FAD Fishing off Destin

The FADs off Destin are a network of Fish Aggregating Devices deployed by Okaloosa County to improve offshore pelagic fishing. They sit roughly 60 to 80 miles SSW of Destin in about 1,610 to 1,830 feet of water. They attract blue and white marlin, sailfish, yellowfin and blackfin tuna, wahoo and dolphin. A 310-pound blue marlin was caught at FAD #6 about a month after it was deployed.

We fish the FADs on our 12 hour trips. Reaching them takes a boat built for long range, and LaBella is a fast 40-foot custom Berkey catamaran.

Common techniques are trolling with live or artificial baits, jigging and bump trolling. Live baits like hardtails or bluefish, rigged on #8 wire with 1/0 treble hooks and slow trolled around the FADs, work well for wahoo and dolphin. We use bigger baits and hooks when targeting blue marlin and bigger tuna.