Getting Lucky In Destin Florida

Welcome back first timers. If you've been following along with us, then you know that

our channel focuses on the Emerald Coast. We like to highlight events, activities

and businesses all throughout this area. But one thing that you guys have constantly been

asking for is for us to get out there and try fishing. Now we've tried some fishing in a couple

videos before, but we've never been very successful. So today we're going right to

the experts to see if we can have better luck. We put a poll on our Instagram page asking you guys

to let us know of your favorite bait and tackle shop here on the Emerald Coast. And while we got

a lot of recommendations from a number of local spots, the one that kept coming up over and over

again was Emerald Coast Bait and Tackle. We're here at Emerald Coast Bait and Tackle where we're going to meet up with one of the

owners, Josh. Him and his wife, Anna, own this place. They've been gracious enough to invite us out to help us figure out our setup

They're some of the best anglers out here on the Emerald Coast. We do have a couple of fishing poles from our freshwater fishing days

We're going to see if there's any chance that we can use these out here in the saltwater

But we also want to see about getting a setup that's dedicated just for fishing and the golf and the bay

Just walking into the shop, you are going to be greeted and overwhelmed with the sheer amount of stuff that they have

They have kayaks. They have a discount rack right out front. There's clothes

There's hats. They have every single Yeti color, shape, size, known to man

They have ice chest. They have a crazy amount of bait. We just looked at the frozen bait

they have all kinds of stuff. They even have stingray but you have to ask because it's in the

back. But then they have live bait. I mean I don't know all the differences between the bait and I

hope we're going to learn that today or at least over time but any bait you need I think they have

it here. And we're not even to the fishing equipment side of the house. We're just in the

cups sweaters and hats section. This is insane. We're a little bit early for our meet up with

Josh so we're going to just cruise around the store and check out some of the equipment. Probably need one of these for all our catches

Might need one of these. Looks like a giant beer ball, maybe. Probably need one of these

And definitely some hooks, lines, and sinkers. It has to be said, this place is so well-stocked and organized

Like, everything is in its perfect spot. It's crazy how it's color coordinated by size, shape and everything

And I'm sure that's the way it should be. But dang, it's impressive at how perfectly all of these things are placed

And it seems like with a rhyme and a reason. For me, I think I would just wander around picking up stuff for hours

But I think the fact that it's so well organized makes it really easy to come in here and try and find the things that you're looking for

Even though it's packed to the gills, pun intended, with things to catch fish

even though they have all this stuff i'm pretty sure these are the star of the show

i know i say this often but the options are endless but i mean it now more than ever the

options are endless there's fishing rods there's reels all kinds of combinations i think for anybody

like us who've never really fished before this would be absolutely overwhelming and that's why

a place like this where you come in they're able to help you guide you and assist you really is a

valuable asset for the community because I don't know the difference between these. You can google

it, you can look it up, but dang, you know what? A lot of that would kind of push people away from

getting on the water quickly, so we really do appreciate them letting us come down so we can

talk to them, ask them questions, they can kind of point us in the right direction. I'm here with

Josh. He and his wife Anna own Emerald Coast Bait and Tackle. Why don't you tell me a little bit

about yourself first? Yeah, we started the tackle store about six years ago. It originally started

with the guide service, Destin Inshore Guides. That business is 10 or 11 years old now. And then

we started the tackle store about six years ago. I was born and raised in this area. In Fort Wallen

there's never been a tackle store. So we knew there was a need for it. With having the guide service, we always struggled to always get what we needed, especially live bait. We started the

tackle store, started in a smaller shop, and now we're in this 6,500 square foot building. We also

have a TV show, Going Coastal TV on YouTube. It's also on Waypoint TV. We just started that last

year it's been great it's been a fun experience doing the show on top of everything else we have

the passion for fishing we love to share it we love to help anyone and everyone we can when it comes to fishing

That's really awesome. Dave and I have been watching the show, actually

and he thinks he might be into fishing a little bit. Do you have any tips that you could share with him

We got tips for every experience of angler, from newbies all the way to the pros

There's always tricks to learn. That's one thing about fishing. There's always a different way to do something to catch the same species

