothy Fair, who was the first woman champion in 1934.
Send us a photo
Got a Roundup photo? Send it.
Dock weigh-ins, big fish, your kid at the Piggy Perch contest, three generations of your family at the same scale — anything from past Roundups that captures what these four days actually look like. We'll feature them in the gallery leading up to July 9.
Day-of, the same inbox loads weigh-in photos in real time. Tag the angler, the boat, the year — anonymous is fine too.
We won't publish your email or full name unless you ask us to. Anonymous is the default.
Live · 90th Annual
Leaderboards
One panel per division. Empty until weigh-ins start; updates in real time during weigh-in windows. We cite the official board at the pavilion as the source of truth and flag any pre-official entry as unofficial.
Bay-Surf
Inshore — bay, jetty, and surf species. The most-entered division.
Scored by
Weight
Live leaderboard fills in as fish hit the scale. Check back during weigh-in windows or refresh the page.
Offshore
Beyond the jetties — kingfish, snapper, ling, and the deep-water lineup.
Scored by
Weight
Live leaderboard fills in as fish hit the scale. Check back during weigh-in windows or refresh the page.
Flyfishing
Fly rod only — bay or surf. The purist's division.
Scored by
Weight
Live leaderboard fills in as fish hit the scale. Check back during weigh-in windows or refresh the page.
Kayaking
Human-powered only — paddle craft fishing the bays and shallow surf.
Scored by
Weight
Live leaderboard fills in as fish hit the scale. Check back during weigh-in windows or refresh the page.
Tarpon Release
Release-only — the Roundup's connection to its 1932 Tarpon Rodeo origin.
Scored by
Length
Live leaderboard fills in as fish hit the scale. Check back during weigh-in windows or refresh the page.
Billfish Release
Blue marlin, white marlin, sailfish — release-only, scored by count.
Scored by
Releases
Live leaderboard fills in as fish hit the scale. Check back during weigh-in windows or refresh the page.
Special award
Top Woman Angler
Recognizes the woman with the highest-scoring fish across all divisions.
Eligible across all divisions. Awarded Sunday at the Civic Center.
Special award
Junior Champion (per division)
Bay-Surf and Offshore divisions each have a Junior bracket awarded separately.
Junior anglers per official rules age limit.
The divisions
Six categories. One tournament.
Adult and Junior brackets in Bay-Surf and Offshore; everyone-eligible elsewhere. Tap any division for its rules.
Bay-Surf
HeaviestInshore — bay, jetty, and surf species. The most-entered division.
Rules
Eligible inshore species (redfish, trout, flounder, others per official rules). Single biggest fish per angler scores. Junior anglers compete in their own bracket within the same waters.
Offshore
HeaviestBeyond the jetties — kingfish, snapper, ling, and the deep-water lineup.
Rules
Eligible offshore species per official rules. Single biggest fish per angler scores. Junior anglers compete in their own bracket. Most boats fish out of Port Aransas Marina or Fisherman's Wharf.
Flyfishing
HeaviestFly rod only — bay or surf. The purist's division.
Rules
Fly tackle exclusively. Species per official rules. Single biggest fish scores; some years feature a length-only release category.
Kayaking
HeaviestHuman-powered only — paddle craft fishing the bays and shallow surf.
Rules
Kayak / paddle craft only — no motor assistance. Single biggest fish per angler scores. Often the most photogenic division at weigh-in.
Tarpon Release
LongestRelease-only — the Roundup's connection to its 1932 Tarpon Rodeo origin.
Rules
Catch-and-release only. Length is recorded; fish swims away. Honors the original 1932 Tarpon Rodeo scoring tradition adapted for modern conservation.
Billfish Release
Most ReleasedBlue marlin, white marlin, sailfish — release-only, scored by count.
Rules
Release-only, count-based scoring. Weighted by species (blue marlin > white marlin > sailfish per official scoring matrix). Boats fishing offshore for legitimate billfish travel hours to find fishable water.
