Labor Day is both a major US holiday and the unofficial end of the fishing season in many parts of the country. Many anglers take to the water for the last time of the year over this weekend, with coastal locations being especially in demand.
In order to find out what the most popular fishing destinations are for the Labor Day weekend, we analyzed our booking data for this year and last, identifying which spots are trending, which are stayers, and which are lagging behind.
Key Trends
- Destin rose by nine places to take over the first spot from Galveston, which dropped to fourth place. Panama City Beach gained four spots to claim second place, while Ocean City, MD, rose by two spots to third place.
- The places with the biggest rise in popularity are St. Augustine (up 96 spots), Clearwater (up 70 spots), and Grand Haven (up 61 spots).
- There’s just one newcomer in the top 10 (Orange Beach), but eight newcomers in the top 20 (Clearwater, Wanchese, St. Petersburg, North Myrtle Beach, Freeport, St. Augustine, Grand Haven, and Calabash).
- When dividing the top 20 by states, Florida is the top contributor with seven destinations, followed by Texas, North Carolina, and South Carolina with three spots each. Maryland, Virginia, Alabama, California, and Michigan all have one town in the top 20.
These are the most popular fishing spots in the US for the 2024 Labor Day weekend, as well as the trends compared to the year before:
| Position (2024) | Destination | Position (2023) | Change from 2023 |
| 1 | Destin, FL | 10 | +9 |
| 2 | Panama City Beach, FL | 6 | +4 |
| 3 | Ocean City, MD | 5 | +2 |
| 4 | Galveston, TX | 1 | -3 |
| 5 | Virginia Beach, VA | 4 | -1 |
| 6 | Hilton Head Island, SC | 2 | -4 |
| =6 | Port Aransas, TX | 3 | -3 |
| 8 | Orange Beach, AL | 12 | +4 |
| 9 | Murrells Inlet, SC | 10 | +1 |
| 10 | Key West, FL | 6 | -4 |
| 11 | Clearwater, FL | 81 | +70 |
| =11 | Fort Lauderdale,FL | 9 | -2 |
| =11 | San Diego, CA | 12 | +1 |
| 14 | Wanchese, NC | 22 | +8 |
| 15 | St. Petersburg, FL | 29 | +14 |
| =15 | North Myrtle Beach, SC | 39 | +24 |
| 17 | Freeport, TX | 70 | +53 |
| =17 | St. Augustine, FL | 113 | +96 |
| =17 | Carolina Beach, NC | 12 | -5 |
| 20 | Grand Haven, MI | 81 | +61 |
| =20 | Calabash, NC | 21 | +1 |
In 2023, these were the top 20 most popular fishing destinations for the Labor Day weekend:
| Position | Destination |
| 1 | Galveston, TX |
| 2 | Hilton Head Island, SC |
| 3 | Port Aransas, TX |
| 4 | Virginia Beach, VA |
| 5 | Ocean City, MD |
| 6 | Key West, FL |
| =6 | Panama City Beach, FL |
| 8 | South Padre Island, TX |
| 9 | Fort Lauderdale, FL |
| 10 | Destin, FL |
| 11 | Murrells Inlet, SC |
| 12 | Honolulu, HI |
| =12 | Orange Beach, AL |
| =12 | Corpus Christi, TX |
| =12 | San Diego, CA |
| =12 | Carolina Beach, NC |
| 17 | Biloxi, MS |
| =17 | Lakeside Marblehead, OH |
| =17 | Mount Pleasant, SC |
| =17 | Lorain, OH |
Methodology
We compared the number of bookings for US destinations during the Labor Day weekend of 2024 (August 31–September 2) to the number of fishing trips booked through FishingBooker during the Labor Day weekend of 2023 (September 2–4). This was based on nearly 2,000 bookings in 2024, up 24% from 2023.
Then, we identified some top trends: the new leader, the situation in the top three, the destination with the biggest rise in popularity, the newcomers in the top 10 and the top 20, and the states with the most entries in the top 20.
