NEWS

Grandfather takes six grandkids on 3-day fishing trip

Tina Harbuck
tharbuck@thedestinlog.com
Sonny Zeiger of Pennsylvania took his daughter and grandkids out for a three-day fishing trip aboard the Lady Em with Capt. Mike Eller. They pulled in swordfish, grouper, wahoo, dolphin, scamp and more. Front row from left are Preslee Zeigler, Jennifer Zeigler, Peyton Zeigler, and Piper Zeigler. Back row from left are Sonny Bright, Kaleigh Bright, Mason Spearing and Devin Schaffer. [TINA HARBUCK/THE LOG]

DESTIN — When Sonny Bright of Pennsylvania walked up with his grandchildren to board the Lady Em, the question running through Capt. Mike Eller’s mind was, "Can they handle 260 feet of water and the heat for three days of fishing?"

They definitely could.

Bright, who has fished with Eller for the past six years, decided to treat some of his grandchildren to a three-day fishing trip. The group of eight left Saturday night and got back Tuesday just after lunch.

“It was one of the most amazing adventures I’ve ever been on,” said 18-year-old Kaleigh Bright. “It was insane … it was incredible.”

Kaleigh was the oldest of the grandchildren, while Preslee Zeigler, 12, the youngest.

“I caught one of the rarest fish out there,” said Preslee, who pulled in a huge African pompano. “It was amazing."

All of the children were ecstatic over their massive haul that included three swordfish, snowy grouper, yellowedge grouper, and scamp galore, as well as mingo, black snapper, barracuda, a couple of wahoo and dolphin.

Eller was surprised at the grit of the group and before it was over he had nicknames for the most them.

“I called her Gidget,” he said of the youngest.

He then pointed to another who he said was wearing a red shirt the first day.

“I called her Red Rover … Red Rover, Red Rover, drag that fish right over,” Eller said. “And that’s what she was doing all day long.”

Eller even had a name for Sonny’s daughter, Jennifer.

“I called her Ms. Grouper Grabber. Every down, it was grouper, grouper, grouper,” he said.

Not only did no one get seasick on the three-day trip, but they pretty much loved sleeping on the boat.

“It just rocks you to sleep,” Preslee said.

In addition to hauling in fish, they also got to jump in the water and do a little swimming near some dolphins. On their last night aboard the Lady Em, some of the girls stayed up to watch the sunrise and get some photos.

“I think it was nice for (Sonny) to have his grandchildren all in one place … and nobody was Facebooking and nobody was Instagraming … they all just fished really hard,” Eller said.