FISHING

FWC announces opening of fall recreational red snapper season in Gulf

On Thursday, October 6, 2022, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) announced the opening of the fall red snapper season for private recreational anglers and state for-hire operations in the Gulf of Mexico on the following weekends: 

• Oct. 8-9
• Oct. 15-16 
• Oct. 22-23 
• Nov. 11-13 
• Nov. 25-27 

During this season, private recreational anglers may harvest red snapper in Gulf state and federal waters. However, state for-hire operations are limited to fishing for red snapper in Gulf state waters only. FWC says they will continue to monitor harvest relative to Florida’s available quota. 

Back in April, Governor Ron DeSantis made the 2022 Gulf Red Snapper season announcement at Aj’s Seafood and Oyster Bar in Destin, Florida. This year’s season will last a total of 57 days that includes both the summer and fall seasons. This will be the longest combined season that has ever been available for anglers since state management began.

“These additional days of fishing means that families can take advantage of the holiday weekends and have a great time off of Florida’s coast in places like Destin,” said DeSantis. “We know that they love the red snapper here in Destin and why not? It’s a great thing. This has been going on since the 1800s and we appreciate what it means to the culture of our state.”

According to FWC, these additional days would not be possible without the State Reef Fish Survey (SRFS). The State Reef Fish Survey was developed specifically to provide more robust data for management of red snapper and other important reef fish, and has allowed FWC the unprecedented opportunity to manage Gulf red snapper in state and federal waters. 

“We love red snapper here in Destin-Fort Walton beach, and they love our waters mostly because we have the most active artificial reef program in the state,” said Jennifer Adams, Okaloosa Tourism Director, in the April announcement.

• In 2019, recreational saltwater fishing contributed more than $74 million to the local economy with more than 830 jobs.

To learn more about the recreational red snapper season in Gulf state and federal waters, including season size and bag limits, visit MyFWC.com/Fishing and click on “Saltwater Fishing,” “Recreational Regulations” and select “Snappers.” 

COMING SOON

‘Akers of Strawberries’ is making a comeback!

On Wednesday, Akers of Strawberries announced in a Facebook post that the Baker, Florida farm will return for the 2023 Strawberry season!

In their announcement, they said the farm would reopen under new ownership and with a new name. No further details were given, but we certainly have something to look forward to next year.

The farm is located at 1074 Melton Road in Baker, FL 32531

A MESSAGE FROM STEP ONE

Step One Automotive Group recognized in AutoSuccess Champions of Charity Program

Step One Automotive Group has been named a Champions of Charity honoree by AutoSuccess, a Babcox Media brand. 

• The Champions of Charity program recognizes automotive industry companies that are making a difference in their communities, businesses and beyond with their charitable acts and donations.

“This program was derived from our years of observations of charitable deeds on all sides of the automotive industry,” said AutoSuccess Publisher Susan Givens. “The AutoSuccess team has wanted to showcase the amazing companies that do good in their communities and throughout the U.S., and now with our program sponsor, Velocity Automotive, we are able to do just that.”

Step One Automotive Group recently celebrated its first five years in business and was named “Business of the Year” by the Okaloosa County School District for their support and partnership in schools. Prioritizing local community initiatives and fostering a service-oriented company culture in its dealerships remain at the forefront of the company’s mission.

“For us at Step One Automotive Group, leaving a legacy in the communities we serve is part of our mission as an organization and something that we take very seriously,” said Maureen Bierman, Step One Automotive Group Director of Marketing and Communications. 

Step One partners with charitable organizations including:

• HSU Foundation
• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Emerald Coast
• Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation
• Saving with Soul Pet Rescue
• Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center
• Local military groups
• And many more

The class of 15 honorees appears in a special section of the magazine’s September 2022 issue as well as online at AutoSuccessOnline.com and in various social media promotions across multiple platforms.  

THINGS TO DO

Goofy Golf offers FREE day of golf in honor of late founder Bob Fleskes

On Saturday, October 8, 2022, Goofy Golf in Fort Walton Beach will honor the late founder, Robert “Bob” Fleskes, with a day of free golf!

Whether you knew him as “Mr. Goofy” or just “Bob,” Robert J. Fleskes left an enduring memory on the local community.

• For 42 years he owned and operated Goofy Golf in Fort Walton Beach. 
• Bob passed away on August 17, 2022 in Niceville at the age of 88.

With his playful smile and teasing sense of humor he connected with thousands of visitors and residents. Bob’s life was dedicated to entertaining, said his daughter Selena Fleskes Rogers.

Current owner, Chris Clements, worked for Bob for a number of years before buying the business from him. 

“Every time I think about Goofy Golf, I can see his face,” he said. “I can see him and Faye [Bob’s wife] because they’re the ones that brought me into all of this and where I’m at now because of them.”

Guests are invited to play Goofy Golf for FREE from 10AM to 8PM on Saturday, October 8, 2022.

