WOW -  what a finish to the 63rd annual Destin Fishing Rodeo.

We had new fish to go up on the leaderboard today from a 19-pound king mackerel caught on a kayak, to a senior who was “feeling lucky” and took over the blackfin category in the senior division, and a guy with a 66.2-pound amberjack on a private boat.

We had people dressed in their Halloween attire. Miss Destin Peyton LoCicero dressed as a “Queen Mackerel” made a grand entrance courtesy Alan Laird. Rodeo Director Helen Donaldson had a little leather and lace going on with a Fleetwood Mac look. And we were raided by the Viking crew aboard the Lady Em with Capt. Mike Eller.

Some of the last boats to hit the docks were the Southern Charm, the party boat Sweet Jody and the last of the 2011 Rodeo was the Al-Lin. Capt. Harold Staples and his crew brought in at least four fish that made it on the board with the last being a 20.8-pound gag grouper caught by Ross Happney – Fish entry 1,109.

The for those who stayed around to the end got to witness a great firework show.

What an awesome Rodeo.

For a photo gallery of tricks, treats and fish from the final day, click here.

To read a blow-by-blow accounting of the final days, click here.

Read more about the Rodeo’s legacy, click here.

A story that looks at Rodeo 2011, by the numbers

Don’t forget the Rodeo awards banquet is Saturday at AJ’s – starting at 4 p.m.

See you there.

-Tina Harbuck

DESTIN FISHING RODEO RESULTS

Destin Fishing Rodeo daily prize results as of 5 p.m.

Oct. 31
Oct. 30
Oct. 29
Oct. 28
Oct. 27
Oct. 26
Oct. 25
Oct. 24
Oct. 23
Oct. 22
Oct. 21
Oct. 20
Oct. 19
Oct. 18

Oct. 17
Oct. 16
Oct. 15

Oct. 14

Oct. 13
Oct. 12
Oct. 11
Oct. 10
Oct. 9

Oct. 8
Oct. 7
Oct. 6
Oct. 5
Oct. 4
Oct. 3

Oct. 2
Oct. 1
Overall winners report

Weighmaster Bruce Cheves has said for years, that if you bring it down he will weigh it.

Over the years, Cheves has weighed all sorts of fish, buckets of fish, babies in carriers, people and even a rattle snake. Earlier this evening he got the chance to weigh his third gator during the rodeo.

But tonight he got the chance to hoist the unbelievable.

Capt. Craig Mann and the crew aboard the Mary Lou came backing in with something covered with a big blue tarp.

But when they snatched off the tarp, Bruce saw something he has asked for on several occasions – a grandfather clock. Bruce went nuts, jumping around like a little kid on the docks and yelling.

Capt. Mann and crew unloaded the clock and already had a hole in the top of it so it could easily be lifted on to the scales.

You could tell Bruce got a kick out of calling out “time is” on the clock. Anyhow, the clock weighed in at 43.8-pounds.

“My dream fulfilled,” Bruce said.

Capt. Mann said he bought the clock off Craig’s List, just to bring it down for Bruce. Bruce wrote in the 2011 Fishing Rodeo magazine that he was going to weigh in “anything from Guppies to Godzilla … and maybe a grandfather clock”. No Godzilla yet, but now Bruce can boast about the grandfather clock, weighing in at 43.8 pounds!

“As long as I can remember Bruce has said he has weighed babies and gators … but nobody has brought in a grandfather clock. This was just for Bruce,” Mann said.

I don’t know who got a bigger kick out of it, Mann or Bruce.

Either way it was a crowd pleaser.
–Tina Harbuck

Charlie Mullins and Ellis Woods have done it again.

About 5:30 this evening the two guys came hauling up – there second gator this month – to the rodeo scales.

They couldn’t have picked a better time. The bleachers were full and the crowd went nuts.

They hoisted the gator on the scales and weighmaster Bruce Cheves announced the weight at 257.6.

They hurried took some pictures as the Mother Lode backed in with a load of fish.

The gator was lowered, and folks had a good time posing for photos with the gator.

The Mother Lode weighed in a dolphin and a 144-pound yellowfin tuna – then the pulled the gator back up for folks to get a better look.

The gator measured 10-feet 6-inches.

–Tina Harbuck

Jason Zabelski of Fort Walton Beach walked down with an 8.8-pound bonito for the first official fish entry of the day. His fish is 1,054 entry.

The next to go up on the board were three fish caught on the No Doubt with Capt. Buddy Godwin.

Brian Le, 11, weighed in a 17.4-pound amberjack and a 2-pound triggerfish, while his father, Dung Le, weighed in a 6.2-pound red grouper.

The sun is starting to warm things up – so come on down. The scales are open until 7 p.m.

