Special Red Snapper Season Opens At Grayton Beach

Calm seas, perfect skies and clear water made for a successful reopening of the 2010 red snapper season on Friday, as local fishing boat captains and their lucky crews launched from Grayton beach shortly after sunrise.

A few hours later, happy anglers returned with their catch in hopes of claiming cash prizes. Grayton Beach fisherman Edmond Alexander organized the event and served as scale master.

"A few days ago I was contacted by an anonymous benefactor who wanted to help out our local fishing boat captains, Alexander said. "It's been a tough year for us along the gulf coast and he wanted to lend a hand by getting the word out that the coast is clear and the fish are biting."

The special season runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from October 1 until November 21 in an effort by Federal and State officials to make up for the unusually short 45-day first season, a result of the oil spill in the gulf. It's hoped that reopening the season will bring visitors back to local beaches and oil-free gulf waters.

Grayton Beach allows boat launching from the beach with a special permit, giving anglers the unique ability to catch a wide variety of popular game fish within minutes of hitting the beach.

Alexander presented cash awards for the largest and second-largest red snapper brought back to Grayton Beach by noon. The captain of the of boat with the largest snapper was also given a cash prize.

Captain Jody Wesley of Santa Rosa Beach had the winning team for the event as his charter captured first and second place. Local resident Brandon Jones took first place with with a 13.6 pound red snapper while his friend Jeff Cooper took second place with a 10.6 pound red snapper.

It was a good day for all of the Grayton Beach captains and anglers. There were many fish that were just ounces away from the winners and all of the local boats brought in excellent catches of large grouper, trigger fish and king mackerel in addition to the prized red snapper.

"The weather is perfect and the water is clean and clear," said Alexander. "The fish are bending our poles and we want folks to come down and share good times with us."