First came the Twilight, then came Daybreak.

Both Capt. Robert Hill on the Twilight and Capt. Eric Thrasher on the Daybreak came in after 5 p.m. from extended voyages and a boat load of fish.

Capt. Hill and his crew brought in 10 yellowfin tuna with two getting on the leaderboard in first and second places. Greg McCabe hauled in a 96.2-pound yellowfin for first and Temple Estopiinal had second with a 76.2-pounder. But only for a few minutes.

When Capt. Thrasher backed in they hauled in a couple of tuna of their own. Kenton Mast of Ohio weighed in a 94.2-pound to take over the second place spot.

This is just a few of the fish brought in Thursday afternoon. The docks got busy from 4 p.m. until the close with everything from triggerfish, scamp and king mackerel going up on the scales.

For more photos from Day 29 of the Destin Fishing Rodeo, click here.

We only have a couple of days left, so come on down.
See you there.
-Tina Harbuck

It’s a bit overcast with a slight swell in the Gulf — and not many boats out today.

However, there has been two boats come in with catches for dailies.

Kathy Gault pulled in a 15.4-pound king mackerel on the King Triton for a daily.

At 2:17 p.m. the Suzie Q backed in with a triggerfish that made it onto the daily board. Kyle McCarthy of New York weighed in a 2.2-pound triggerfish.

From the way it looks right now, anybody with a fish could get on the board for a daily. So come on down.

The scales are open until 7 p.m. — Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.
See you there.
-Tina Harbuck

When the rain stopped Tuesday, the fish started coming in.

A little after 2 p.m., the Lock-On with Capt. John King came in from an extended voyage with a couple of scamp that made the leaderboard. Believe it or not, both scamp weighed 5.8 pounds each. So they took over first and second place on the board.

Not long after, the Huntress with Capt. Mike Graef backed in with a couple of fish that made it on the board for dailies. They weighed in a 20.4-pound king mackerel and a 3-pound triggerfish.

The day is still young and who knows who out there fishing and what they might come in with.

Don’t forget the scales are open until 7 p.m.
See you there.
-Tina Harbuck

“It was like hell for a little while,” David Griffen said of his battle with a bull shark.

The first shark of the second to the last Shark Saturday was lugged onto the docks at about 2 p.m. It weighed in at 96.6 pounds.

The shark was “pissed off” when they got him to the boat, and the Hinesville, Ga., angler said his arms were aching after the fight. But the thrill of it all has Griffen hooked on shark fishing.

“It was my first shark, but I hope to God it won’t be my last. I’ll be back,” he said.

Griffen’s shark was initially the leader in the battle for the $250 jackpot in the weekly Mako My Day Division. But hours later his catch was knocked off by a 126 pound bull shark.

At about 6 p.m., Rodeo Executive Director Helen Donaldson said three shark had already been weighed and two more were expected before the Rodeo closed for the day.

To read about other shark tales from the 61st Destin Fishing Rodeo, click here.

For more photos from Day 24 and to read about a protest on the docks Saturday, click on the links.

— William Hatfield

The final amberjack of the 2009 season rolled in at 3:20 p.m. Friday after a blustery day that left three anglers hospitalized.

In a surprise move that irked fishermen across the Gulf Coast, the feds closed the season at midnight Friday.

Here’s what Destin anglers and captains think about the Fed’s action.

And here’s what we think.

The final ’jack of the 61st Destin fishing Rodeo weighed in at 16.8 pounds and was caught by David Fisher of Bellfonte, Penn. He was fishing aboard the Lady ‘Em with Mike Eller.

— William Hatfield

With the rain falling and the Gulf churning, not much happening at the Rodeo docks.

As of about 1 p.m., only one fish had been brought to the scales — a 6.2-pound king mackerel that had been caught off the pier. The catch brings the count of fish entries to 643.

I’m told that there is at least one boat still out — Capt. Mike Eller on the Lady Em.
Also I understand that the Tropical Winds will be pulling out soon for a 32-hour trip.

