I’ve looked endlessly at TPWD website with no luck. Probably bold print and underlined. If I’m running 5-6 jug lines and go out early in the morning to check them and my wife wants to ride along, does anyone know if the law says she needs a license or just me since my # is on the jugs?

Don't let her touch a jug or a fishing pole.

It would be cheap insurance to just purchase her a license. If a GW saw her hand you the net, a piece of bait or put a fish in the live well she probably would get a ticket for no license.

Yea, she’s not touching anything but the cushion with her butt. She’d just be along for the company. I’ll try and ask a GW.

Buying her a license is a whole lot cheaper than a ticket and the money goes to a good cause anyway.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/fishing/general-rules-regulations/general-fishing-regulations#:~:text=Any%20person%20who%20takes%20or,is%20required%20for%20inland%20waters.

I think the answer is here. Pretty sure that a game warden (or a judge!) could view your wife as "attempting to take" fish merely by being on the boat with you while you're fishing.

Cheaper and easier to get her the license.

That doesn’t really address the situation. If she would need a license, then the same would apply to fishing. She needs a fishing license to tan and read a book from back deck if I’m rod/reel fishing in front? The principle of it just bothers me. I’ll find a GW and ask off the water so then I can be the ah I’d want to me if necessary

Good luck with that. Game wardens are people and can interpret the law differently just as we do. Could even be having a bad day. He could write you a ticket, you could go to court and win and only be out a day of you fishing time and you wife's sun tanning time {witness}. You would both have to go out to lunch { gas, time, food}. Man that license looks cheaper all the time. Do you want to be right or smart? Might not be able to do both. And if you got a ticket, lost the case and paid fine with still needing lunch some on here might consider you stubborn. I sincerely hope it all works out the way you want. Tight lines.

I fish with my wife on the boat from time to time. She doesn't buy a license. As long as she doesn't do anything fishing related (mine just reads a book) you will be fine. I've only been checked by a warden once while she was with me. As long as you keep everything withing the rules for only 1 licensed angler (limit, number of hooks) you'll be fine. Just don't let her hand you anything other than a drink or snack. No net, no pliers, no measuring device, no bait, no tackle, no rods. Nor would I let he operate the boat or TM while fishing (that's just good practice anyway). The GW isn't out to get you. They're just gonna do their job.

When I lived in Texas, twice I had the GW pull up. I was fishing from the back, Boss was reading her book in the front. Both times he asked her how she was enjoying her day on the lake. She had her license, he just never asked to see it.

may as well have not had it

Best to ask the Game Warden that runs that reservoir or county. However, it is assumed that anybody in the boat that is fishing, somehow, someway the others "could" fish, therefore requiring a licence. It's like this, about $30 or so for a license, $200 for a fine. If someone does not have a license & others in their party are fishing from the bank, it is best that the ones without, keep the distance. If you caufght a really big one on your jugs & if she was to assist you in any manner, such as throw or hand you the net, she is fishing. Having a non-fisherman in the boat does not always "side" by. If you are out fishing in the boat, then the boat is considered to be fishing. See my point?