SPORTS

Brackin Cobb is big winner in Legendary Marine Destin Fishing Class Bay Tournament

The Destin Log

There was no doubt when one of the students had a fish on at the Legendary Marine Destin Fishing Class Bay Tournament on Wednesday. As soon as you saw one them blazing a trail down the finger docks to the tournament tent for the net, it was apparent they had a fish on line.

About 15 students from Capt. Mike Parker’s fishing class at Destin High School participated in an end of school year fishing tournament on Wednesday at Legendary Marine at the foot of the Mid-Bay Bridge in Destin.

Destin High sophomore Brackin Cobb shows off his 3.7-pound speckled trout he caught in the Legendary Marine Destin Fishing Class Bay Tournament on Wednesday. Cobb said it's the biggest trout he has ever caught.

“The kids really got into it,” said Capt. Parker.

And when the call for the net went out, the kids also came running.

“They flock to it … they want to see it,” Parker said.

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The students had two hours to catch the heaviest fish. Eligible species were trout, black drum, redfish and black snapper. There were prizes for the top three fish weighed in.

Brackin Cobb, a sophomore, placed first and second with his fish.

About 15 students from the Destin High School fishing class participated in a bay tournament on Wednesday at Legendary Marine.

About an hour into the tournament, Cobb landed a 3.7-pound speckled trout that measured 24 inches.

“That’s the biggest one I’ve ever caught,” said a stoked Cobb.

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Cobb landed the trout by free-lining a live shrimp on 15-pound test line.

The trout put him in first place, until he reeled in a black drum about 30 minutes later. The black drum weighed in at 7.11 pounds.

Capt. Mike Parker weighs a speckled trout for the students. Blake Napier, left, is the young man who caught the 2.3-pound trout. Also pictured is Logan Fleener. Napier's trout finished in third place.

“I was reeling up … he ate it on the way in,” Cobb said of the black drum.

His black drum finished in first place and was good for a five-hour fishing trip aboard 30A Light Tackle. His second-place trout earned him a Shimano rod and reel.

Placing third was ninth-grader Blake Napier with a 2.3-pound trout. Napier actually caught the first fish of the tournament. He was also free-lining a live shrimp. For his catch he won a Yeti water jug.

Napier said he also hooked a red drum but lost it.

All the students pitched in to help Ana Vizcarrondo release a small stingray she caught during the bay tournament at Legendary Marine on Wednesday.

Wyatt Hinze weighed in a 7-ounce mangrove snapper and another young man weighed in a sheepshead.

Sailor Harrison broke a couple of big fish off.

Ana Vizcarrondo, the only girl on the docks, was using shrimp for bait as well. About a half hour in she reeled in a small stingray. The guys gathered around and were quick to say, “stay away from the tail.”

Doyle Taylor, a ninth-grader, was hoping for a black drum or a redfish but caught neither.

Brackin Cobb shows off the winning fish of the Legendary Marine Destin Fishing Class Bay Tournament, a 7.11-pound black drum.

Nevertheless, Taylor said of the tournament and fishing class, “it’s really cool … I like it a lot.”

Destin High School is the first in the area to offer a fishing class for students. The tournament was just one of their many field trips throughout the year.