–Tina Harbuck

Before lunch the Inshore Angler with Capt. Josh Nelson came pulling in at the rodeo scales with a couple of redfish to weigh.

They weighed in a 6.6 and a 6.4 pound redfish, but neither were big enough to get on the baord.

Capt. Nelson said they headed over towards Shalimar this morning to get bait then came back towards Destin to fish.

“It was 4-feet in the bay,” Capt. Nelson said. “It was pumping … it was serious,” he said of the water.

Anyhow, they managed to catch about 30 to 40 redfish. “Everyone of them were keepers,” he said.

When I asked how they could even cast a bait out in this kind of wind he said, “big weight and big bait.”

Word is that a couple of boats are coming in later today from overnight trips – so pack a jacket and come on down.

–Tina Harbuck

Plenty of room in the bleachers – grab a jacket and come on down.

Scales are open – we’re at 1,053 fish entries.

It was a windy day down at the rodeo, but that didn’t stop people from heading down for the month’s last Shark Saturday.

Longtime Destin residents Greg O’Dell and his wife, Debbie, have been in the stands about 6 times this month with their three yorkies.

“If I go back and look my old T-shirts, I’d say I’ve been coming to the rodeo since the ’70s,” Greg told The Log. “It’s fun.”

While he mostly just watches the fishing action these days, Greg has weighed in his own leaderboard worthy fish.

“I caught a 235-pound warsaw. It made me look like a midget,” he said. His warsaw was one of eight on board that day. With 2,000 pounds of fish, the anglers had to come back in because they were out of space.

“But nowadays, they’re not as big as you used to catch them,” Greg added.

First time rodeo watchers Steve and Tina Kihara of Huntsville, Ala. were eager to see some big fish. This was their first time in Destin, and they were told fishing rodeo was a must-see.
“Someone brought in a 181-pound alligator,” Steve told his wife. But with a strong wind from the north, there wasn’t a lot of action at the scales.

Just after 2 p.m. Capt. Jim Evans and nine little anglers brought in a bucket of fish to be weighed in.
Shortly after, the Backdown 2 rolled up with a couple of fish.

Andrew Grien brought in a 18.6-pound amberjack, and Chip Wade weighed in a 5-pound triggerfish. The fish were the first on the board for the chance at the charter daily spot.

– Katy Houghton

One of the great things about the Rodeo is that the finale when the scales close and the big fish come in collides wit the beauty of the setting sun. This video from Jason Parkhurst shows an Oct. 25 time lapse of the sun setting behind the charter boat fleet docked in the Destin harbor.

http://www.vimeo.com/31150241

There weren’t many fish hanging around at the rodeo Friday afternoon, but plenty of rodeo-goers were in the bleachers waiting for some angler action.

“There was probably a 1,000 pounds of tuna down here last night,” weighmaster Bruce Cheves told the crowd.

Despite a lull in the action today, Cheves took advantage of the downtime to entertain people with some his famous stories.

Twenty years ago, “the only ones hanging around were people on boats,” he said. “Then one day they gave me a microphone…” And ever since he’s been adding a little Cheves flair to the weigh-in events.

At 4:30 p.m. the rodeo fish count was up to 1,024. According to Cheves this is the third year in a row the numbers have passed been in the thousands. There’s even been a couple of nights he’s weighed in the day’s last fish after 8 p.m.

When the rodeo clock struck 7 p.m., “I looked, and there’s 12 boats lined up,” he said.

While Bruce continued telling fans about what’s been hitting the scales this month, out in the stands people were taking advantage of the rodeo cuisine including cold beers, sweet tea and, of course, seafood.

Plenty of crowd members were enjoying shrimp tacos, grilled right there on the docks. The spicy wraps are a favorite of Cheves and Log reporter Tina Harbuck.

At 5 p.m. the charter boat No Doubt rolled in with a load of anglers from Ohio. Jacob Rocky, 14, weighed in a 5.4 pound red grouper, which was good enough for the daily charter.

With only three days of weigh-ins left in the Destin Fishing Rodeo, be sure to make it down whether it’s for the stories, the food or just to see what anglers are hauling in.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a person get so excited over a small fish.

Well it really wasn’t that small for the type of fish it was – but either way, C.W. Towers was one excited man when weighmaster Bruce Cheves weighed in his mingo at 4.4-pounds.

His mighty mingo took over the top spot in the party boat division for mingo. He was fishing with Capt. Cliff Cox on the Sweet Jody.

Anyhow when Bruce called out the weight of the mingo, C.W. was jumping and shouting trying to get the crowd going.

You would have thought he caught a 100-pound fish from all the excitement.

Way to go C.W.!!!

–Tina Harbuck