• “We hope that you will stop by and join us for a round of golf or to share your memories of Bob and Goofy Golf with his family which will be there throughout the day,” said Selena Fleskes Rogers.

COASTAL RESOURCES

Two Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) Buoys redeployed off coast of Destin-Fort Walton Beach

Early this Friday morning, FADs No. 5 & 6 were re-deployed off the coast of Destin-Fort Walton Beach after breaking loose nearly one year ago.

The Okaloosa County Coastal Resource Team deployed the first four Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) buoys on August 11, 2020. The deployment took place at four locations found 60-80 miles off the Destin-Fort Walton Beach shore and is the first FAD buoy deployment in the continental United States. 

• In January 2021, the final round of FADs were deployed, completing the Captain Kelly Windes eight-buoy network.

The first four buoys proved to be a success very early on. There were reports that a variety of pelagic fish species such as tuna, marlin, and mahi mahi were caught at the FAD sites shortly after deployment.

In January 2022, Get The Coast reported that two of the buoys had broken loose and had to be recovered.

“Each of the eight fads has a GPS beacon on it, where every 12 hours it sends out a location and we’re able to make sure that the FAD is on station, where we deployed it, or if it breaks loose, it allows us to track it and recover it,” said Alex Fogg, Coastal Resource Manager for Visit Destin-Fort Walton Beach, back in January. 

According to Fogg, notifications are sent out if the FAD drifts more than a mile from its deployment location. On October 4, 2021, he started receiving a notification that FAD No. 6 was no longer on station.

Walter Marine out of Orange Beach, Alabama was tasked with recovering the rogue FAD. This is the same contractor who deployed the FADs and many of the artificial reefs offshore Destin-Fort Walton Beach.

But just as they got a handle on one buoy, FAD No. 5 started reporting that it was off station, and Fogg had to go through the same process of recovering it.

• FAD No. 5’s design is a bit different from the previous buoy. This buoy has about 100 feet of chain that connects to the buoy, that then connects to some of the same line down to the anchor.

Once recovered, Fogg and friends did a full investigation to determine why both FADs broke loose. 

“We suspect it was a combination of impacts from deep water trawlers and people tying up to the fads, which impacted them and caused them to break loose,” said Fogg.

After a series of supply chain delays, the new line finally arrived, the concrete anchor was poured, and the Coastal Resource Team was ready to redeploy the two FADs just in time to kick-off the Destin Fishing Rodeo. 

“It won’t take these FADs very long to start holding fish,” said Fogg. “With them being the only structure out there in a pretty featureless area, it is going to attract a lot of those pelagic fish.”

Since being deployed in 2020, the network of FADs has exceeded expectations, drawing in fishermen from as far away as Mexico Beach, Florida all the way over to Venice, Louisiana. 

“Just this past Spring, a dozen Blue Marlin were caught on one of the FADs,” added Fogg. “Lots of Yellowfin tuna, Bluefin tuna, and Wahoo. It’s also been a great opportunity for us to do a little bit of research out there, specifically with fish movement and detection around these sites.”

As you can imagine, the recovery and redeployment process is costly on the county. 

The lifespan of these FADs is supposed to be five years or more before maintenance and other things have to happen. Fogg says that he and his team will learn from these issues, but also asks that vessel operators learn as well. 

“We really want to encourage folks to not tie up to these FADs,” explained Fogg. “Regardless of whether you think they are able to hold your boat, it’s unneeded stress on these buoys and it can ruin it for everybody.”

• Additionally, there is a lot of other equipment on the FADs, such as lights, radar reflectors, and the buoy itself, that could be damaged by people tying off to them.

“It’s not a cheap process,” added Fogg. “Regardless of the cause of failure, we need to do everything that we can to prevent unneeded stress on these buoys. Tying off is definitely an unneeded stress.”

Fogg says that he and his team go out to inspect the buoys once per quarter, and when they pull up to the buoys, they’re covered in anchor lines and dock lines, along with other things that people are using to tie off to them.

“We have this awesome resource out there that is being negatively impacted by those who maybe aren’t considering that what they’re doing is not so good for those buoys,” he added.

Cost isn’t the only thing to worry about

Aside from recovery and redeployment costs, there is another thing to keep in mind: The county has active permits right now for the FADs. But when those permits expire, there’s no guarantee that they will be able to renew those permits.

“There’s been a lot of changes in some of the endangered species that are out there and where their essential habitat is located. That essential habitat now encompasses the FADs,” he said. “Redeploying within that area may be very difficult once our permit has expired.”

If the county is unable to renew the permits, the existing FADs within the network would be allowed to stay in perpetuity. However, if one FAD broke loose again, the county would not be able to redeploy the FAD. 

Re-deployments aside, Fogg is happy to see FADs 5 & 6 back in the water. 

“I suspect that there will be plenty of rodeo fish caught at these FADs over the next three weeks or so, along with the existing FADs,” he added. 

Click here for the coordinates.