Rough weather could keep Destin’s charter fishing fleet in their slips and Rodeo weighmaster Bruce Cheves twiddling his thumbs behind A.J.’s Seafood and Oyster Bar.

Storms and rain have kept the Gulf of Mexico bumpy for anglers and captains during the first week of the Rodeo.

Wednesday afternoon, Cheves said he had weighed about less than 9 fish and didn’t expect traffic to pick up before the scales closed for the day at 7:00 p.m.

“We will have some come in later tonight but I wouldn’t expect a whole lot,” he said. “We had a boat go out today in about 40 feet of water, a 26-foot boat and they didn’t like that too much.”

Last night’s Rodeo highlights included a 59-pound amberjack and a 14.8-pound red snapper that took the top spot in the fare-carrying red snapper division.

With rain and thunderstorms in the forecast, weather could affect the Rodeo in the days to come.
“Weather is the deciding factor,” Cheves said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there had been 105 entries in the 59th annual Destin Fishing Rodeo.

-Patrick Donohue

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