The leaders in the private boat division for red snapper were 21.4 and 15 pounds. Note the past tense.

As soon as Rodeo weighmaster Bruce Cheves took a look at the two red snapper the Legal Dose hauled to the scales, he said “bye-bye” to the ones that were on the board.

Capt. Andy Lindsey and the crew aboard the Legal Dose backed in at the scales a little after 6 p.m. with two whopper red snapper. Jimbo Holloway reeled in a 29-pounder and Greg Hughes pulled in a 26.6-pounder — kissing the two leaders on the board goodbye.

Once the fish started coming in Thursday afternoon — it got busy on the docks.

A couple of junior anglers fishing on the Daybreak with Capt. Eric Thrasher got on the board for dailies. Jack Koetter, 12, pulled in a 23.2-pound grouper and 11-year-old Austin Happel reeled in a 25.2-pound amberjack.

Austin’s brother Elliott Happel, 13, took first place in the Teen Division with a 36.8-pound amberjack and a 7.8-pound red snapper.

Around 6:30 p.m., Capt. Robert Hill on the Twilight came in with two or three tubs of fish. Dennis Gravitt of Georgia got on the leaderboard with a 39.6-pound cobia. Capt. Hill said they caught five cobia — and had three on at one time.

The last fish of the evening was a 30.4-pound king mackerel caught by Joseph Waybright of Georgia on the private boat Ole Miss. His catch took first place in the private boat category for king mackerel and third overall in the King Mackerel Jackpot.

This is just a sampling of some of the fish brought in Thursday. For more on the Rodeo, see Saturday’s Fish Flash in The Log.

- Tina Harbuck

If there’s one thing I’ve learned covering the Destin Fishing Rodeo and Destin’s charter fishing industry it’s that the bunch of guys and gals that live and breathe to fish Choctawhatchee Bay and the Gulf of Mexico are worlds tougher than I’ve ever dreamed of being.

A fact that was brought into stark reality earlier this morning when I wandered down to the docks to do some reporting on a Rodeo story for this Saturday’s Log.

“Did you guys have any fish yesterday?” I asked Rodeo executive director Helen Donaldson, fully expecting a swift and prompt negative response to my inquiry.

“Yeah, we had a few. The binder’s right there,” she said, pointing to the Library of Congress-size three-ring binder that holds the contents of all the Rodeo entries in 10-day volumes.

On a day when the waters off Destin closely resembled the waters off Nova Scotia with its deep, menacing dark blue hue and equally daunting wave action promising a nasty ride to anyone daring enough to venture out of the harbor, the Rodeo had eight entries.

A trio of triggerfish from the Finest Kind and the Destin Princess were weighed along with a gaggle of fish from the Daybreak.

The Daybreak’s Capt. Eric Thrasher (which I still think is the coolest name ever for a charter boat captain) and his anglers brought in a flounder, a red snapper, a grouper and an 18.8-pound amberjack.

The forecast for tonight looks good. Capt. Bud Miller of the Melanie Dawn called in from off Pensacola on an overnight trip to say that the water is smooth, lots of boats are out and they’re pulling in some nice fish. Could be a good night.

-Patrick Donohue