< PreviousDuck hunters are a rare breed of sports- men who will do whatever they can to spend time in the blind alongside their gun dog. (Opposite) The bond between a gun dog and a hunter is like no other. COASTMONTHLY.COM | NOveMber 2023 71 FEATURE the few seconds they locked in on our spread, cupped their wings, and cut the air with their feathers like a knife, a fire was lit inside me. For a moment, time stood still, my heart beat a little faster and adrenaline flowed. It was a feeling I’ll never forget, and it’s the reason most duck hunters do what we do. Avid waterfowl hunters are a special breed. They have to be willing to battle a wide spectrum of elements and conditions to spend time in the blind. From swarms of mosquitoes and smothering humidity, to freezing temperatures, wind and rain, you never know what awaits on a duck hunt along the coast. The truth is, you’ll eventually experience it all if you pursue the sport long enough. Besides seeing the ducks react to calls and decoy spreads, many hunters say the bond with their gun dogs is why they love the sport. I’ve always had an affinity for retrievers, but there’s just something special about waterfowl dogs. They’ve got a drive that keeps them plunging through water and mud, no matter what, to please their owners. They live for the hunt, and it’s safe to say gun dogs love their time in the blind as much as any human hunter does. Watching them work never gets old. The upper coast offers a variety of opportunities for waterfowl hunters. There are numerous excellent public land hotspots across our marshes and estuaries that are accessible by boat and offer lights-out shoots under ideal conditions. Choosing the right area usually boils down to scouting for decent concentrations of ducks. Private marshes, rice fields and ponds leased by hunting clubs and outfitters also are great options. Rice prairies both east and west of Houston offer prime waterfowl hunting opportunities. With a decent variety of terrain comes the opportunity for Gun dogs love their time in the blind as much as any human hunter does. Watching them work never gets old.72 COASTMONTHLY.COM | NOveMber 2023 FEATURE Avid waterfowl hunters are a special breed. They have to be willing to battle a wide spectrum of elements and conditions to spend time in the blind. COASTMONTHLY.COM | NOveMber 2023 73 BESTTITLECOMPANY 2023|2022|2021|2020 BESTLAWFIRM 2023|2022|2021|2020 BESTATTORNEY 2023|2022 HUNTINGHUNTING FORYOURTITLE COMPANY? FORYOURTITLE COMPANY? WEAREHEREFORYOU. EXPERIENCEMATTERS! www.SouthLandTitle.net 409.744.0727-6710StewartRd.,Ste200,Galveston,TX77551 hunters to harvest many species of ducks. Green-winged and blue-winged teal are two of the staples found swarming nearby rice fields, estuaries and marshes. Pintails, gadwall, shovelers, widgeon, redheads and scaup also typically provide up- per-coast duck hunters with shot opportunities. Puddle ducks such as teal, pintail, gadwall, shovelers and widgeon usually spend most of their time in marshes, back lakes and freshwater ponds or flooded fields. Diver ducks such as redheads and scaup likely will be found along open bay waters. That said, it’s not uncommon to find any of the species on just about any body of water along the upper coast. Duck hunting along the upper coast is a tradition that has stood the test of time. I believe it will be passed on for many gener- ations to come. If you’ve never been on a duck hunt, do so this season. Get yourself into a blind and see what the fuss is all about. You won’t regret it. (Above) Gun dogs are a part of the tradition of wa- terfowl hunting, and watching them work never gets old. (Opposite, clockwise from top) When the ducks cup their wings and lock into the decoy spread, hunters are filled with adrenaline and anticipation; memories are made in the duck blind; sunrise shot opportunities never disappoint. 