Charting New Waters: How Destin High’s Fishing Program Is Making History
Captain Mike Parker Builds Futures and Reefs at Destin High
By Christopher Manson
Captain Mike Parker started Destin High School’s fishing class when the institution opened its doors five years ago. Today, the class enrollment numbers 150. “We’re the only school in the state that offers a fishing class,” he says. Students learn about safety, boat maintenance and fishing regulations, among other things. “There are lots of field trips.”
Those trips include Orange Beach, Alabama’s Walter Marine, the largest artificial reef manufacturer in the country. Walter Marine is responsible for crafting the almost 50 memorial reefs Parker and his students have created in a program that has spanned the last three years. “We were asking what kind of reefs they were building,” says Parker. “They said the memorial reefs were getting a lot of interest. Divers can dive around them, and loved ones can drop ashes in that particular spot.” Once the reefs are submerged, they also function as fishing habitats.
Most of the reefs that have been placed in the Gulf measure eight feet. But, now a 25-foot “super reef” for the late Charlie Kirk is being readied. It will weigh about 18 tons upon completion. “It’s been poured and will be deployed by the end of November or December,” says Parker.
The privately funded reef—Parker’s idea—has met with little resistance from the community. “Most people are behind it and are contributing,” he says. Parker informs me that he’s been in touch with the Tallahassee representative from Kirk’s Turning Point organization and is hoping the rep will spread the word.
The reef, the cost of which is roughly $17,000, will be placed two miles off the coast of Henderson Beach and 70 feet deep.
The eight-foot reefs cost around $2,000 and are made up of concrete, steel and limestone. Inside the reefs are five-foot high stacked platforms that Parker says “draw a lot more fish.” Fishermen can pinpoint the GPS coordinates of the reefs at floridagofishing.com.
The reefs are available for local businesses, too. Anyone investing in a reef is allowed to participate in all phases of its creation. For Tucker Reese, a young man from the area who lost his life in a vehicle accident, the family helped design a memorial reef, witness the pouring of the concrete, and witness its lowering into the Gulf. “You can put more than a person’s name on the reefs. You can place memorabilia and other things that meant something to the person,” says Parker. “With the Charlie Kirk reef, we’ve got his logo and some of his slogans, like ‘Prove me wrong.’”
Parker, a 35-year resident of Destin, spent three decades as a charter boat captain on the Silver King. “I had an idea that my fishing career was winding down, and since Destin had the largest independent charter boat fleet in the country, we needed more captains and deckhands,” he says. “In offering a career course to provide that avenue, we’ve raised up a lot of captains and deckhands.”
Captain Brandy Miles teaches with Parker and owns the Discipleship charter boat docked at HarborWalk Marina. “Her dream since she was a child was to be a charter boat captain and a teacher,” says Parker. “The kids love her.”
In the past half-decade, Parker has watched his fishing class grow. People are gravitating to it more and more, and parents and children are equally enthusiastic. “We have students coming down from Niceville and Crestview,” says Parker. “I had someone move here from Utah because of the fishing class!” Representatives from the Florida Wildlife Commission have spoken to Parker’s students about career opportunities. They, along with the fire department and the United States Coast Guard, give students hands-on training and practical learning experiences.
I tell Captain Parker I wish they had offered a class like this when I attended high school many decades ago. “That’s what they all say!” he replies.
