Blessed before the blessing

From the looks of the catches that came in early Thursday, you’d think the charter boats had already been blessed from the great catches they had hanging on the racks.
As some of the crews were already decorating and hanging flags on their boats in preparation for the Blessing of the Fleet, others were hanging fish on the racks.
Capt. Bud Miller on the Melanie Dawn backed in with a nice catch. His anglers from Valdosta, Ga., brought in a limit of red snapper, four or five triggerfish and a bonito.
Capt. Miller said they were fishing just off the West beach.
Anglers on the Checkmate with Capt. George Eller pulled in 11 king mackerel, three Spanish mackerel and a northern mackerel.
Capt. Mark Walker on the Bounty Hunter had a nice rack of king mackerel.
Anglers on the Hired Gun with Capt. Bill Waitzman pulled in their limit of red snapper, one king mackerel and one blackfin tuna.
Although the Gulf seemed a bit choppy Thursday afternoon, Waitzman said it was still “fishable.”
And Capt. J.T. Tenore on the Dawn Patrol would have to agree.
“It was rough out there today, but everybody was catching fish,” Tenore said.
And a father and daughter team, Don and Riley Oliver of Fort Walton Beach, landed two cobia while fishing with Tenore.
The cobia weighed about 35 and 40 pounds.
Tenore said they were two-for-two on cobia. They were fishing right out front.
There were a couple of other boats expected in before the Blessing, but it looks to me like Destin is already blessed with some great boat captains and great catches. But I’m of the opinion you can never have enough blessings.
See you at the docks.