We always joke around the day you stop learning about fishing is the day you die

Well, we do have two poles that we brought in. We use them for freshwater. We're looking to maybe see if we can set them up to use them out here in the bay somehow, even just for bait

And then also get a dedicated pole reel equipment for out in the gulf in the bay

We'll check them out, see if they'll be compatible with anything around here

And then we can make suggestions with this, along with getting you set up with a brand new Radnerville

All right, Terry, you guys got two rods and reels here

One we can definitely use. You can definitely use it in the bay, maybe in the Gulf or smaller fish

This one, he said that maybe even for just bait fish, this one will be set up just to

catch whatever for the kids. As you can see, just kind of reeling it up, you can see the rod tip already bending

with that it's just gonna be real flimsy it's gonna be a little bit harder to use out here in

the bay other than for like bait fish so we can definitely set this one up for the kids catching

stuff like catfish and pinfish but when it comes to trying to target a better species like mangrove

snappers or a redfish or a speckled trout probably won't be ideal for what you guys are wanting to do

this one we can make work and then we'll get you set up with another one fancy i like it what'd you

you find here? So this is a Star Rods aerial rod with a Daiwa this one that I grabbed is the

Acceler it's a newer reel from Daiwa it's super super light let me take it off the rod that was

a great brand but feel how light the reel is just the reel alone Super light It like nothing Yeah you piece it out you can buy combo rods uh when you buy a combo rod you kind of limited on the actual rod Versus picking out a reel you can pick out whatever reel you want and then you can pick up a rod that matches it

However, you like this is a great action rod lower on the budget

But it's still a great rod and then you can spend a little bit extra money on the reel and get a nice reel

You like that combo? I do. I like a lot. All right, we'll get this pulled up a lot of times

braids more common for more avid anglers but it's also a little bit harder to deal with with

casting in the wind you can get wind knots and you have to have starting knots or else they'll slip

for you guys just starting out trying to figure stuff out we'll go ahead and load this up with

mono and once you guys get more into it more knowledge about the knots and stuff we can always

come back put braid on it and then you guys can go from there all right so here's your new setup

up get some tackle for some hooks in line and stuff we can show you that and then on these two

like we had talked about before uh the reels were a little bit too big or a little bit too small for

each other so i got them all spooled up for you i put the bigger reel on the bigger rod and then

smaller one on the smaller reel you can tell a little bit difference how it's more balanced now

that'll be a lot better setup for both of them and then fresh line so you guys are good to go

fishing on all three rods now. We'll go out here and get you guys some hooks, line, show you guys

some live bait you can use. The easiest way if you guys just want to get out there, go fishing, and

have the best chance of catching something, especially starting out, would be using live

shrimp. Everything you eat shrimp, including us, it's real tasty. So the best thing to do is we'll

get you set up for using live shrimp. The easiest way for that is a Carolina rig. It's going to be

a slip lead that can move up and down your line. The swivel will stop the weight from sliding down

And then you'll have a small leader with a hook you guys said you watch the TV show you go so a lot

So we use that a lot on that show most common rig to use as you get more familiar with stuff

You can buy the hook separate than the line You can always switch it up with how heavy of a line you use with different size hooks, but starting out

Owner makes these ghost rig leaders Real easy and they come three in a pack. They're already set up

You just pull one off take your lead whatever size lead you want put it on the line and tie this on and you're ready to go fishing

this is probably one of the most common rigs that we sell for new anglers so you guys have a five

gallon bucket to keep the live shrimp you always have to have aerator you have to keep oxygen in

the water for the live shrimp to stay alive so we'll get you set up with a marine metal baby

bubbler and i'll keep the oxygen going to the water you guys will be able to fish all day long

if you guys want with the live shrimp so we got your hooks and leaders uh your aerator for your

live shrimp the only thing left is some egg sinkers in the bay the most common is going to be one ounce

weights so we'll get you a handful of these i knew we needed a net but something tells me this is not

going to be big enough yeah hopefully we're catching bigger fish that's great for the bait

for the shrimp and stuff but uh this one's going to be a little bit better you won't have to reach

down this far with this one all right we got you guys all set up within the budget right on the

the money you guys should book a charter with me before you guys go out and show you guys a few

things maybe a few places you guys can go out and try on your own yeah i think i think we're

definitely going to need that good morning first timers we're back today you thought we were going

on a charter with emerald coast bait and tackle but that's not today my buddy flew in from san

diego we're jumping on the boston whaler we're going to pick up some bait and we're going to

try out the equipment that we just got here from emerald coast bait and tackle but don't worry

