Nueces County is charging visitors to access Bob Hall Pier for the first time since February, with a $3 entry fee and a $4 charge per fishing pole.
The fees are meant to help maintain the $17 million structure and fund new rod holders that anglers had been requesting since the pier first opened. The rod holders are also intended to stop the do-it-yourself versions that were drilled directly into the pier when it first opened. Those holes are still visible today.
Not everyone was immediately sold on the change.
"I mean, I feel like everywhere else is free for fishing. I just walk outside, go to a pond and fish so obviously like they're trying to charge for a reason probably. I mean we just built this so gotta bring back profits somehow," Dominic Rodriguez said.
But others say the new rod holders alone make the fee worthwhile.
"It's pretty worth it like with these rod holders and it makes it like, you know, and it, it makes it like less crowded too. Like people don't wanna, you know, pay to, to get on and it really opens up all the, all the parent. I think it's really worth it with these rod holders," Kobe Roman said.
For some anglers, fishing Bob Hall Pier is a multi generational tradition — and paying to do it is nothing new.
"I fished on this when it was the old pier. In fact, I can go back to the old woods, you know, a long time ago and I fished out here with my dad. I brought my son out here when he was small and he should be out here in just a minute as an adult and I've always paid on it and you know it's a good thing," Johnny Stewart said.
The smaller crowd that came with the fee is exactly what some anglers were hoping for.
"It's definitely a better crowd. It's more active people that actually wanna fish. People that are coming out here to respect it," Joseph Alexander said.
Alexander said the change is a reminder that quality fishing spots, much like fishing itself, aren't always free.
"Absolutely it's a good idea. Like it goes back into it. It's just like the same you gotta pay for your fishing license," Alexander said.
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