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The fishing lines have been tighter at Gasparilla Marina in year's past but Capt. Phil Dugger Jr. isn't complaining. The seventh-generation Floridian has 35 years saltwater fishing experience and he knows these things run in cycles.

His 21.5-foot custom Shallow Sport fishing boat, which can run as "skinny" as 3 inches of water in the back bays, continues to pull in tourists and big fish in equal measure after 17 years as a certified guide.

"I beach fish," Dugger said. "I've been fishing all my life."

He trades in the Shallow Sport for a 24-foot Morgan when taming tarpon in the world-famous Boca Grande Pass.

A good fishing guide can pull in $800 a day plus a $100 tip. Dugger said he's fished as much as 90 days in a row during the busy season from March through June although traffic was down about 10 percent this year.

The affable 51-year-old Dugger is as quick with a laugh as he is with dispensing fishing expertise. He learned all he knows from his father, 83-year-old Phil Dugger Sr.

"He told me he took me out on my first boat and I'm going to take him out on his last," Dugger said. "I'm not ready for that and neither is he."

His mother bought a home off Little Gasparilla Island in 1977. The Tampa native eventually made his way to the area after an 8-year stopover in Ana Maria Island.

The miles and miles of lush mangroves lining the islands give fish plenty of places to rest and hide around Gasparilla Island. It's part of what makes fishing special here, he said.

But his face clouds as he talks about the fish depletion rate, particularly for redfish.

"Redfish are becoming spooked because there's a tourney every week it seems," Dugger said. "We need to limit the number of fishing tournaments to save the redfish."

It worked for snook, Dugger said.

"Snook are doing real well now," he said. "They're beginning to repopulate."

If he was commissioner of the Fish & Wildlife Commission, Dugger said he's change at least one rule.

"They close trout from December to November when no one is fishing them," he said. "Trout are spawning in March and April. Why not close it then? A lot of times the guys making the regulations don't think it through."

Dugger's wife, Carolyn, hooked Dugger his dream job when she told him to get his guide license after noting he spent all his free time from a carpentry job on the water wetting a line. Now he doesn't think he could do anything else for a living.

"No, I don't think I could," Dugger said. "I sure couldn't go back to banging nails. Sometimes it can be cold, rainy or real hot out there and it's still doing something you enjoy. My wife tells me I'm on vacation 24-7, 365."

His 10-year-old boat with the 8-foot beam still gleams after years of hard work. Dugger said boats can last a long time with the proper maintenance.

"It just depends on how you take care of it," Dugger said. "Maintain it with an oil change ever 100 hours. Wash it down and get all the salt off it. Change out the impel water pump in the outboards."

What makes a good customer for a fishing guide, one who will be welcomed in the boat again and again?

"Don't hook the captain," Dugger said with a laugh. "You want a guy who enjoys it and is not just out here on a meat mission. It's a lot like golf, I tell 'em. You don't have to eat the golf ball to have a good time."

He doesn't mind people enjoying a few beers or cocktails on the water though.

"I encourage people to drink," he said. "As long as they don't get out of hand."

One sloppy drunk stepped in his well as he sloshed down beers and vodka and later threw up on the way home. But that's the worst Dugger has had to endure.

"Most people are out for a few beers and some fun," he said.

His favorite fish to compete for is the tarpon, which gives the best fight pound for pound of any game fish, he said. "I love tarpon fishing and they way they jump," he said. "The take the line screaming."

His specialty is beach fishing. "It's like hunting only harder," Dugger said. "Once you get close enough to the fish to pull the trigger, you have to get them to eat."

His personal best trophy fish came along when he was trolling for snook along the beach at Little Gasparilla with a 20-pound test. When he hooked into a tarpon, it was game on.

"I had to jump around a couple of docks before I could jump in the boat and let him drag me around a bit," Dugger said.

Dugger, who uses a 24-foot Morgan to tame tarpon, finally landed his 191-pounder. His advice for anyone looking to test the tarpon or other game fish is to think like a fish and don't let up.

"When you're resting, he's resting," Dugger said. "Tarpon don't quit. They'll fight right to the end."

But you can't eat tarpon. Dugger said his favorite fish to plate include snook and triple tail.

"Triple tail is a prehistoric-looking thing that hangs around crab buoys," he said. "The only way you can eat snook is to catch it because they can't sell it."

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