Our First Trip to Destin, Fl

Many cities in the U.S. are known for something special. Las Vegas, Nevada is famous for gambling and entertainment. Austin, Texas is known for a lively music scene, even though Nashville, Tennessee might dispute that. Destin, Florida claims the title for fishing. That’s why it’s called “the World’s Luckiest Fishing Village” by the residents. Destin is home to over 140 charter fishing boats, which I’ve heard is the largest in the country. It’s about 338 miles from Roswell, GA, which is well-within 6 hours of driving. If you are an early riser, you could leave from metro Atlanta area and eat lunch in Destin.

So in October of 2008, my husband and I took our first trip to the popular tourist destination that is said to offer excellent fishing. We booked our stay at a condo called Club Destin. As I remember it, the place was quite comfortable, had a kitchen, an indoor pool, and reasonably priced. As I’ve mentioned earlier, I’m not into boating of any kind. Even a slight possibility of drowning frightens me, and the inevitable seasickness is another huge drawback. So we did some online search and learned that we could fish off the Okaloosa Island Pier. It was only about 10 minutes from our condo. So after a good night’s sleep on day 1, we headed off to the pier. I have to say, Destin is a beautiful city. There were many miles of white sandy beach, and the bridge crossing the Destin Harbor offered a beautiful view of the barrier island where the pier is located. It was our first time at a fishing pier with an admission fee, so we did not know what to expect. After opening a huge sliding door and paying our fee ($7 per person for all day), we walked to the length of the pier to find a nice spot. There were already at least thirty people fishing and naturally we were very curious as to what they were catching. Spanish mackerel was the fish of the moment, and I was giddy with excitement. I used a heavy metal lure shaped to look like a baitfish. I really didn’t know what I had to do to catch that beautiful Spanish mackerel. I just threw my line as far as I could and jiggled my plain 6 feet long rod hoping some fish will strike it. After about 30 minutes, one did. I was so happy!

But the real fun was at night time. We tried our luck after the sunset, and my husband caught a big redfish on small shrimp bait. It was so strong we had to use a bucket and rope to haul it up to the pier. Our first trip to Destin was excellent, though we would have loved to catch more fish.