! Once we closed the place down we headed to the house which is a convenient 15 minute drive to the Indian Pass boat ramp. Being from Florida, Robyn had been offshore but her husband was not from here and had never been. Bradley is in the service 
and I really appreciate his sacrifices he makes for our country so I really wanted to put him on some fish and have a good trip. After some last minute rigging of rods and plotting our course we headed to bed about 1130. Early to rise at 615 I enjoyed the sunrise from behind the house over St. Joe Bay while sitting on the front porch which sits 40 yards from the white sandy beach. Great views of the bay and gulf. I was a little concerned though, NOAA had called for 1 foot or less and calm and it was still blowing about 10 knots throwing 2 footers from the SW. We loaded up about 730 and headed to the Indian Pass boat ramp with high hopes. After leaving the ramp I knew it would be bumpy. Good thing is, after bugging dad for 5 years he finally broke down and had lenco trim tabs put on the boat a month prior. Boy are those things amazing 
! It made those 2-3 footers feel like 1's. Shove that bow down and roll. About 15 miles out I slowed after seeing a good read on the bottom and figured the crew ( a 63 year old and a 6 month pregnant Robyn) needed a break. Bradley dropped and immediately hooked a 3 foot Atlantic Sharp-nosed. He was stoked and so was I, his first offshore fish. Next dad dropped down and hooked a decent king but unfortunately we were fishing for grouper and that king sliced right through that 80 pound mono leader. It slowed on the new spot we found and so did the waves. We made that call about 11 to run to the good spot about 15 miles further south. After a pleasant ride (courtesy of the tabs down) we pulled up to an "electrical read" on the bottom that looked alive like a Christmas tree. And what a ways down...145 feet to be exact. I found this # with a couple buddies last summer and we slammed em so we had high hopes. First drop and Bradley nails a nice 5 pound Red Snapper..YES..it’s looking good. After venting the "elusive" fish we sent him on his way. The next 3 drifts over the spot only yielded Big Red Snapper after Big Red Snapper...dam..our awesome red grouper hole was now plagued by the "elusive" red snapper. On the next drift a school of undersized AJs swam up under the boat and Robyn and Bradley double hooked up on undersized Ajs on inshore trout rods 
! After that ordeal I said the heck with it and let us drift about .3 miles off the spot to try and avoid the Red Snapper and bam..finally pay dirt. Dad pulls up a decent red grouper at about 22". Were on the board and next drift over the new # and I get railed and feel a lot of weight. After a good fight I pull in a 31" 15 pound gag 
! Bradley couldn't believe we had to throw it back and myself and father were shattered but rules are rules (and i wouldn’t want to break rules and put it up on this forum 
). Could have got some big fillets off that bad boy. Pull back up to the spot and proceeded to catch a bunch of just under red grouper. Finally, after weeding through the shorts dad and Bradley both get nailed by fire trucks and pull up an 8 and 10 pound Red grouper ! Drifted a bit more and caught a few vermillion snapper and white porgies for the box. About this time it was 330 and the Robyn wasn’t feeling to great from the 2 foot swells and we had a 30 mile run back to the ramp. Luckily we were going with the swells and were able to run 28 miles an hour the whole way in 
! It got even calmer about 10 miles from shore. Upon arrival we loaded the boat and headed back to the beach house to meet Bradley’s stepbrother who he hadn’t seen him in 2 years, and had drove over from Destin to visit him. That night I cooked up some deep fried Red Grouper, Vermillion Snapper, and White Porgies for the crew. We had fries and corn on the cob on the side. It definitely rivaled any I had cooked before (helps to be super fresh) and everyone was super happy, and full. Even had ice cream sandwiches for desert 
! We watched the NBA playoffs and had a few and told stories about the day. I was so glad I could put Bradley on a few nice fish on his break from the service. I wish the wife could have joined us on this trip to remember, but there is always next time. Till then..tight lines and get at em!!! Final Tally:
9 Red Snapper to 9 pounds (all released)
3 Red Grouper to 10 pounds
1 Monsta 15 lb Gag (released)
2 Smallish Ajs
2 Vermillion Snapper
3 White Porgys
Bradleys first ever offshore fish...
Bradley and his first Red Snapper
Venting the "elusive" Red Snapper
Big Gag that got to go back
Dad with the first keeper of the day
Bradley with a short AJ
Our Red Grouper on the day
Bradley and a 6 month preggers Robyn show off our catch (what a champ coming out in 2-3 foot swells for 30 miles while being preggers)
Frying up some wholesome goodness with good company
