Destin, FL fishing?

[jackelope]

Has anyone fished the gulf out of Destin, FL? We're going there for spring break 2023 with my brother's family. My nephews love to fish and my brother does not. I'm going to take them fishing for a day and was just wondering if anyone has ever fished there and if there are any recommendations for a guide. I've heard the offshore grouper, snapper etc fishing is more straight forward and kid friendly than inshore fishing for reds, specks and such is. I've spoke to Nick Tate from Strictly Business Fishing and he seems to know what he's doing, but am always open to input.
Thanks

[chukar hunter]

Fished Pensacola in April 22 Offshore.  Went about 20 miles out and fished shipwrecks.  Fishing was incredible.  Non stop action with snapper.  Would be a great kid fishery, though water was pretty rough.  Best was sending live snapper back down and catching Amber Jack.  Hardest fighting fish I've tussled with. 

No experience inshore other than watching locals catch skates, cut them up and catch sharks off of the pier. 

[Seabass]

I can't wait to hear how this goes. Destin is a place my wife and I are interested in finding a "snowbird" place. I told her I need to fish out of there before I add my approval

[pickardjw]

I grew up fishing out of Gulf Shores and Dauphin Island, so a little further west of Destin. If the seasons work out, a snapper/grouper trip with some mahi/king/wahoo trolling after would be my top choice. Just not sure what they're doing with snapper seasons currently or if the charters down there will do both on the same trip.

If I'm not mistaken, April is near-shore Cobia sight fishing prime time. There should be charters running those trips. That would be my second choice. Might be cheaper given gas prices...I've caught plenty but never sight fishing. Have some buddies that got pretty obsessed with it.

Attached is from my last charter trip in 2015 and our Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo category winner Cobia from 2015 as well. 

[JimmyHoffa]

I think that time of year they still get a lot of yellowfin tuna in close
 I'd guess the weather will still be gray and rainy, but the wind would be off and on.  The gulf likely being choppy. Or you might get lucky on the weather.

[pianoman9701]

I grew up fishing out of Gulf Shores and Dauphin Island, so a little further west of Destin. If the seasons work out, a snapper/grouper trip with some mahi/king/wahoo trolling after would be my top choice. Just not sure what they're doing with snapper seasons currently or if the charters down there will do both on the same trip.

If I'm not mistaken, April is near-shore Cobia sight fishing prime time. There should be charters running those trips. That would be my second choice. Might be cheaper given gas prices...I've caught plenty but never sight fishing. Have some buddies that got pretty obsessed with it.

Attached is from my last charter trip in 2015 and our Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo category winner Cobia from 2015 as well. 

Cobia's a great tasting fish - very nice one.

I've fished out of Tampa, so around the bend a bit. We didn't get into any snapper but did get into amberjack and grouper. A lot of fun that day.

[jackelope]

All good info. Thanks guys. My stepdad and I tried to talk to the guy about tarpon but wrong time of year I guess.

Seabass I’ll let you know how it goes. First time there for us so no clue what we’re getting into. My stepdad rented a big house there and told us to show up, so we’re going for it. First time the cousins all have spring break at the same time.

[northwesthunter84]

I went with dad and uncle years ago. It was an August trip but the fishing was great. We did a full day. Catching bait in the morning was crazy. We trolled for wahoo and kings. Caught mackerel, bonitos, wahoo and a couple large barracuda. Wore my arms out reeling.

[jamesfromseattle]

I haven't fished Destin, but have have fished in AL near there in April. I did all inshore fishing for specs and reds and had a blast. Calm water and pretty laid back fishing. We were just casting bait. I think you can fly fish and sight fish for them, which would be a lot more involved, but any 10+ year old could have done what we did (we had a particularly tenacious 8 year old who did fine). Was fun for me because it's way different than anything I've ever done up here.

If the kids are younger, there seem to be quite a few outfits running shorter kid-friendly trips down there.

[jackelope]

Kids are 12 and 13.

Guide says he would recommend offshore with the kids because of the variety of fish. Said if the water is too rough he’d take us inshore and find some fish the kids can catch easily enough. There will definitely be a couple fly rods onboard, but those are for the big kids(me).

[pickardjw]

Sounds like a good guide. Looks like he's running a 23' cape horn. Should handle 3'-4' waves offshore fine, which is a pretty typical forecast. Anything more than that or building may get uncomfortable. You'll probably run 20+ miles for anything offshore, so if you or the kids are seasick prone pack Dramamine.

