Before Destin was a beach vacation mecca, it was a small fishing village.
In June 1948, a group of businessmen started the Destin Fishing Rodeo in hopes of bringing tourists to the area. And it worked.
This year marks 70 years of the Destin Fishing Rodeo, a month-long event that brings thousands of anglers to the fishing docks to get their catches weighed in hopes of making it on the leaderboard.
“It’s grown tremendously,” said Helen Donaldson, tournament director. “In the early years, there were probably about 15 to 20 (registered) boats. Now, we get close to 300 boats and more than 35,000 anglers.”
In those early years, Donaldson said fisherman used to pin their catches under Destin bridge.
“They called it corrals,” she said.
Now, charter boats bring their catches to the fishing dock outside of AJ’s Seafood & Oyster Bar where families sit and watch what comes on deck.
“It’s as much of a spectator sport as anything,” she explained. “People come to Destin and stay the whole month just to come to the docks and hear stories from our weighmaster, Bruce Cheves.”
Cheves has worked with the rodeo for more than 30 years and is known as the face of the Destin Fishing Rodeo. You’ll see him on the docks from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. when the Rodeo is open. In 2010, the City of Destin declared Oct. 16 as Bruce Cheves Day.
A lot has changed in those 70 years of the Rodeo. Including the participating boats, Donaldson said.
“You used to go out on a little wooden boat and have to pack your lunch and sweat the whole time,” she said with a laugh. “Boats are a lot more high-tech now with everything from kitchens to satellite TV.”
Destin is touted as the “world’s luckiest fishing village,” which is probably why it has the largest fishing fleet in the state. Kathy Marler-Blue, executive director of the Destin History & Fishing Museum, said Destin has the right “ingredients” to make a successful fishing trip. It’s all about location.
“Destin has the quickest access to every depth of fishable water,” said Marler-Blue. “Also, being a peninsula helps.”
The Destin Fishing Rodeo is free to all anglers fishing onboard a registered boat in the Rodeo. For more information, visit destinfishingrodeo.org.
