A ‘Salty’ Beginning: ‘There’s No Stopping It Now,’ 93-Year-Old Rodeo Founder Says

By Patrick Donohue, Destin Log, Fla.

Oct. 3–Shortly before longtime Rodeo weighmaster Bruce Cheves would ring in the 59th annual Destin Fishing Rodeo by clanking a filet knife against a cast-iron bell, Destin officials paid tribute to one of the Rodeo’s founding members — a man known to everyone as Capt. Salty.

Monday morning, Destin History and Fishing Museum board of directors president Tim Holcomb read a proclamation from the museum and from Destin Mayor Craig Barker dubbing Monday, Oct. 1 as Capt. "Salty" Reddin Brunson Day in the city of Destin.

"I honestly never expected anything like this," Brunson said. "The Rodeo is something that the entire city of Destin can be proud of. I’m so proud to see this going like it has. There’s no stopping it now."

The 93-year-old Brunson is credited with raising money to build Destin’s first library and the Destin Community Center as well as being one of the Destin Fishing Rodeo’s founding members.

Brunson told the 30 or so people who made the early morning trek to A.J.’s Seafood and Oyster Bar about the Rodeo’s humble beginnings 59 years ago.

It was aboard Brunson’s boat that E.E. Windes won the secondever Destin Fishing Rodeo with a 57-pound amberjack, but his prize wasn’t a laser-etched trophy or a high-dollar rod and reel. That year, Windes took home the deed to a $500 lot of land on Mountain Drive.

It may have been a while since Capt. Salty was at the helm, but Brunson still has the heart of a fi shermen.

Brunson said increased fishing regulations in the Gulf of Mexico, particularly restrictions on red snapper, are hurting Gulf Coast fishermen and are counter productive.

"These do-gooders are trying to cut down the number of fi sh these guys can catch, and I don’t know what they’re trying to conserve. The last time I went out fi shing, we caught our limit of snappers, and we got some more that were undersized and every one that we threw back, the porpoises got them," he said. "I just want the people in charge to have some common sense, and I don’t think any of them have any common sense."

Capt. Salty was on hand to greet angler Carl Jiroux of Wing, Ala., who netted a 4.6-pound red snapper, the Rodeo’s fi rst fish aboard the Mollie with Capt. Jeff Shoults.

Longtime Rodeo weighmaster Bruce Cheves said Brunson’s contributions to the history and heritage of Destin can not be underestimated.

"You want to talk about a guy who’s been there and done that, the man receiving that proclamation has been there and he’s still doing it," Cheves said.

Brunson’s day didn’t end after his morning at the docks. Brunson later attended a lunch at A.J.’s in his honor and an open house at American Legion Post 296 on Main Street commemorating the captain’s special day. Destin’s city council also honored Brunson at its regularly scheduled meeting Monday night.

"Writing his life story was one of the most remarkable events I’ve undertaken in my entire life," said Mayor Craig Barker, who interviewed Brunson for Destin Magazine. "This is a person who takes it on himself and provides for his family’s well-being. He is never looking to the government for a handout … They had no idea there was such a thing as the Great Depression until it was over."

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Copyright (c) 2007, Destin Log, Fla.

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