World’s Luckiest Fishing Village

By Jennifer Otto

Destin is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the south. Every year, millions of visitors flock to the emerald green waters and sandy white beaches that make their home in this conveniently located city. Although most travelers prefer sun to fish, there are still those that come to town with a fishing pole in hand.

Destin – the World's Luckiest Fishing Village

Destin has been coined the “World’s Luckiest Fishing Village” for good reason. Known internationally for its quick access to deep water, Destin actually owns this title.

Within a half hour of leaving Destin shores, fishermen are greeted by water as deep as 60 feet. In fact, 100-foot depths are within 10 miles of shore. There is no other location in the Gulf of Mexico that allows such quick access to water of this depth.

History of Destin fishing

Although the history of Destin can be traced back to early American Indian settlers, its most recent history is what establishes Destin as the “World’s Luckiest Fishing Village.”

It all started with Capt. Leonard Destin in the late 1840s. Capt. Destin made his way from New London, Conn. and settled along the East Pass Peninsula in northern Florida. He worked quickly to pioneer the local fishing industry. Young men that found their way to the area were offered fishing jobs.

Capt. Destin was key in setting up the first fish camps in the area. The first of which was Moreno Point – a tract of land sold into private ownership by the government. By 1908, homes, churches and at least 18 fish camps sprung up along the coast.

Fishing continued to grow at rapid rates, attracting the world’s finest fishermen. “Uncle Billy" Marler and John Maltezos were among the first fishermen to explore local waters and experience first-hand why Destin waters are famous throughout the world.

Marler was the first to make his way to the area and a key historical figure in the shaping of Destin. He moved to the East Pass in 1879 to fish alongside Capt. Destin. Talented in woodwork, Marler built more than 100 boats in his lifetime.

Marler wore many hats in early Destin. He was a coffin maker, undertaker and postmaster. He conducted the first school and church services in his living room, and in 1899, he started the first post office in the parlor of his home.

Although Marler was a man of the community, fishing was his first passion. Historians credit him as the best fisherman to ever set foot in the area. It was Marler who named the sleepy fishing village Destin after its founder, Capt. Leonard Destin.

The transformation of Destin came in the 1920s as several boat captains wandered into the area seeing dollar signs. The city expanded and Destin quickly turned into a profit-making fishing village.

This idea of profit also spawned the tourism industry. Seasoned fishermen started offering guided fishing trips to wealthy travelers looking for big game fish. Charter fishing had a 100 percent success rate turning Destin into the Billfish capital of the Emerald Coast.

Maltezos, a business owner from Milton, made his way to Destin’s Moreno Point in 1922. Originally from Greece, he built up a prestigious reputation in the area for his boat building skills. In fact, a ship he built, "The Primrose," still sits in the Destin Historical Museum today.

Until this point, Destin was only accessible by boat. This all changed in the 1930s when the world was officially introduced to the fishing village with the construction of what we now call the Destin Bridge. The bridge still stands to this day on Highway 98, connecting Destin to its neighbor in Fort Walton Beach.

Electricity came to Destin in 1947. This led to several community projects including a community center. As a fundraiser for the center, locals held the first Destin Gulf Coast Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo in 1949. The Fishing Rodeo has continued as an annual tradition in Destin, attracting more than 30,000 fishermen each October to compete for more than $100,000 in prizes.

The growth of Destin continued around fishing and its now booming tourism industry. In 1984, Destin was officially chartered as a city. And, the rest is history …

Fishing for Fish

You can’t have a fishing village without plenty of fish. Destin is home to many varieties of fish of all shapes and sizes. Fish make their home here for the surplus of shelter provided to them by the natural reef, rock, grass and mud that line the seafloor.

Early fishermen were not content with the natural reef, so they made their own out of sunken ships, boats, barges, steel cages, concrete blocks, rocks and automobile bodies. The debris was carefully drained of pollutants and over the years merged with the natural vegetation and structure common to the seafloor.

Fish quickly discovered the abundance of shelter and safety found in Destin waters. With so much covering and delicious food, fish made their way to the area and grew to enormous proportions. In fact, fish got so big that a World Record for the largest Warsaw Grouper was set in 1985 in these very waters. A fisherman caught a 485-pound fighting fish!

Fish Found in Destin

Whether you choose to fish from a pier or take a boat out for trolling and deep sea fishing, Destin has no shortage of fish. Several fish species have made Destin their home over the years. Some of the most common varieties of fish are listed below:

• Cobia "ling" - Rachycentron canadum

• Redsnapper - Lutjanus campechanus

• Dolphin (the fish, not the mammal)- Coryphaena hippurus

• Yellow Fin Grouper - Mycterperca venenosa

• Florida Pompano - Trachinotus carolinus

• Flounder - Paralichthys albigutta

• Red Drum "redfish" - Sciaenops ocellatus

• Speckeled Trout - Cynoscion nebulosus

• King Mackerel - Scomberomorous cavalla

• Spanish Mackerel - Scomberomorous maculatus

• Cero "cero mackerel" - Scomberomorous regalis

• Greater Amberjack - Seriola dumerili

• Black Grouper - Mycteroperca bonaci

• Red Grouper - Epinephelus morio

• Ladyfish - Elops saurus

• Tarpon - Megalopsatlanticus

• Blue Marlin - Makaira nigricans

• Sheepshead - Archosargus probatocephalus

• Crevalle Jack - Caranx hippos