Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Tournament - Destin, FL - 2023

The Emerald Coast Open (ECO) is the largest lionfish tournament in the world! In 2019, ECO had 189 participants and removed 19,167 lionfish throughout the tournament – 14,119 in 3 days! ECO gave away $48,000 in cash prizes, and over $10,000 in gear prizes. As you'll see, in 2023, the 144 participants broke all those records, including sharing in what is now close to $100,000 in cash & prizes!!!

I had the privilege to be a part of a team named after a good friend's, and spearfishing mentor's boat, the Reel Easy. That name goes back to a time he still used to fish a lot from the surface with a rod and reel. Now, John is known within our spearfishing circle as the "Guru!" The other two members of team were for the second year in a row, Nate and Austin. Two excellent divers and also very accomplished spear fisherman!

You can learn more about the Emerald Coast Open at https://emeraldcoastopen.com and make your plans to participate in 2024! Also, visit https://www.destinfwb.com to learn more about visiting the Destin/Fort Walton Beach coast, and coordinates for all Okaloosa County artificial reefs can be found at https://www.destinfwb.com/explore/eco....

How I made my Lionfish container:    • Making a Lionfish Container