About Your Guide

A Certified Damn Good Guide is someone who goes above and beyond to show you an incredible experience on your trip. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Zach Dagel

Certified Damn Good Guide

Independent Guide

Veteran

Talkative

Intense

Instructional

Beginner Oriented

Comfortable

Quality

Captain Zach is a Veteran of the Marine Corps and a licensed Coast Guard with a (20 ton) master. With over 25 years of experienced guiding, Captain Zach’s fishing and hunting trips have taken him across Northern Minnesota, all the Great Lakes, Canada, California, North & South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Alaska’s inside passage.

Captain Zach came to South Texas as a professional Quail guide on the prestigious King Ranch, working with bird dogs. Captain Zach is committed to delivering top-notch hunting skills and experiences in South Texas.

In 2017 Captain Zach founded his own guide service on Baffin Bay Riviera, Texas. Guiding fishing and hunting trips, along with Commercial fishing.

As a Marine Corps Veteran, Captain Zach instills the values of dedication, precision, and excellence into his business. You can trust that your adventure will be led with the utmost professionalism and commitment to providing a high-quality experience.

About Your Guide

Zach Dagel

Certified Damn Good Guide

Independent Guide

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Laguna Madre Guide Service Trips

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Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Duck Hunting in Port Isabel

South Padre Island Duck Hunting

92% (13) Guided by Zach

26 ft 1 - 12 People From $500

Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Duck Hunting in Port Isabel

SPI Early Season Teal

92% (13) Guided by Zach

26 ft 1 - 12 People From $500

Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Inshore, Jetty, Flats in Port Isabel

South Padre Island Fishing 4 Hrs

92% (13) Guided by Zach

26 ft 1 - 8 People From $450

Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Eco Tour, Boat Cruise, Dolphin Watching in Port Isabel

South Padre Island Dolphin Tour

92% (13) Guided by Zach

26 ft 1 - 6 People From $300

Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Cast & Blast in Port Isabel

Dove Hunting South Padre Island

92% (13) Guided by Zach

26 ft 1 - 16 People From $450

Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Nearshore, Jetty Fishing in Port Isabel

South Padre Island Jetty Fishing

92% (13) Guided by Zach

26 ft 1 - 10 People From $500

Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Eco Tour, Birding in Port Isabel

Eco Tour And Birding

92% (13) Guided by Zach

26 ft 1 - 12 People From $300

Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Crane Hunting in Port Isabel

SANDHILL CRANE

92% (13) Guided by Zach

1 - 5 People From $300

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Recent Reviews of Laguna Madre Guide Service

4.7

based on 6 reviews

Verified Review

Zach is a nice guy and very personable, so I just want to give feedback to help him be a better guide.
1. Don't wear flip flops. Does not promote confidence.
2. Unless the paying party is killing it, the guide should not fish. It is clear that Zach likes to fish, but when a guide fishes, he is not paying attention to his customers. My son broke a reel because he was caught up in some grass, and Zach was not paying attention because he was on his third cast to "show" my daughter how to reel properly. So my son kept cranking and broke the reel. Zach was not a happy camper, and frankly made my son feel like shit.
3. We caught one trout that was a keeper, and the rest were trash fish. He did fish longer than 1/2 day to try and find fish, but we did not have any luck.
4. Don't expect customers to bait hooks or take off fish, which we had to do both. That is what you pay a guide for. Zack cut bait on a cutting board on the front of the boat where we were fishing, and left everything, including the knife on the floor where there was a lot of foot traffic, so it was not the safest thing to do. and he did not pick any of it up when we moved spots so the knife was sliding on the floor all over the place.
Anyway, all of us were ready for the day to end and get back to the beach. Thanks for asking about our trip. I would not use Zach again because of the reasons above.

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Response from Zach:

Honestly, I don’t know what to say about that on every other platform I’ve ever had. I have five star reviews. When you have four or five people in the boat, I can’t be everywhere at once. Good luck with your future fishing trips.

Response from Zach:

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Response from Captain Experiences:

Hey Ty this is Attison with Captain Experiences. First and foremost I'm sorry to hear the trip didn't live up to expectations for your family. Our goal is to always provide the trip of a lifetime, and its clear that didn't happen here. That being said, I did want to address some of your comments as I think there is some level of misunderstanding here. Zach went out of his way to spend extra time on the boat with your kids to try and catch fish for you, and you did catch fish! Zach sent us a number of pictures of your kids holding up fish. For obvious reasons we can't guarantee that you will fill the cooler on every trip, but having your kids catch and get pictures with multiple fish is a win in our book. When your son hooked up to some grass, Zach was helping teach your daughter how to fish. This is the role of a guide and this is what they are there for! Every guide does their best to keep everyone on the boat happy, but the bigger the group, the more they need to spread that love around. We've reached out privately to hear more and see how we can find you another experience that leaves you and your kids feeling like you had a great time on the water.

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Amy

Verified Review

We had a great time with Captain Jack! He made sure we caught fish, had fun and saw dolphins too! He provided us an evening fish so we were able to go before our vacation ended! Best guide around!

Amy

Verified Review

We had a great time with Captain Jack! He made sure we caught fish, had fun and saw dolphins too! He provided us an evening fish so we were able to go before our vacation ended! Best guide around!

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Joshua

Verified Review

Another awesome Adventure with Captain Zach. Our repeat trip back was another wild success as always with some great action and superb hospitality! Cannot wait to return next season!

Joshua

Verified Review

Another awesome Adventure with Captain Zach. Our repeat trip back was another wild success as always with some great action and superb hospitality! Cannot wait to return next season!

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William

Verified Review

Had a great time fishing with Captain Zach. He worked hard in trying to find the fish. Had a very nice boat to fish with and an overall extremely nice Captain. Would recommend fishing with Captain Zach anytime.

William

Verified Review

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Joshua

Verified Review

The hunting with Captain Zach was awesome!! Put us on a variety of birds over 3 days. Was lifetime experience!!

Joshua

Verified Review

The hunting with Captain Zach was awesome!! Put us on a variety of birds over 3 days. Was lifetime experience!!

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Response from Zach:

Thank you very much, sir. I had a blast. I will see you later in January.

Response from Zach:

Thank you very much, sir. I had a blast. I will see you later in January.

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Dallas

Verified Review

Me and my family went out with captain Zach and had an awesome day. Weather wasn’t in our favour but made the best of it and landed some fish! Captain Zach was very helpful, runs good fishing gear and has a beautiful boat. Will be booking our next trip with him when we’re back in south Padre for a family vacation!

Dallas

Verified Review