I took my 10 yo son for a 4 Hr AM local off shore fishing trip. He has wanted to go for a few years now and I’m not an expert at saltwater fishing. Parking was easy and used Harbor Docks parking lot, as the boat is parked behind at their dock. We wore sunshirts, hats and sunscreen and croc type shores ate a must when it’s 90+deg daily. The Captain fixed all my worries of saltwater fishing as he used his 30+ years of experience to handle the “hard” part: boat driving, baiting/hooking lines, casting, gaffing and getting fish off. We had a wonderful day as we started with catching bait fish just outside the Destin harbor, seemed like 20+ fish in 30 minutes. This was fun for the kid as he was able to bring in 5 fish on one cast while we bait fished. He definitely was beating me, which was a huge thrill for him. We then made our way out to a farther off shore spot and BOOM! We were shocked as it was Fish-ON from the get go. We had two bait fish lines out and next thing we knew both lines made the whirring & zooming sounds of fish taking the bait and running fast away. The next three hours were a blur as we reeled in Spanish mackerel and King mackerel non-stop. I guess we had a lucky day and we were tired from reeling in fish who gave a really good fight for the whole time reeling them in one after another. Overall it was an awesome and amazing experience. Dawn Patrol made it easy. We were ready to come back after the 4 hours because we were exhausted as it was in the 90’s and humid the whole time. T-storms rolled in two hours later so we timed it perfect. We ended up with a total of a DOZEN king and Spanish mackerel total brought back. There were quite a few that either cut us off or stole the bait and lived to see another day. There were also at least 4-5 more reeled in that we had to release as they were juveniles that were under the regulations size. Overall, awesome and we’ll likely return to the Dawn Patrol again someday. Best of luck and now we LOVE Destin fishing and had a lifetime experience as a Father-son.
