Yea Me … Yea Me!
That was the words out of Char Gibicsar’s mouth as she walked up to the scales before the crowded bleachers Sunday afternoon with her grouper on a stick.

“Let’s hear it for the girls,” Char said.

Weighmaster Bruce Cheves weighed in her grouper that tilted the scales at 18-pounds. She caught the grouper while fishing aboard the Swoop II with Capt. Matt Wheeler.

Was it hard to pull in?
“The first 3-feet were,” she said. “But once I got it off the bottom it came right up.”
And up it went - right on to the leaderboard.

–Tina Harbuck

Lots of long neck beer bottles and raw oysters being enjoyed on this windy October day on the dock behind AJ’s. Waiting for the fish to come in the day is perfect for spectators. The fish are slow coming in but the weather is perfect. Seen on the dock sporting a baseball hat was Tommy Green - 16 month old young Auburn fan son of Capt Jim Green.

And in the Overnight Division, Lou Hill of Tallahassee brought in a 45.6 lb bull dolphin from aboard the Backdown2 — just 3 lb shy of the standing Rodeo record.

Shellie Travis of Atlanta spent five hours on the American Spirit and brought in an 8.2 lb red snapper to show for it! “I almost never have fished before” she laughed and said.

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Steve Schneller of Lawrenceburg, IN brought in a 13.4 lb red as well off the trip.

Morning started off quietly on the floating dock behind AJs. Bruce said he’s just “waiting for something to come in - don’t matter what from bathtubs to battleships they can bring in guppies to godzillas”. And up walked Jonathan Corpstein of Navarre with a 1 lb. Jack Crevalle.

Ethan Calvert of Kentucky was the man.
The 17-year-old hauled in two fish that made it up on the board.

He caught a 11.6-pound red snapper and a 11.4-pound red grouper. He was fishing aboard the Tropical Winds with Capt. Tommy Klosterman.

Calvert’s two fish were entries 699 and 700 in the Rodeo books - which is way ahead of schedule.
Last year for the entire month 790 fish were weighed. At the rate things are going we could come close to having a 1,000 entries for the month.

–Tina Harbuck

What a wild afternoon at the Rodeo.
There were kids everywhere with fish in hand — I could hardly keep up.

As a matter of fact, while I was just there watching and taking notes for the paper, I got roped into filling out Rodeo certificates for the kids. We had one Rodeo judge filing out paper work for those who went on the leaderboard, one judge was handing out fishing rods and I got to fill out certificates for the youngsters. I bet we did about 20 or so in an hour.

But that’s what the Rodeo is all about - kids - and getting them involved in something they can do for the rest of their life.

Nine-year-old Ashton Brunette of Tennessee was one youngster who got on the leaderboard with a 9.2-pound king mackerel she brought in on the Gulf Winds.

We had kids that were bringing up several fish at the time - Bruce was weighing whole stringers at the time - and I was writing fish combos up left and right. But it was great. Every kid got a certificate and a rod and reel they could take home - and they all left with a big smile.

–Tina Harbuck

The Sure Lure with Capt. Kirk Reynolds at the helm just came in with several fish to put on the scales.
Yes - Capt. Kirk is on the wrong boat - his usual boat is the SS Enterprise, but he was what he called “Substitute teaching” for Capt. Don Dineen, the captain of the Sure Lure.

They threw four or five fish on the docks. They had three king mackerel, a couple of snapper and a grouper.

Bill Merritt of Virginia weighed in a 9-pound grouper for a daily.

Amy Mezzell of Birmingham, Ala., weighed in a 10.4-pound king mackerel for a daily - there was also another king that weighed that exact same weight, but her’s went on the board.

Louis Nucci of Virginia reeled in a 6.8-pound red snapper to take a daily.

Now will they all hold? That remains to be seen.

How’s the fishing, Capt. Kirk said “choppy and sloppy - but the fishing was good.”
Boats are backing up - got to go.

–Tina Harbuck

The Rodeo is up and running this afternoon and a few fish have been coming in here and there.

The Silver King with Capt. Mike Parker at the helm just backed in a few minutes ago with a red snapper that made it on the leaderboard for a daily award. When I asked the mate how it was on the gulf today — he said, “It had its ups and downs.” I bet it did.

Anyhow, Karen Rooker of Texas was the angler who reeled in the 5.4-pound red snapper. Her catch goes on the board in the 25-foot-and-under category for charter boats. Her catch was also the 666th entry for this year’s Rodeo - which is way ahead of last years.

Still plenty of time and room left in the bleachers so come on down to the scales located on the docks behind AJ’s Seafood and Oyster Bar. The scales are open from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. until the end of the month.

–Tina Harbuck

Newly retired teachers Arnie and Julie Krause from Houghton Lake, Mich., sat with longtime friends, Joe and Debbie LeGarie on the dock enjoying a brew and taking in the beautiful weather. They didn’t mind that there wasn’t much going on, as it was their third trip to the Rodeo in the last week.

They said that they were perfectly content to just watch Bruce.

Chatting with second mate Tyler Brennan, he said that the kids from Tennessee that they took out on the Gentle Winds today treated each catch like it was the biggest fish ever, no matter the size.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Brennan said, remembering why he learned to love fishing when he was a kid.

The first thing I actually did see Bruce weigh was a small bucket of pinfish for little Savannah Reece, from Arab, Ala., who turns five tomorrow. Then she watched with a huge smile as Bruce returned the live fish back to the harbor “for some other little girl to catch”.

Just as I was packing it up to leave, surrendering to the idea that at least the kids had a little fun today — in backs the Destin Princess.

David Gabe of Cusseta, Ga., watched as his catch, a male bullshark was lugged off the boat and onto the barge.

The bleachers filled up fast as they strung up the shark and Bruce called a weight of 129 pounds. The shark doesn’t meet the 200-pound minimum requirement to be entered in the Rodeo, but it started a wave of good luck.

Right behind the massive shark, Bruce went to work on a bounty of healthy looking red snapper and triggerfish.

Looks like the luck was up and down like the seas today.

-Jenni Rich

Not much going on at the Rodeo. The Gulf of Mexico is a little on the rough side, so not many boats went out.
But Weighmaster Bruce is here sharpening his knife just in case. And there are folks in the bleachers waiting - cause you never know what might come.

Oh and I’m here as a Rodeo judge today. I’ve got my computer handy just in case something big comes along.

– Tina Harbuck