Capt. Jeremy McClelland grew up owning his first fishing pole before he could crawl, and was right at home when it came to hunting and fishing – literally! He was raised on a 3,500-acre working cattle ranch in Jack County, Texas, that was owned by his grandparents, and where his parents lived while they managed the ranch. Between the ranch and another 10,000-acres his family had access to, there were twenty stock-tanks and two huge lakes that were each filled with bass, crappie, blue gill, and channel catfish. As a kid, if Jeremy was awake, he was fishing – hopping from one pond to the next while fishing out of an old round, rubber tire inner tube. But, Jeremy’s love of the outdoors didn’t stop at the ponds.
As one might only imagine, Jeremy has also enjoyed hunting all of his life, and never recalls being left at home whenever his father, and two older brothers, would decide to go hunting instead of fishing. He and his brothers were introduced at a young age to the hunting of quail, dove, turkey, whitetail deer, hogs, squirrel, rabbits, raccoons, coyotes, ducks, and probably just about any other wild animal that happens to be readily available in the upper mid-portion of Texas.
However, all of the time that Jeremy had spent on the water as a young boy had worn a special spot in his heart for the sport of fishing. At about the age of eight, Jeremy began traveling to Port O’Connor with his uncle to enjoy brief periods of wade fishing with lures. Jeremy had already mastered fishing with a large variety of plugs and plastics in many different freshwater applications, so it only took a couple of these Port O’Connor trips before Jeremy was hooked for good on what would later in life become his dream – to be a Texas coastal fishing guide somewhere near the town of Port O’Connor.
Time passed, and when he was finally old enough to drive, Jeremy made his way down to Port O’Connor and Seadrift at every opportunity. He spent most of his time fishing and exploring the vastness of Espiritu Santo Bay and San Antonio Bay, and the myriad of back lakes located out on Matagorda Island, saving freshwater fishing as only a fill-in for when he was unable to make it to the coast. He had already begun his guiding career a couple years earlier, running hunting and fishing trips on private land at the age of fourteen, but he never lost his passion for the pursuit of the saltwater.
Jeremy later started guiding trophy bass and trophy crappie fishing trips for a large outfitter at the age of twenty, while also opening a newly established home building business that he started that same year. Now, after twenty years of owning and operating a successful business he built on integrity and trust, Jeremy is now retired from the business world and is enjoying his lifelong ambition of being a saltwater fishing guide on the Texas coast. He possesses a keen knowledge of the San Antonio Bay fishery that anglers of all levels can benefit from, and he is well versed at all types of bay fishing, to include artificial lures, as well as live bait. So, next time you’re fishing with us here at Bay Flats Lodge and you want to ensure a great day out on the water, make it a point to inquire about Capt. Jeremy’s availability. He’ll keep you focused on having a good time!