Fishing not just for the weekends

Midweek fishing out of Destin proved to be mighty fine this week with plenty of fish hitting the docks.

The Backlash with Capt. Chris Kirby at the helm backed in with four amberjack, a flounder, mingo and white snapper. His anglers from Arkansas had a blast.

“We had a big time,” one of the guys said as he posed for photographs with the fish. “If I had caught a bunch of those amberjack, I’d have to hand the rod off.”

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Amberjack is a pretty hard-pulling fish and can wear an angler out, which this reporter can attest to first hand.

Missouri and Indiana anglers on the Sea Winder with Capt. Chris Couvillion reeled in three amberjack, a scamp, lane snapper and mingo.

Capt. Stan Phillips on the Destination and his group from Arkansas filled the racks with amberjack, eight to be exact. They also had a few mingo and white snapper in the mix.

Capt. Phillips said they almost had a bonus fish — a cobia.

“We saw one right off the pass,” Phillips said. They threw a jig at it but couldn’t get it to eat.

Anglers from Crystal River on the Checkmate 2 with Capt. George Eller filled the boards with mingo and white snapper.

Capt. Scott Robson and his anglers from Kansas loaded up with mingo and white snapper on the Phoenix.

The New Florida Girl party boat with Capt. Jim Westbrook at the helm pulled in with several stringers loaded with mingo and white snapper.

Conner Kirsling who was aboard the New Florida Girl with his dad Mark had a big time on his first “deep sea” fishing trip.

“It was awesome,” Conner said.

“It beats drilling a hole through 2-feet of ice,” his dad said, noting that just a couple of weeks ago in Wisconsin that’s what they were doing in order to ice fish.

“They should call it waiting not fishing,” Mark said about ice fishing.

The only ice on the docks in Destin can be found in the coolers and fish boxes — as it should be.

Capt. Jason Hindman on the Suzie Q and crew came in from a four-hour trip with several mingo and white snapper.

Huntsville, Ala. anglers on the Huntress with Capt Mike Graef came in with a rack full of amberjack, mingo and white snapper.

The Cox brothers, Capt. David and his twin Paul, the deckhand, on the Al-Le reeled in a nice-sized cobia on Wednesday.

The 43-pound cobia, was one of triple they saw down east. Prior to seeing the threesome, they saw a single cobia.

“He didn’t want anything to do with us,” David said, noting it didn’t take the bait.

However, when they came up on the triple, the mid-size fish took the bait, which was a jig made by Paul. Not giving away the color of the jig, Paul says that’s the second cobia they caught on that jig this year.

Although the brothers are not entered in any of the local cobia tournaments, David said, “We were itching to get out there and catch one.”

So if you’re itching to get in on the action, don’t just wait until the weekend, go when you can.

See you at the docks.