74 COASTMONTHLY.COM | NOveMber 2023 FEATURE MR. SHARK Texas City angler made his name chasing the big and toothy story by CAPT. NATE SKINNER | photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS S pecies such as speckled trout, red drum and flounder occupy the time of most anglers on the upper Texas coast. A few, however, pursue much larger, toothier prey. They’ve perfected the art of catching massive sharks where estuarine waters meet the Gulf. Veteran angler and lifelong Texas City resident Ken Higginbotham is one of the originals. He helped pioneer the techniques and tactics of catching huge sharks off shore of Galveston. He has won many fishing tournaments, and once held a state record. His success has earned him a reputation as a shark-fishing guru and a newspaper headline writer once dubbed him “Mr. Shark.” Higginbotham grew up just a few blocks from Galves- ton Bay in Texas City, and spent most of his free time as a youngster fishing around the Texas City Dike. “My Dad taught me how to fish,” Higginbotham said. “He showed me how to use a seine net to catch bait. We spent many mornings catching stringers of nice speckled trout over reefs while wade fishing near the dike on live shrimp that we had caught ourselves in our seine.” Higginbotham recalls riding his bike with friends to fish in the bay for trout, and then selling the specks to a seafood market on the dike. That was in the days before speckled trout were considered a game fish and selling them commercially was legal. (Opposite) Lifelong Texas City resident Ken Higginbotham grew up fishing, including going offshore to catch large sharks. (Above) A photo of a young Higginbotham at Dahl’s bait camp with a shark he caught. COASTMONTHLY.COM | NOveMber 2023 7576 COASTMONTHLY.COM | NOveMber 2023 FEATURE “That was how we earned ourselves some extra spending money as kids,” Higgin- botham said. “We seemed to always catch the attention of anglers pulling their boats down the dike, as we rode our bikes with large stringers full of trout hanging from the handlebars. “The dike was really happening back then. There were several bait camps and fishing piers on the dike during that time.” One bait camp was owned by Bryan Dahl, who got people interested in catching larger fish such as stingrays and sharks, Higgin- botham said Dahl’s camp had a place where anglers could hang up their impressive catches and crowds would gather to get a close look at the massive creatures that had been living in the surrounding waters. And two anglers who fished at the end of the dike captivated the young Higginbotham, he said. “I’ll never forget them,” he said. “They liked to catch big fish, and were always bringing in huge stingrays and sharks. “I watched them bring in a 150-pound stingray or 250- to 300-pound shark along the beach of the dike. And then they hung them up there at Dahl’s bait camp. “It looked like a whole lot of fun, and I knew that I wanted to learn to catch big fish like that.” Higginbotham was in his late teens when he got his first boat — a wooden rowboat with no motor. He and his buddies just pad- dled it around with oars. By his late 20s, he had progressed to an 18-foot boat with an outboard motor and (Above and opposite) Old photos and mounted shark jaws are a few of Ken Higginbotham’s trophies from his days fishing for sharks. “In my experience, the more you catch those massive sharks, the more you want to keep catching them. It’s an addiction that really gets in your blood.” KEN HIGGINBOTHAM COASTMONTHLY.COM | NOveMber 2023 77 began learning how to pursue large sharks. He then started competing in fishing tourna- ments such as Tackle Time and the Hall of Fame. In 1961, Higginbotham landed a 760-pound tiger shark that set the state re- cord at that time. “I caught that shark along the end of the Galveston north jetty,” he said. “I was using a jackfish for bait.” Higginbotham won the shark division in the Tackle Time tournament six or seven years in a row and won it a total of 14 times over the years, he said. Although most of those wins came with tiger sharks, one was with a hefty bull shark, he said. The largest shark he has ever caught was an 825-pound tiger shark. He caught most of those sharks near the end of the Galveston jetties, before getting a bigger boat and spending more time in the Gulf of Mexico. “In my experience, the more you catch those massive sharks, the more you want to keep catching them,” Higginbotham said. “It’s an addiction that really gets in your blood.” Eco-Art Kayak Adventures Enjoy a tranquil kayak tour on an adventure through the Coastal Heritage Preserve. Experience an exclusive area on Galveston Island. Learn how to create a watercolor painting on a kayak and make your own painting to take home. Each painting uses water from the wetlands, so you get to keep a piece of the preserve in your artwork. Spot wildlife! Identify native plants and taste saltwort! https://www.artistboat.org/public-kayak-registration Art meets science in Artist Boat’s 2023 fall and winter day camp sessions! 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