VIKINGS OF THE RODEO: Event closes with costumed anglers and a grandfather clock

What a crazy last couple of days for the 63^rd annual Destin Fishing Rodeo — from grouper and gators to grandfather clocks — they all went on the scales.

DAY 30

Sunday got off to a slow start with only a couple of fish weighed before 2 o’clock. The first of the day was an 8.8-pound bonito caught by Jason Zabelski of Fort Walton Beach. His catch finished in first place in the Pier, Bridge, Jetty and Surf Division.

The No Doubt backed in right at 2 p.m. with a couple of dailies to get things rolling. Brian Le weighed in a 17.4-pound amberjack and his father a Dung Le, a 6.2-pound red grouper.

“We earned all these,” said Capt. Buddy Godwin of the No Doubt. Word was that the boats were fighting 6 – to 9-foot seas on Sunday.

Capt. Brant Kelly of the Relentless came in a little after 3 p.m. with a 76-pound amberjack caught by Alan Keenan of Baker.

Next in was the Huntress with Capt. Mike Graef and deckhand Groovy. They had a couple of fish break onto the boards. Lindsey Williams of Enterprise, Ala., weighed in a 61.4-amberjack and Killian Soule, also of Enterprise, pulled in a 7.4-pound king mackerel.

“It was a little gnarly out today,” Groovy said.

Capt. Graef said it was a lot of “up and down” and he motioned with his hands side to side as well.

The private boat Cari Lynd came in with a 4.8-pound triggerfish caught by 80-year-old Fred Carpenter of Marianna. He also pulled in a 13.8-pound grouper.

Gator Glory

It was about 5:30 p.m., when things really got crazy. Local anglers and hunters Charlie Mullins and Ellis Woods came wheeling a cart with a huge gator on board to the rodeo scales.

The minute they came around the corner of AJ’s Seafood and Oyster Bar the crowd went nuts. This is the second gator this year that the duo has brought to the rodeo. The first was on Day 13 and weighed in at 181.2 pounds and measured 10-foot.

The one Sunday was 257.6 pounds and was 10 foot, 8 inches tall.

Mullin said he was originally in a canoe when he came upon the gator and shot him with an arrow.

“That’s when I realized I needed a bigger boat,” he said. He called Woods who was nearby to get the bigger boat and come on down.

“He put up a good fight,” Mullins said. “He rolled around and went under the water.” After about an hour fight, they were able to shoot him with a bang stick and get him in the boat.

The guys left the gator at the rodeo for more than an hour and folks were able to come up and touch it and take photos with it. It was probably the most photographed thing of the day.

The Mother Lode backed in from an extended voyage with a couple of fish to weigh. They weighed in a 20.2-pound dolphin and a 144.2-pound yellowfin tuna. Both were caught by Daryl Martin of Arkansas.

Grandfather Time

As soon as some of the craziness died down, here came the Mary Lou with Capt Craig Mann at the helm with something tall under a big blue tarp on the back of the boat.

When they snatched off the tarp, Bruce saw something he has asked for on several occasions – a grandfather clock. Bruce went nuts, jumping around like a little kid on the docks and yelling.

Capt. Mann and crew unloaded the clock that already had a hole in the top of it so it could easily be lifted on to the scales.

You could tell Bruce got a kick out of calling out “time is” on the clock. Anyhow, the clock weighed in at 43.8-pounds.

“My dream fulfilled,” Bruce said.

Capt. Mann said he bought the clock off Craig’s List, just to bring it down for Bruce. Bruce wrote in the 2011 Fishing Rodeo magazine that he was going to weigh in “anything from Guppies to Godzilla … and maybe a grandfather clock.”

“As long as I can remember Bruce has said he has weighed babies and gators … but nobody has brought in a grandfather clock. This was just for Bruce,” Mann said.

The day finished up with the party boats Sweet Jody and Destiny and charter boat Outta Line weighing in. The Sweet Jody took over a first place spot in the triggerfish category with an 8-pounder caught by John Bailey.

“We stayed on the beach today,” said Capt. Cliff Cox, noting how rough it was.

DAY 31

Again it was a slow start to the day.

The Don’t Hate came in around 4 p.m. with a 34.6-pound amberjack caught by David Shaffer of Texas for a second place spot on the leaderboard in the under-25 charter boat category.

Not long after an excited Don Boyes came walking up with a king mackerel he caught on his kayak.

“I worked hard to get him,” Boyes said. His king tilted the scales at 19-pounds and was good for a first place finish.

The Huntress came in with a blackfin tuna to be weighed by a senior angler. Capt. Graef looked at his angler and said, “Do you feel lucky?” Richard Tew, the 73-year-old angler replied “yes” and his tuna weighed in at 24.4 pounds for a first place spot on the board.

There were red grouper, gag grouper, triggerfish and mingo weighed throughout the evening. Even a speckled trout sporting a hula skirt was put on the scales, skirt and all. The trout caught by Jan Bowman weighed 3 pounds.

The private boat Tunnel Vision came in right before 6 p.m. as all the goblins and ghouls started mulling around the docks. Seth Meashey weighed in a 66.2-pound amberjack for a spot on the board.

At about 6:45 p.m., Capt. Mike Eller and the Viking crew aboard the Lady Em backed in with oars in the water tossing beads. The Vikings not only entertained the crowd, but they weighed in a few fish. Rodeo photographer John Brashears got on the daily board with a 27.6-pound gag grouper.

However, Brashears was knocked off by a 30.2-pounder caught by Russ Happney on the Al-Lin with Capt. Harold Staples.

The Al-Lin, the last boat to back in at the 2011 rodeo brought up one fish after the other and managed to get the board with four fish. The last of the evening was a 20.8-pound gag grouper caught by 73-year-old Ross Happney for a place in the senior division. His fish was entry 1,109.

It’s been a great rodeo with many memories.

See you at the docks.