Report for Destin, Florida - Nearshore

Lots more fish stories and the best thing is- they're all true! Todays folks stepped on the boat at Seaside and the first words out of my charters mouth was "we want snappers". OK, not a problem. At the end of our 4 hours we had a limit of reds in the box(16) 4 blacks (one @ 12#) and a lane. Nothing like getting what you ask for.They were cooking some up for lunch before I finished cleaning 'em all. Yesterdays folks were a little more broad minded in thier desires and it was a good thing. The North wind blew about 25 to 30 making it all but impossible to get more than a mile or so off the beach and still be able to fish. I hit a few "old tired "wrecks and we landed 2 nice black grouper, 3 lanes and a good black snapper. We also had 6 just under legal grouper, a 5# warsaw (released) and several broke off big fish. With dinner safley in the box I went to plan B and put out the trolling lines. By the end of our 4 hours we had 6 kings over 10# and 4 Bonita added to the cooler. Not to shabby for an "unfishable" day. Lots more good catches the past 10 days but probably the best was a girl 'bout 12 that fishes with her Dad on the Dead Fish pretty regularly. Lots of competition between these 2 and sometimes it gets almost serious. dad put a good snapper in the box around 12-13# and daughter wanted something bigger. She ran down a big live bait, got slammed and came up with a grouper a little bigger than the snapper. As she's gloating dad is pulling a grouper up that wieghed 2#'s more than hers. Dad started razzing her but I played ref and gave her the title for the day on points.--She caught her fish (and several more)with a broken finger in a metal splint. Everytime she'd take a few cranks her finger would smack the rod and she'd go "OW" and then go right back to crankin'. I need her to teach a few of my older male anglers a thing or 2 on grouper fishin'. One more week in Grayton and I am outa here!! Big silver Kings here we come. I hate to leave all these fish here behind but there are so many big ones over at Indian Pass I gotta go-- So many fish, so little time--a good problem to have. Capt. Larry Pentel