March 29, 2024

“World’s Luckest Fishing Village”

Posted on June 30, 2014 by in Features, Travel

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Deep sea fishing is a Destin tradition.

by Andrea Gross; photos by Irv Green, Bob Corley

“I got one! What do I do now?”

Katherine’s voice is tight; her line is taut; she has a catch. Scotty, one of the two crewmen on our deep sea fishing boat, rushes over and Jul2014DestinFishCatchWhelps her reel in a Threadfish. It’s so small it will be used as bait later in the day when we get out to where the big fish live, but no matter. Someone just like us — a newbie to the world of fishing — has caught a fish just minutes after leaving Destin Harbor, and we all rock the boat in delight.

Destin, a small, Florida Panhandle town mid-way between Panama City and Pensacola, is on a small peninsula that separates the Gulf of Mexico from Choctawhatchee Bay. It’s so close to the deep waters of the Gulf anglers don’t have to go more than ten miles out to sea to catch the likes of Snapper, Grouper, Amberjack, Cobia, Triggerfish and Mackerel.

This proximity to fish-rich waters has earned Destin the name “The World’s Luckiest Fishing Village,” a slogan bestowed by Florida Governor Leroy Collins in the mid-1950s. As legend has it, the governor was in Destin trolling for votes when a local fisherman invited him to troll for fish instead. When Collins stepped off the boat twenty minutes later, he was holding aloft a 29-pound Mackerel.

“It’s hard to believe that you left the dock and returned so soon with a fish like that,” commented a reporter.

“It’s not hard to believe when you’re fishing from Destin,” replied the governor, sporting an ear-to-ear grin. “This is the world’s luckiest fishing village.”

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Destin, circa 1950. Courtesy Arturo’s Studio, www.arturosstudio.com.

The city found it easy to live up to its nickname. Commercial fishermen realized they made more money catering to the leisure fisherman than to the commercial market. Now, approximately 100 charter fishing boats operate out of Destin, and its attractions have expanded to include more than fishing. People can hike, bike and simply stroll along beaches that are known for brilliant white sand, radiant green water and, on most days, a cerulean blue sky.

Scientists say the sand is made from quartz, ground into fine particles as it makes its way downriver from the Southern Appalachians. They say the sea is green because light reflects off the submerged algae. Poets express it differently. The sand, they say, is like powdered sugar; the sea the color of emeralds. As for me, being neither scientist nor poet, I simply enjoy the private beach attached to our condo, take in the sights, and swoon. Jul2014DestinBoogieBrdW

Meanwhile, I realize that I have absolutely no idea what a 29-pound Mackerel looks like. Fins and tail, sure. But is it round and fat, or long and skinny? For fish identification, and to see an array of sea-related paraphernalia, my husband and I go to the Destin

History and Fishing Museum. I look long and hard at the giant wall that features award-winning examples of fish that inhabit the nearby waters. Finally, secure that we can tell a Marlin from a Mackerel, we examine the museum’s collection of rods and reels. I’m most fascinated by a stubby rod and massive reel that belonged to Ernest Hemingway. After all, a man who writes a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about an “old man and the sea” obviously knows something about fishing poles. But after two days on land, it’s time to get out on the water.

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Rod and reel used by Ernest Hemingway. (Destin History & Fishing Museum)

That evening we board an 80-foot glass bottom boat for a two-hour dolphin watch. As the sun sets, the captain steers the boat past multi-million dollar homes that line Destin’s harbor, and heads into the nearby waters. The dolphins put on quite a show, surfing the waves with abandon and seeming to dance to the music from the ship’s sound-system.

The next day we rise at six in the morning for a five-hour deep sea fishing expedition. Will we be as lucky as the governor? Actually, no.

Dolphins hover around our boat, jumping, diving and eating the small bait fish we’d hoped would attract the large trophy fish. But after the previous night’s display, I find it hard to be mad at these delightful creatures. Okay, so I won’t catch a trophy. I’ll be happy to catch anything. And soon I do.Jul2014DestinFishMktW

I haul in an Amberjack. Katherine catches a respectably large Snapper; Dennis reels in a Bonito. By the time we head back to Destin, everyone on board has caught something — not the biggest fish in the world, but big enough to brag about.

For us, Destin is indeed the world’s luckiest fishing village.

www.emeradcoastfl.com

 

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Harborwalk Village, Destin

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Baytown Wharf, Destin

 

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