With the bleachers packed and crowds huddled around the scales, Jon Warrington weighed in a 170.8-pound yellowfin tuna, earning the Albany, Ga., angler an immediate top slot on the leaderboard in the private boat division. The easy win was a stark contrast to the hard fight of two hours and 20 minutes it took to haul in the monster tuna aboard the Legal Dose.

Sitting in the sea of faces was Destin Mayor Craig Barker, back in town after a week in Louisiana.

“I’d come out on the docks every afternoon if I could to watch the history being made,” Barker said.

With boats backed up five deep, there was no evidence of the red tide that Okaloosa County officials had issued a warning about a few hours earlier.

“The fishermen are noticing it, but hopefully there will be enough of a north wind to blow it out of here,” said Helen Donaldson, executive director of the Rodeo.

With the yellowfin tuna being the heavyhitter of the night, 8-year-old Destinite Rachel McMullin’s catch was the lightweight. But the crowd favorite savored a big victory with a 17.4-pound king mackerel that she landed in the fare-carrying division aboard the Merri Kohl.

— William Hatfield

The Rodeo docks got a visit from a scalloped hammerhead shark Wednesday afternoon, courtesy of the party boat Gentle Winds.

Though the shark wasn’t big enough to weigh, Rodeo weighmaster Bruce Cheves estimated the fish weighed about 15 pounds. That didn’t stop curious spectactors from getting a closer look and stopping in front of the scales to snap a picture or two of the small shark.

As for last night, Cheves’ pre-evening forecast yesterday proved to be pretty spot-on. The weighmaster said the Rodeo had a busy, if uneventful evening.

“We had some snapper, some amberjack — nothing earth-shattering but it was busy,” he said.

The docks have quieted down some after a busy start to the afternoon.

Cheves’ plans for the afternoon?

“Just waiting on Godzilla,” he told one Rodeo spectator.

- Patrick Donohue