No sun or rain protection on the boat either, not even a t-top so pack sun and/or rain gear. If it's gonna rain, it'll rain HARD. Not like PNW rain. Soaked through in 5 seconds.

Unfortunately, that boat probably drafts a lot so sight fishing for reds inshore will probably be out. And no tower, so no cobia sight fishing. But I see some specks, reds and sheepshead in his pics so that will be fun either way. If you've never seen or eaten sheepshead...they're wild lookin and take amazing fried! But what doesn't? 

[jackelope]

He’s got a bay boat too for inshore stuff.
Offshore


Inshore

[Miles]

Join some FB pages for fishing in the area.  You’ll get lots of local input on the quality operations.  I moved to Pensacola a little over a year ago and found lots of fishing info in some of the groups.

Don’t overlook Pompano fishing from the beach during that time of year.  Can be done without a guide and with minimal expense.  Pomp rig, sinker, and fish gum.

[Miles]

3 of us And 45 minutes of fishing the first week in April. 

[idaho guy]

  following i will be on marcos island same time frame

[cavemann]

You'll have a blast off shore.  Keep in mind, a rough day there is a Monday bar crossing here.  My brother in law lives there and guides a little.  I'll see if he has a recommendation, he is out of the business now.  I will say, bay fishing is fun but felt like bass fishing and similar experience to home.  We went offshore one day and it was a blast. 

Either way it's a great "resort" town for families.  Very low key but still get the beach town feel.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[thinkingman]

I'm a little late to this party but Destin has a deep family history with me.
My parents went there on their honeymoon...1963.
My dad fished there regularly.
He won the Destin Rodeo in 1968...36lb 8oz Red Snapper. $1250 prize was big money in those days.
They dressed them out at the weigh in dock back then....Not sure what it weighed whole.
He was a celebrity in town for a while.

My sister was there last year with her boyfriend and stopped in the Destin Fishing Hall of Fame looking for pictures of my dad. She found one and the gentleman standing behind her was an older guy, one of the local tour guides, and he casually mentioned he was the captain of the boat that day...Ben Marler Jr.
My sister just lost it when he told her he remembered that day in 1968 when my dad caught that fish.

Anyway, the Marler Family is pretty much the founding family of Destin and has been running party boats for deep sea fishing forever.
That's who I would use.
I would rather pay to have kids on a party boat than the expense of a guided charter.
Not sure how deep sea fishing is in April. The tournaments were always run in late summer/early fall to extend the tourist season.
Good luck.

[turkeyfeather]

I was stationed at Eglin AFB right there near Destin. Beautiful place and the couple time we went fishing......we caught a variety of things. Including a little shark.

[pickardjw]

Back in Alabama for a couple weddings. Went out yesterday and our sheepshead trip turned into a redfish trip. Got a 31", a 29" and a 28" and lost a couple. Almost forgot what it's like fighting fish like this! If you can get on some reds in Destin they are insanely fun.

[jackelope]

Figured I’d circle back on this. Went to Destin. Didn’t fish. We were booked on Wednesday to go offshore and the guide canceled due to forecasted thunderstorms. Rescheduled to Friday because it looked good. Thursday came. Wind was cooking. Double red flag warnings on the beaches. Huge waves. Sheriffs patrolling the beaches to make sure nobody was going in the water. Calmed down Thursday evening.  Great communication with the guide. Talked to him Thursday night and we agreed to wait to decide till Friday morning. Friday morning came and the buoy he got weather info off of 30 miles out wasn’t transmitting. Asked if we were ok waiting a little for daylight. He ran his boat out a ways to see what was up. Came back and called. We agreed to cancel because of the kids. He said if it was just adults going, he would have gone but the kids would have got their butts kicked out there in 6’ seas. All in all I wish we could have gone but the guide was great in communicating and doing what he could to get us out there. We ended up renting some canoes that day and paddled to Crystal Spring in the Ponce de Leon State Park. Wow what an experience that was. The water was so clear it was like snorkeling in air. Freshwater mullets and bass all over the place. No gators were seen.
This is who we tried really hard to use:

https://www.strictlybusinessfishing.com

I wish I could be posting a review for a fishing trip but I’ll say Capt Nick did all he could to get us out there.





Also hit Crab Island one day.

[idaho guy]

We were in Florida around same time and went fishing out of Marco island. We fished the backwater and it was not good. Caught some really small snapper. Like not even 10” ha ha. Oh well I probably should have done my homework before randomly getting a charter. Fun to get out of the snow