A special fishing trip to ‘Brad’s Ledge’

On Saturday, Elliott, my son, Conrad, my nephew visiting from Denver, and Brody, the amazing fish-finding and stock-trading dog, joined me for the first blue marlin trip of the season.

 

Our plan was to run 60 miles to a temperature break near the 226 hole and troll a spread of big lures. We pulled away from the dock at 5:30 a.m. and arrived at the temperature break around 7:30 a.m. Elliott and Conrad deployed our teaser and lure spread. Brody laid down for a nap.  I think Brody sensed it was going to be a slow day.

 

We waited for the man in the blue suit to rise up to our spread. He was a no show. We made some adjustments and waited some more. We spent the rest of the day in an adjust-and-wait cycle. Zero billfish.

 

For the ride home, I turned on the stereo, engaged the autopilot, and felt thankful to be fishing offshore with my family. Halfway home, Conrad mentioned that he had never caught an American red snapper. Elliott said they are out of season, but we can definitely catch and release one. Our plan for Sunday came into focus.

 

Conrad’s father, Brad, recently passed away. I thought it would be cool for Conrad to catch his first red snapper on a ledge that Brad and I used to dive on. It is loaded with red snapper, and the waypoint name on my GPS is Brad’s Ledge.

 

On Sunday, we left the dock about 9 a.m. and ran 24 miles to Brad’s Ledge. Upon arrival, Elliott dropped a slow-pitch jig, and Conrad fished a circle hook dropper rig baited with leftover ballyhoo.

 

On our first pass over the ledge, Elliott and Conrad both caught vermilion snapper. They make great table fare, so we boxed them for dinner.

 

For the next pass, I made a drift adjustment. Conrad dropped his rig to the bottom and got a bite immediately. After a short fight, Conrad’s first red snapper came to the boat. We quickly took a picture and released the red snapper with a descending device.

 

For a few seconds, the boat was quiet. Conrad gazed into the depths. Elliott looked at me and nodded. Behind my sunglasses, tears welled up in my eyes. Then the hooting, laughing, and high-fives began. We did it. Conrad’s first red snapper on Brad’s Ledge.

 

Contact Captain Greg Peralta at captgregp@gmail.com or call (843) 224-0099.