If cheering squads figured into the scoring, the Goin’ Deep would have won the Deep Sea Roundup hands down. This group of ladies, wives and children of the anglers aboard the boat, has made it a tradition to cheer on their husbands and father as they return with their catches. Very few, if any, other fishing tournament all year draws as large of a crowd as the Deep Sea Roundup does.

Many people who come down to the Deep Sea Roundup don’t fish, they are there to watch the fish come off the boats or even to watch the crowd gather to see the fish.

The fishing boat Goin’ Deep, out of San Antonio, had an enthusiastic following this year. Its following was composed of the wives and children of the fishermen.

Last year, the fishermen brought in a lot of fish but nothing large, Sandra Rogers, a wife of one of the men on Goin’ Deep, said.

“When our husbands were coming into the harbor last year one said ‘There must be a band on the dock or someone brought in a big one.’ Another angler replied, ‘No I think it’s our wives,” Rogers said.

Keeping score Score keepers update the scoreboard near the weigh-in area at Fred Rhodes Memorial Pavilion during the Deep Sea Roundup. STAFF PHOTO BY DAN PARKER This year the wives made team t-shirts with the boat’s name and rattled tambourines as their husbands docked.

Even some people who have never attended the Deep Sea Roundup had connections to the tournament.

Annette Durham of Llano is related to one of the winners in the junior division 10 years ago.

“It’s just really neat how organized this is and how smoothly the boats are coming in. It’s all neat,” Durham said.

So, even if it’s the first year to attend or the sixth, there is always a place in the crowd for whoever wants to come down to the Deep Sea Roundup.