The Kids' Division
Piggy Perch
The only fishing contest where the smallest fish is a trophy. Bait and tackle provided — kids show up, get rigged, and start catching pinfish (the “piggy perch” nickname comes from the noises they make when handled).
When
Saturday morning, July 11
Where
Roberts Point Park (announced day-of)
Awards
Most Fish
TBD
Smallest Fish
TBD
Largest Fish
TBD
Best Sportsmanship
TBD
Bait and tackle provided. Open to kids. Awards: Most Fish, Smallest Fish, Largest Fish, and Best Sportsmanship — the only fishing contest where the smallest fish is a trophy.
Read before fishing
Rules & regulations
The full rules live on the official site. Our summary covers the universal rules + per-division specifics so you can read in 90 seconds. Always verify against the official rules before registering.
Tournament rules
Editorial summary · 2026 (90th Annual) · official rules linked below are the source of truth.
Across every division
- ▸Boats may not depart before 4:00 AM on any day of fishing.
- ▸Fishing begins at 7:00 AM official tournament time.
- ▸All catches must be at the weigh station by 7:00 PM the same day they were caught to score.
- ▸All anglers must register through deepsearoundup.org and read the full rule set before fishing.
- ▸Billfish (Blue Marlin, White Marlin, Sailfish) and Tarpon are catch-and-release ONLY in every division.
- ▸Trophies are awarded for 1st and 2nd place by weight per eligible species in each division.
- ▸Junior anglers compete in their own bracket within Bay-Surf and Offshore — same waters, separate awards.
- ▸Top Woman Angler is awarded across all divisions.
By division
Bay-Surf
- ·Inshore species per official rules — redfish, trout, flounder, others.
- ·Single biggest fish per angler per species scores.
- ·Junior bracket runs in parallel.
Offshore
- ·Offshore species per official rules.
- ·Departure rule applies — first hooks aren't until 7 AM.
- ·Junior bracket runs in parallel.
Flyfishing
- ·Fly tackle exclusively — fly rod, fly reel, fly line, fly leader.
- ·Eligible species per official rules; sometimes a length-only release category.
Kayaking
- ·Kayak / paddle craft only — no motor assistance, including pedal drives where prohibited.
- ·Standard species rules per the kayak division specification.
Tarpon Release
- ·Catch-and-release only.
- ·Length is recorded; fish swims away.
- ·Honors the 1932 Tarpon Rodeo origin format.
Billfish Release
- ·Release-only with weighted scoring per species.
- ·Boats fish offshore at their own risk and timing.
- ·Photo + verification required per official protocol.
Past editions
Have an older rules edition? Boatmen Inc. records, scanned PDFs, photos of historic posters — send to hello@theportalocal.com and we'll add it to the archive with credit.
The perpetual trophy
Past champions
Highlights from the lineage. The full archive is being assembled — if you have a winner from a missing year, send us the record and we'll add it with credit.
Past champions
Selected winners from the perpetual trophy lineage. Sources cited per entry where verified.
2024
88th AnnualBay-Surf
Grand ChampionAdair Bates
Corpus Christi, TX
Stringer included the 1st-place flounder and redfish — wrapped both species on the same day.
SourceOffshore
Junior Grand ChampionCharley Hicks
Ponder, TX
1st-place wahoo, 1st-place blue marlin (release), 2nd-place white marlin and sailfish — multi-species sweep.
Source1934
Tarpon Rodeo
First Woman ChampionDorothy Fair
First woman to win a Roundup category. Her championship is the lineage for the modern Top Woman Angler award.
1932
Tarpon Rodeo
Inaugural ChampionNorth Millican
Tarpon
Won the perpetual trophy at the inaugural 1932 Tarpon Rodeo. Locals still credit his wife Totsy as the angler who actually landed the fish.
Building this archive. Have results, photos, or family records from past Roundups? Send them to hello@theportalocal.com — credit goes back to whoever sourced the win.
The record book
Milestones & records
Verified milestones from the tournament's run. Records we can't verify (biggest fish ever, longest streak) stay out — send us provenance and they go in.