Terry will be back tomorrow when we go out on the boat with Josh Calhoun

As you remember, they got live bait. They got frozen bait. Today, we're going to be fishing the shrimp because that's what Josh recommended us to do

We're going to get out in the Paquito Bay. We're going to try and fish some of the structures and some of the bridges right now

It's all about trying to figure out how to use this equipment. Like I said, my buddy came in from San Diego

He's a prolific angler on the West Coast. You'll meet up here in a second, and we'll go from there

We've made it to the dock. We got our bait, our snacks, fishing sticks, fishing reels, all the good stuff, coffee

We're going to become the most prolific anglers the Emerald Coast has ever seen

Let me introduce you to Joey May, all the way up from San Diego. Hey, what's up? This is Joey May from San Diego visiting my buddy David

Hopefully catch a nice redfish here at Shalimar Bridge. Woo! I don't know, that's a lizardfish back home, but that thing is not tasty

Look at that, dude. Mangrove snapper. Beauty. We're only about an hour into it and Joey Mays already caught two Bohemoths

Both of them were nearly the size of his hand. Couldn't keep them because not quite

big enough but I think we're on a good spot. I think we have a lot of potential

He had one that snapped the line. It was a big daddy so feeling confident but

we have some friendly competition today for fish we took a break from fishing i'm taking joey may over to destin so right at crab island

it's the middle of november and it is pretty dead there's only about a handful of boats out here a

couple of people but it's still shining the water's a little cold i don't have an official crab island

weather report for you because Terry's not here, but it's about 75 degrees. But man, if you want to come out here and chill, now's the time to go

because you don't have to deal with anybody. We've had our fill of dolphins

and fishing, it's time to get this boat back home cleaned up and ready for tomorrow. But we're not

going on this boat tomorrow. We're going out on a huge fishing vessel thanks to Josh Calhoun and

Emerald Coast Bait and Tackle. And as promised, Terry will be there too. So cross your fingers

we catch something. Sadly, we didn't catch anything to eat today, but I think our luck will change

tomorrow. Sorry I missed yesterday's fishing adventure, but I'm here and it's my time to

shine. I'm going to catch a big one. We're meeting Captain Josh Calhoun down here in Destin. He's the

owner of Emerald Coast Bait and Tackle. You've already met him. He's also the star of Going Coastal

which is a multi multi show on fishing on the Emerald Coast But he gonna take us out He gonna show us Now if you want to know where we at right now we right next to Sky Bar and Edge Seafood

two places we love and we enjoy all the time. Coen Coastal Charters has a number of different boats, and if you've watched any of their episodes

the boat we're going on is the one that you see in the first few episodes. They have a larger boat that you'll see later on in the seasons

but either one of them are significantly bigger than our Boston Whaler that you guys saw yesterday

But right now it looks like the boat stocked. It's ready to go It's a little cold little windy, but it's not gonna stop us. So we're heading out

We're gonna try not to distract the captain while he's backing up the vessel

But I'm gonna ask him a couple questions about the boat or let him tell us anything he wants to know about this boat

Yeah, it's a 24 foot bay boat from sea hunt. We have a Simrad electronics

We got a road and troll motor up front keep us on the spots We got 300 horsepower Yamaha one of my favorite boats

i've ever had uh good for what we do go out here and see what we can make happen today

what kind of creature comforts do you have we got seats front and back we got cup holders all

the way around we got these hold fast phone uh holders so we don't have to lose our cup holders

to our phones other than that there's a little small portis potty inside this uh the console

which makes it great for uh one of the reasons we like the boat with having little girls uh they

they need to go to the bathroom. Nothing special, but somewhere to get them to go

Other than that, we got two live wells and everything we need to go fishing

We supply everything when we go. If you guys come out on charters with us, the only thing our customers have to bring

is any food and drinks that they want. How are you feeling? Confidence

Oh, yeah. You got to have confidence out here. It's all about confidence. Perfect. We'll check back with you later on

