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The docks were the place to be Saturday night as an overflow crowd marveled at the monsters and the midgets.

The warm-up to the evening came from Mike Echols, angling aboard the Special K, who hauled in a 64.4-pound Warsaw grouper after fighting it for a half-hour.

“It was like pulling in a Volkswagen,” the first-time rodeo fisherman said.

But if the grouper was a Volkswagen, then Adlee Bruner of Bruce landed a Mack truck. Bruner hauled in the heaviest fish the Destin Fishing Rodeo has seen in the past 10 years. The 11-foot mako shark first weighed in at 844.4 pounds. After being gutted, the fish tipped the scales at 638 pounds, shattering an earlier shark division record of 338 pounds.

“It was a hard fight,” the angler said of the 35-minute battle with the beast.

The shark was a stunning contrast to Savannah Eidson’s earlier catch. The 10-year-old Atlanta, Ga., resident was dangling her estimated .3-pound pinfish in the water to keep it alive.

She caught the tiny fish, which she named “Mr. Limpet,” off the docks after she lost the big one when her mother, Mary Jo, grabbed the rod to help. Any kid with a catch is a winner and after getting her pole and certificate, her father, Rick, set the fish free.

“I think we’re gonna tag it, too,” he laughed.

Check out Wednesday’s edition of The Destin Log for much more on the record-breaking shark.

— William Hatfield

When it comes to Rodeo fishing one thing is for sure — the leaderboard is constantly changing. And Friday night was no different.

In the last hour, the size of the red snapper kept growing and growing.

Koby Kennison of Destin weighed in a 15.2-pound red snapper just before 6 p.m. for a daily award in the 25-foot and under private boat division. He was fishing on the Chasin’ Tail.

Minutes later, another private boat came in with a 9.6-pound red snapper caught by Mike Young.

He was

fishing on the Un Hooker. Now I know that one doesn’t sound that big, but it was big enough for a daily in the grand prize private boat category.

Not done yet, the Follow Me 3 came in with a 13.6-pound red snapper pulled in by Jim Shaw of Birmingham, Ala.

However his 13.6-pounder was knocked off 20 minutes later by a 17-pound snapper caught by Greg Britton of Navarre on the Perfect Shot with Capt. Brady Bowman.

Between all the snapper, Destin’s Zac Tuffnell walked up with a 5-pound flounder for a spot

on the leaderboard. Catching flounder is nothing new for Tuffnell. He’s won the flounder division a couple of times in the past. As a matter of fact, two years ago he won it with a 6-pounder. Where’s his “honey hole?” He told me “the water.”

When the competition is tough, fishing spots are secrets.

Still plenty of days left to get on the board so book a boat and try your luck.

The count as of close Friday was 412. Remember the scales are open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily throughout the month.

See you at the docks.

-Tina Harbuck

If you catch a fish on a boat that’s entered — stop and weigh the fish. You never know what might take a daily. Here’s a look at a couple of daily winners on Thursday.

-Tina Harbuck

When it comes to bringing fish to the scales, youngsters bring them in any way they can. On Thursday afternoon, 7-year-old A.J. Kenney of Ohio walked up with a red snapper in a plastic bag, instead of the usual bucket.

Kenney’s snapper weighed 2.6 pounds and was good for a rod and reel and a certificate. He was fishing aboard the party boat Swoop.

Weighmaster Bruce Cheves said he gave away about 25 rod and reels to youngsters on Wednesday and already 30 or more today.

Rodeo Executive Director Helen Donaldson said they have given away about 150 rod and reels so far, and this is only Day 11.

Every kid that enters a fish that weighs a pound gets just what Kenney received: a rod and reel and a certificate.

As of 4:30 p.m., the count of fish entries is 370. And remember that’s just the ones that make it on the leaderboard; that’s not counting all the fish the youngsters bring in and the ones that are just not big enough.

Don’t forget the scales are open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the docks behind AJ’s.

-Tina Harbuck

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

The weather in the Gulf of Mexico finally cut anglers fishing in the Destin Fishing Rodeo a break.

Rodeo weighmaster Bruce Cheves said he expects to be weighing lots of fish later tonight.

“It should be a busy day. The weather finally gave these guys a break after two weeks of rough weather,” he said.

The New Florida Girl’s American Spirit just got back to the docks with some stringers of red snapper and a few triggerfish. A handful of the boat’s junior anglers just had their catches weighed by the weighmaster and they are getting their certificates and rods and reels as we speak.

Across the harbor, Destin and Okaloosa County workers are dealing with the soggy remnants of the Sante, a sailboat once owned by Bicycle Bob Bull. You can read all about the trials of the Sante and its owner in Wednesday’s Log or later today on TheDestinLog.com.

All in all, a pretty laid-back afternoon behind AJ’s. If Cheves’ prognostication about the weather is correct (which it often is), the Rodeo and the hundreds that will likely show up at the docks tonight could be in for a treat.

-Patrick Donohue

There’s nothing like a shark to draw a crowd - and it didn’t take long for the crowd to gather for a close-up look as Rodeo weighmaster Bruce Cheves hoisted a 152.8-pound Dusky Shark up on the scales just a little before 7  p.m. Monday.

Scott Gallagher of Santa Rosa Beach was the angler who reeled in the shark while fishing on the Perfect Shot with Capt. Brady Bowman. The shark was a great conversation piece, however, it wasn’t big enough to get on the leaderboard. A shark has to weigh 200 pounds or better to be a legal entry in the Rodeo. Nevertheless it was great for photos, and the angler will have plenty of stories to tell.

At close of day the count on fish entries into the 59th Annual Destin Fishing Rodeo is 281.

-Tina Harbuck

One of the highlights of the Destin Fishing Rodeo is watching the youngsters weigh in their fish. Some catch them off the charter boats, others off the pier and some right off the docks.

Just a little after 3 p.m. today, 11-year-old Jacob Bratcher of Kentucky along with his dad came walking up with a huge pinfish on a chain stringer. Weighmaster Bruce Cheves weiged in Bratcher’s fish and handed him a new rod and reel for his efforts. His pinfish weighed 1.2 pounds. This, however, isn’t Bratcher’s first Rodeo. Last year he weighed in a 2.2-pound catfish and the year before that another pinfish.

Bratcher, like all kids that enter a fish, received the new fishing gear and a certificate for his catch.

Just another way to show that everybody is a winner at the Destin Fishing Rodeo.

-Tina Harbuck

More than 40 fish were weighed in on Sunday at the Destin Fishing Rodeo. Here’s a look as some of the catches.

The count as of close Sunday was at 254.

-Tina Harbuck