Holcomb on the Water Night and Day

By night, Bill Holcomb patrols Tampa Bay and surrounding waterways as an officer for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s division of law enforcement, nabbing poachers with gill nets and fishermen with undersized, out of season or over-the-limit fish.

By day, he can often be found in the same places, catching fish in the spots he enjoyed as a youngster growing up in south Tampa. “I work all night on the water and then come back to fish for fun,” he says.

His commitment to protecting the resources of Tampa Bay was recently recognized with the “Trained Eyes Coastwatcher” Officer of the Year award from the Florida Guides Association.

Since joining the FWC in 2005, Holcomb’s efforts have resulted in criminal charges and the seizure of thousands of pounds of fish – along with thousands of square feet of illegal nets.

Poachers have learned to avoid gill nets, which became illegal to possess in 1994, he says. Instead, they connect multiple seine nets together then wait for the tides to turn and fish to start moving. While seine nets are legal, they can’t exceed 500 square feet.

“We get regular calls from people about gill netters – sometimes they’re legal seine nets, sometimes they’re not,” says Holcomb. “We get a lot of good information from callers – most people are glad to see us out there and appreciate what we’re doing.”

Snook has become a bigger problem for law enforcement officers since the FWC decided to close the gulf coast season to give the fishery a chance to rebound from last winter’s record cold. “We spend a lot of time telling people we don’t make the laws, we just enforce them,” he said.

But even then, Holcomb loves his job. “I really enjoy going to work. It’s not always pleasant but I enjoy being out on the water and knowing I’m doing something important.”