All right. Sounds good. This may seem like a minuscule thing, But this boat has these phone holders

It's an adjustable size. We're not sponsored at all, but it's called Hold Fast Pro

They're created by a military guy out here. He started in his house. It's growing

These things look perfect because yesterday, our phones were flying all over the place. I'm definitely going to buy some of these

Boat's super nice. It's comfortable. Got a smooth ride today so far

Let's hope it stays that way. So this boat is a little bit deeper than ours

It's got higher gunnels. It's obviously bigger than ours. It's a lot more comfortable, a lot more space to move around

If we had a boat like this, maybe I'd go out more on it. We're slowly working our way up to the jetties

Terry and I have never taken our boat to this pass because it gets really choppy, and I'm

just not quite as nautical as I should be to attempt that, but we got a professional

here rocking, we're rolling just a little bit, kind of regretting my choice of not having

gramamine but that's okay that's okay worst case we chum the waters so coming out here he takes out

all the guesswork the baits here the rods the reels he's even casted them but what's great he

has a trolling motor up front that just keeps us right in place so just slight variations we don't

have that on our boat and it's such a cool convenience because we don't really worry about

where we're going so right now the rods and the reels are in the holders we're just waiting for a

bite and then we're going to catch the big one. We were rocking and rolling just a little bit too

much in the past so we're going to get closer to the bridge, a little calmer waters, try our hand again

I'm coming at you with your Crab Island weather report. Today it's 75 degrees air temperature

75 degrees water temperature and it's a bit windy, a little bit brisk today

Oh my gosh! Ow! Oh, keep going. Yeah, that's good. Oh, you got it

You got it. You got it. You got it. Hold on, Stan, straight up

That was... Oh, there we go. That's better. It must be a whale. Uh-oh

I'm gonna need some help. Keep going! You got it! You got it

Come on, you've got it! Front tip up! Breathe through your nose. Okay, please help

Okay, please help. I'm gonna need some help. Keep going! You got it

You got it! You got it! Okay, please help. No, no, you got it

You got it. You got it. Oh, no. It's all right. He's gone

Oh. He's gone. Post-game interview. Oh, man. That fish was so strong

The adrenaline shaking now. I got to get another one. Start reeling

Start reeling. Start reeling. She's got to change the redemptive. Stop right there. See if he'll come back

See how he's hitting it again? Yeah. Just wait for that rod tip to bend over this top

Wait for it. Wait for it. There you go. Hold on. There you go. Now when you pull back you want to stop reeling, stop reeling, pull back and then reel down

Anytime you got these giant fish on you gotta use that rod. You can't just use that reel as a crank

Now when they see the boat the fish are in freak out a lot of times so be ready for a big pull again

I can't. Yeah you can. Okay help, help. You got it, you got it, you got it

Good boy. Thought you said you couldn't do it. Good. Alright, you know what time it is

You gotta hold it. How's it feel? I'm flying and heavy. There you go

How big do we got? 31. We're on the dock. Is that a keeper

No, 18 to 27 inches is the keeper size in Florida. We'll let this one go

You'll always write out the release. release. I've been fishing out here by the Destin Bridge for quite a while. So far I'm the only one

that got a fish but we had a bunch of bites just nothing on the hook so we're gonna move down a

little bit see if we can find some some fish somewhere else

We got Joey Mae with a fish on. He's fighting. He's fighting tooth and nail

Oh boy! Yes sir! I'm stuck buddy! We got a keeper

Runnin' in here. Tell me Joey Mae how do you feel? Dude I am

So stuck brother. Game on whatever we're saying. You have to get this guy

We got it. Mission accomplished. Terry back on the fish again I got a barracuda What

I'll hold it for you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Be careful

We're leaving the second spot, but we're going to go hit the bridge one more time

We're looking for that elusive bohemian. Over here on the side, I caught a barracuda

Terry caught a barracuda. My buddy Joey May, he got a redfish, and it's the only keeper we have

So we're going to be eating that, but we're not done fishing yet. Back at the bridge where it all started, where I caught my prize fish

