Big John lands biggest of week in Summer Slam
After almost two months of fishing and 838 fish weighed in, Capt. Todd Allen and his crew on the Big John continue to bring in the big fish in the third annual Summer Slam fishing tournament at the Boathouse Oyster Bar on Destin harbor.
With a hurricane out in the Gulf of Mexico last week, it made the seas a bit rough at times, thus not many fish were weighed for week eight of the Slam, according to weighmaster Amber Helton.
But despite the conditions, 22 fish were brought to the scales with the Big John weighing in the two largest of the week, a 26.8-pound red snapper and a 23 pound to up their total in the Pounders Division to 1,417.8 pounds of fish for a federal boat.
The Pounders Division is a running tally for the tournament of pounds of fish brought to the scales by participating boats. Each boat can weigh two red snapper and two gag grouper per trip. And starting Aug. 1 they will be able to weigh in amberjack as well, just as snapper rolls off the catch list.
Capt. Josh Glidden on the Just Reel leads the state boats with 456.9 pounds of fish in the Pounders Division, while Capt. Forrest Dalton on the Sea Bandit leads the private boats with 321.8 pounds.
In the Red Snapper Division, Capt. Robert Hill on the Twilight leads the federal boats with a 28.4 pounder.
With red snapper season coming to close on July 25 in state waters, Capt. Jason Rogers of the Great Escape won the state boat division with an 18 pounder, and Capt. Toye Hill on the Angler won the private boat category with a 24.6 pounder.
In the Grouper Division, the Twilight sits atop the board with a 54.4 pounder for the federal boats. In the state boats, Capt. Zach Wolfe on the Malia Ann leads with a 13 pounder, and Coastline Tree Service has the biggest grouper on a private boat, 38 pounds.
In the Ladies Division, Capt. Chris Schofield on the No Alibi has the largest snapper, a 24 pounder, and Capt. Casey Godwin on the Suzie Q has the biggest grouper at 33.6 pounds.
In the Juniors Division, Big John holds top snapper, 16.2 pounds, and top grouper, 13.2 pounds.
The Summer Slam started June 1 and runs through Aug. 9. Scales are open daily from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. at the Boathouse.
This Saturday, Aug. 1, there will be a mini-addition to the Summer Slam, the Garbo Championship. This one-day event is for federal boats only. Boats will be able to weigh in their two largest red snapper, two largest grouper and one amberjack. So there will be four winners, one for the largest of each species and then an aggregate winner for all five fish.
Helton said the scales will be open until 8 p.m. on Saturday to accommodate some of the longer trips.