Good luck to all.
Remember the scales are open from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. daily — and you never know who’s out there fishing that might bring in who knows what.

See you there.
-Tina Harbuck

T-shirt sales have been incredible at the Destin Fishing Rodeo.
And word is, they are already out of a lot of sizes.
As a matter of fact, I know the particular color I want in a long-sleeved shirt is already gone.

So if you’re looking to get a Rodeo T-shirt don’t wait much longer. There will be no more reordering of the shirts.

As for fishing news today - it was Rough on the Gulf.
Capt. Jim Green of the New Florida Girl’s American Spirit said the forecasters were right when they called for 5- to 7-foot seas.
“It was just like they said,” Green said. “Violent.”

Although it was a bit bumpy, Capt. Green said they brought in about 75 mingo, along with several white snapper and triggerfish. He said they also had a keeper scamp.

The Rodeo did have a few dailies make the board today.
The Mindy Lou II came in with a 12.4-pound king mackerel and the Lucky Lina had a 23.6-pound king.

Capt. Eric Thrasher on the Daybreak brought in a couple of nice amberjack a 38.4-pounder and a 38.6-pounder. The amberjack brought the count for fish entries to 640.

Hopefully once this front pushes on through the area, the Gulf will calm down.
See you at the docks.
-Tina Harbuck

Once again it’s been proven - You just never know what’s going to take the bait. All you can do is drop it down and wait.

For the folks aboard the First Shot, they were fishing on the bay side looking for something to enter in the Rodeo.

“We caught something in the bay, that’s even hard to catch in the Gulf,” said Capt. Mike Dates of the First Shot.

They brought in what they first thought might be a Kitty Mitchell or even a snowy grouper, because of some faded spots on one side of the fish. However, it didn’t quite have the right fins that a grouper of that kind would have.

Instead, when they got to the Rodeo docks, someone identified it as a baby Warsaw.

Realizing that it was still alive, Capt. Mike quickly released it to swim another day.

However, his crew did have something to weigh in that made it on the boards. Six-year-old Nicholas Gallagher reeled in a 2.2-pound speckled trout for a spot on the board in the Junior Division.

His entry was No. 627.

A few minutes later the Miss Kiki pulled in a with a king mackerel for a daily award.
Mike Frazier of Clermont weighed in a 5.6-pound king for a daily.

Things were a little slow at the Rodeo today with the wind still causing a chop on the Gulf.
Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

See you there.

-Tina Harbuck

The sun is out and it’s a beautiful day — at least at the Rodeo docks.

I understand, however, it’s a little choppy out on the Gulf of Mexico. So not many boats have brought in fish thus far to day.
Weighmaster Bruce Cheves said he has weighed about four - a king mackerel, barracuda, trout and a triggerfish.

Gordie Pepper of Ohio was the angler on the triggerfish. He caught a 5-pounder while fishing on the Silver King with Capt. Mike Parker. His fish found a second place slot on the leaderboard. In addition to the triggerfish, they had amberine, grouper and plenty more triggerfish in the box.

There is still time to come on down and soak up some of the beautiful weather. The Rodeo scales are open until 7 p.m.
See you there.
-Tina Harbuck

This year’s Rodeo has seen a number of wahoo brought to the scales.

And as Capt. Mike Graef of the Huntress put it “they’ve been waaaho’s not weeeho’s.”

In other words, they have been pretty good size - nothing wee about them.
As a matter of fact, the top two on the board right now is a 59.2 and a 58.2-pounder. And a 71.8-pounder is leading in the Extended Voyage category.

Monday afternoon, Capt. Graef and his crew brought in one of the wahoo’s that tilted the scales at 41 pounds. The angler on the rod was Kim Morgan of Texas.

“I told you I wouldn’t let you down,” she shouted at Capt. Graef as Weighmaster Bruce Cheves announced the weight of her catch, that took a daily for the largest by a lady today.

She also weighed in a 12.8-pound king mackerel for a daily spot on the leaderboard.

Don’t forget the scales are open until 7 p.m. daily until the end of the month.
See you there.
-Tina Harbuck