Party on the water

DESTIN — When it comes to fishing on the Gulf of Mexico in the chilly season, the party boats seem to be the boat of choice.

“For the return on my money, it’s the way to go,” said Tom Milliren of Pennsylvania.

Milliren, who stays in Pace when he winters on the coast, says he tries to go fishing about three times a week when he is here.

On Wednesday, Milliren pulled in a couple of triggerfish and a red grouper while fishing on the party boat Destiny with Capt. Trey Windes.

Winter rates for the party boat Destiny and Destin Princess are $65 for an eight-hour trip and $50 for a six hour, according to reservation manager Marti Carpenter.

“We get a few regulars this time of year, but mainly it’s the seniors,” she said.

“We had a bang-up summer,” Carpenter said. “It was the busiest ever … high volume. And last week we had a week just like summer, but just with one boat.”

The party boats in Destin hold anywhere from 40 passengers and up, and can be found all along the harbor. At HarborWalk Marina there is the Swoop and Swoop II and behind AJ’s there is the New Florida Girl and the New Florida Girl’s American Spirit. At Fishing Fleet Marina where Destiny and the Destin Princess dock, there is also the Sweet Jody.

Aboard the party boats this time of year, anglers catch mingo, white snapper, triggerfish, grouper, scamp and amberjack.

The Swoop made it out on the Gulf Wednesday with 25 anglers aboard. The group brought in mingo, red grouper and amberjack on the six-hour trip.

The Destiny also had 25 customers aboard.

“It was a good fishing today,” said Capt. Windes of the Destiny. They were fishing about 20 miles offshore.

“It was a little cold this morning,” but it got better as the day progressed, he said.

Athea Baughn of Michigan, who was fishing aboard the boat with her husband Jim, was quick to say, “We did not bring this cold weather down here.”

The temperatures Wednesday morning dipped down into the low ’30s, but by midday reached the 50s.

“It wasn’t too bad, it was a lot better than at home,” Jim said.

“It was 4 degrees at home yesterday,” Athea chimed in. “Actually it was nice out. I went out with layers and it didn’t take long to get down to my T-shirt.”

Other customers agreed.

“This morning it was pretty chilly when the wind picked up,” said Claire Winchester of Texas. “But it warmed up pretty good.

“On the sun-side of the boat it was nice,” said Rex Cooksey also of Texas. “But we were ready for it.” The twosome, along with Landon Bowersock, pulled in a stringer full of white snapper and triggerfish.

Deckhand Chris "Tater Tot" McConnell said it was so cold Wednesday morning when he got down to the boat, that the dock and deck were frozen.

But passengers on board don’t need to be captive to the cold.

“You can always go inside where it’s heated,” Milliren said. “And you can socialize with people.”

The party boats run most every day, but they need 15 to 18 people to make a trip.