See if I can do it again. man we finally got a bohemian and it matched terry size both of them were 31 inches but that

black drum was a fighter got hooked went straight down and i started to cramp up a little bit so now

i understand what terry was feeling i was like i think i lost this one i think i'm gonna let it go

but man got it on the boat got to take a picture it's a beautiful fish didn't stink that bad so

that's kind of nice. Oh fish right on! But we let it go

It was in the keeper range but we already have the one fish that we're going to eat. We didn't need another massive fish to eat

We're gonna fish a little bit more, see what we can catch. Joey Mays on

We have just had an absolutely successful day on the water. We all caught fish

Cherry caught clearly the largest fish of everyone. Captain Josh Calhoun, big shout out

He caught the smallest fish of the day. But it was the tastiest one

And it's a keeper. So we're actually going to be taking two fish back to Brotolas

We're going to be doing a mangrove snapper and a redfish. We're going to see what different ways they'll cook them

and of course we'll tell you what we think about it. But for right now, just stay tuned

Don't go anywhere. But I want to do a huge shout out to Going Coastal and Josh Calhoun and his wife Anna for having us out

This has been the best experience we've ever had on the water and I guarantee you it will not be the last time

We've learned so much being out here and just understanding how to get on the water

where to look for fish, how to look for fish, and then what do you do with them after you catch them

If you want to know more about it, you've got to check out their videos. going coastal you can find them online on youtube they'll teach you everything you need to know

about fishing here in the emerald coast and they'll even show you the equipment that you need

we're going to leave all their information and links below in the description but you got to

check them out they are the premier experts for all fishing needs here in the emerald coast

any final reactions before we go eat no we had a great day with captain josh i'm stoked on

on everything we got today, man. It's a great day. Any more wisdom

I don't know. Patience paid off today. Got lots of bites. They didn't want to commit

but we stayed patient and paid off. And Terry, what would you say

to anybody else walking out there? Fishing. It's for everyone. The other great part about going out

with a charter is when you catch fish that you can keep, the charter captains will come out

they'll clean them, they'll scale them, and they'll prep the fish for you to eat. He's going to take care of that

and then we're going to take it over to the restaurant where we're going to cook them up. We got a couple pounds of fish

We're heading up to Brutolo's. Brutolo's is a mainstay in the Destin area

and Captain Josh Calhoun highly recommended this location to bring our cat

And so that's what we did. We're here, and this place is awesome. We've never been here, but they have a huge bourbon selection

They have an extensive menu, and everybody we've met so far is amazingly friendly

And check out this view. This is the first time we've ever caught, So this is definitely the first time we've ever cooked our catch

Here at Bratolas, they do something a little bit different. It's $20.95 per person that's eating

Each person gets one side. You get to choose a side, and then you can add additional sides for an additional cost

Now, Terry's not really going to be partaking in the fish. She will taste it, but she's not going to count as the $29.95

So just Joey May and I are going to be those people. Other things of note here, they have a pretty large bourbon selection

They have Stag. They have a lot of other rare bourbons that you might not find all that often

There's also a huge interior sitting space. And then there's a great nice outdoor patio overlooking the water with a lot of seats

We've seen in the summertime, in the peak seasons, this place is wall-to-wall and it's packed

They also hold a lot of different events here like the Burger and Bourbon Festival, the Seafood Festival

All those go on right in the back parking lot. And so they are a cornerstone of this community in terms of food, entertainment, and events

So when you're out here, definitely come check this place out. In the meantime, we're going to wait for our fish to be done

We're getting it three ways, blackened, seared, and fried. Each of them come with their own sauce, but it was recommended to get your sauce on side

That way you have a little bit more if you like the sauce. We've had so much fun fishing the last couple days

I'm so glad Terry came out for this fishing adventure. It was a lot of fun. I'm glad I came

I want to say a big thank you to Joey Mae for coming out from San Diego to help us kickstart our fishing adventures

The unsung hero here is Goin Coastal and Emerald Coast Bait and Tackle

So thank you so much to Josh Calhoun and his wife, Anna, for having us out to the shop

teaching us what we needed to do, where we needed to go, and then having us out on their charter boat

We had so much fun. But for now, we're going to jump into this food

You already know it's going to be good. But if you like this video, check out this video right here where we did something else awesome for the first time

Thanks again for following along in this episode and joining us next time when we try something else new for the first time

Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe. First timers. High five