RED SCARE: Business prospects look ‘slim to nothing' as feds lock down area's signature snapper Friday (PHOTOS)

It was good while it lasted.

The last day, however, to keep a red snapper is this Friday, Aug. 14.

“It’s been as good as it ever gets,” said Capt. Tommy Browning Monday afternoon after he backed in on the Finest Kind from a six-hour trip with a limit of red snapper and king mackerel. “And the weather too.

“It’s a shame,” he said about the closure. “There ain’t no shortage. We’ve been throwing back keepers.”

The red snapper season has taken several blows in the recent months by federal regulators who maintain the fishery is in peril.

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To see the highlights from snapper season, click here.

To see what was biting on Monday, click here.

To catch the fish flash, click here.

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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in an open public meeting at Sandestin Resort in February voted to change the recreational red snapper fishing season in state waters from April 15 through Oct. 31 to June 1 through Sept. 30, making it compatible with a shorter federal season.

But then the federal governing board decided to close the season in federal waters on Aug. 14. So the state came back and voted to go along with the feds and end the snapper season on the same day.

Thus the snapper season went from what used to be about a seven-month season to a little more than two months, with a scaled-back limit of two snapper per person.
And Destin captains say they are about to take another hit.

“It’s not looking good,” said Harold Staples of the charter boat Al-Lin. “We’re not expecting much in the fall” once the closure kicks in.

Staples said he had one guy book a 12-hour trip for October, the Destin Fishing Rodeo month, but he called back and cut it to an eight-hour trip when he realized they couldn’t land red snapper.

“I’ve had a lot of old customers who drew a line in the sand,” he said. “It’s not worth their effort to drive down and catch two snapper.”

Staples said he has three more trips scheduled this week, “then two more on the books, period,” he said. “We’re just not getting any phone calls.”

Browning said that after this Friday, his bookings are “slim to nothing.” He said that fishing trips have dropped better than half for most on the docks.

“People don’t care nothing about going out and throwing those big snapper back,” Browning said.

Capt. Ken Bolden of the Just B Cause, who landed one of the biggest snapper on the docks this summer, a 25-pounder, said the season has been “incredible. It’s been so easy to find them.”

And the ones showing up have been a good grade, 18-inches plus.

“If it even looks like you’ve got to measure it, I go to a different spot,” Bolden said.

As for the future, Bolden said, “it’s looking really slow. I’ve got some bookings, but it’s down about half.”

But there are other fish in the sea, Bolden said, noting they will target triggerfish, mingo, amberine and king mackerel.

“I wish there was something we could say to let ‘em know that snapper are in abundance,” Bolden said.
And abundance is an understatement to many on the docks.

“It’s been phenomenal,” is how Capt. Stan Phillips of the Sea Winder described the last two months of snapper fishing. “There’s been lots of fish, and better than average size.”

“I’m all for regulations, but the season is killing us.”

When asked about future bookings, he said, “What bookings?”

However, he said he didn’t think it was all due to the snapper closure. Some of the problem lies with school back in session and an economy that has been down for the count.

“Between the economy and the fact we can’t keep snapper ... put the two together, it’s not good,” said Capt. Kirk Reynolds of the SS Enterprise.

Capt. Eddie Dykes of the Shamrock agreed, “It’s a combination, the economy and the red snapper,” he said.

But while the season has been open, “it’s been very good,” Dykes said. “We haven’t had any problems. We get the limit just about any time you want it.

“Here it is August and we’re catching the limit on a four-hour trip,” he said Monday as he stepped off his boat at East Pass Marina.

But after Aug. 14, “it’s dead,” he said. “I have one trip in August and two in September on the books.”