Inaugural Tarpon Rodeo
1932Year One
25 charter and commercial captains form the Boatmen Association. Three-day shotgun start. North Millican wins the first perpetual trophy.
First woman champion
1934Dorothy Fair
Two years into the tournament. The lineage that becomes the modern Top Woman Angler award.
WWII pause
1942–19451 of 2 ever
Charter captains were doing other work. Only break in the entire run that wasn't a global pandemic.
COVID pause
20202 of 2 ever
Second and only other interruption in 90 years.
Editions to date
202690 annual
Texas's oldest fishing tournament — every documented year except the war and the pandemic.
Sanctioning org
AlwaysBoatmen Inc.
Same Boatmen Association that started it in 1932, continuously running scholarship + community programs alongside the tournament.
In the archive
Historical photos
Period imagery from PAL's historical archives that speaks to this tournament's era. Tap any photo for the source record.
c. 1900Off to the Fishing Grounds — Tarpon, Texas
The town of Tarpon (later renamed Port Aransas) at the height of the Tarpon Era. Steam-driven launches towed strings of rowboats out to the fishing grounds — the format the Boatmen Association would professionalize into the 1932 Tarpon Rodeo.
UTSA Libraries Special Collections
c. 1910Robert M. Ayres Fishing near Port Aransas
Robert M. Ayres lands a fish from a rowboat near Port Aransas. This is what "sport fishing" looked like before the Roundup standardized the divisions and the dock weigh-in.
UTSA Libraries Special Collections
1911–1924The Tarpon Inn, Port Aransas
The Tarpon Inn — Port Aransas's social hub since 1886. The dining room and front porch have hosted every Roundup-era angler from FDR forward. 7,000+ signed tarpon scales line the lobby walls.
University of Houston Libraries, Special Collections
1939Fish House, Port Aransas, 1939
A working Port Aransas fish house, photographed by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. Seven years into the Tarpon Rodeo / Deep Sea Roundup era — the working waterfront that fed the tournament.
Library of Congress / FSA-OWI Collection
2007The Tarpon Inn, 2007
The Tarpon Inn in modern form — National Register of Historic Places. FDR's signed tarpon scale is still in the lobby, two doors down from the docks where the modern Roundup boats berth.
Wikimedia Commons / Larry D. Moore
5 of many. The full Port Aransas photo archive spans 1853–2017.
See the full Port Aransas archiveDay-of coverage
Live from the dock
This page goes live as the first boats hit the scale Friday evening. Real-time leaderboard updates, weigh-in photos, biggest-fish-of-the-hour highlights, and any wind-or-weather changes from the captain's stand will land here through Saturday night. If you're at the pavilion with a phone, send weigh-in shots to hello@theportalocal.com — they go straight into the feed with credit.
Questions
Frequently asked
Can I just show up to watch?+
Yes. Weigh-ins at Roberts Point Park are public Friday and Saturday evenings — no ticket, no entry fee. Sunday awards at the Civic Center are also open to the public.
Do I have to be local to fish?+
No. Anyone can register through deepsearoundup.org. The tournament draws boats from across the Texas coast, plus regulars from Louisiana and as far as Florida.
What's a 'release' division?+
Tarpon Release and Billfish Release are catch-and-release only. Length is recorded on tarpon; billfish are scored by count (weighted per species). The fish swims away — modern conservation grafted onto the 1932 tradition.
Is the Piggy Perch only for kids?+
Yes. It's the kids' contest — the only one where the smallest fish wins a trophy. Adults can spectate from the dock.
What if it storms?+
Tournament fishing continues unless the Coast Guard pulls everyone in. Weigh-ins move under cover but stay on schedule. Check the official board for any storm-driven changes.
How do I know who's winning right now?+
We post live leaderboards on this page from each weigh-in. Refresh during the 5–8 PM windows. Official board posts at the pavilion are the source of truth — we cite them.
Where does the money go?+
Port Aransas Boatmen, Inc. runs scholarship + community programs year-round. The tournament is the org's main annual fundraiser.