2026 Inductees

At 14 years of age James Roberts could be seen hitch-hiking from Corpus Christi to Port Aransas with a surfboard, heavy fishing rod and a suitcase containing a 12/0 Penn Senator reel and shark fishing gear. He would surf during the day and shark fish from the Gulf piers at night. It was not unusual for him to sleep on the picnic tables on the deck at Fisherman’s Wharf and try to hitch rides decking on Charter boats.

It was not unusual for him to get boats to drop him off on unmanned oil platforms where he would camp and fish for several days until someone happened by and picked him up. When he got his Captain’s License, he ran dive trips for a company out of Corpus as well as running charter boats out of Port Aransas. In 1973 he began working in the offshore petroleum industry running supply vessels servicing platforms, drill ships and semi-submersibles.

James got his big break when Captain Skip Smith hired him as an extra hand to deliver Tom O’Connel’s “Renegade” to Florida where he soon became Captain of the vessel. They fished the East Coast tournament circuit where all during the 80’s they dominated almost every competition they entered. In 1990 James and Captain Dee Wallace overlooked the construction of Jean Paul Richard’s “French Look”, a 165’ Mothership and 2 Gamefish boats in Normandy, France. After a 4-year buildout they traveled to the Mediterranean, South Pacific and everywhere in between.

James is credited with catching 5 “Granders” in 43 days of fishing in Madeira, Portugal in 1994 with Jean Paul Richard. James is also credited with helping establish the catch-and-release fishery for Giant Bluefin Tuna in Nova Scotia. Working with the Canadian government Roberts was influential in re-establishing the heavy tackle fishery there. In 2022 James was honored with the IGFA Gil Keech Heavy Tackle award and just recently awarded the IGFA Tommy Gifford Captain’s award.