We had just taken possession of our first family oriented boat( 21' Mako) and decided to take a cruise out of St. Marks Fl. and catch the sunset on the Gulf. After a quick run through the bay we hit the gulf to find it a sheet of sun drenched glass. Never one to pass up an opportunity I mentioned  to the wife that we were not far from a couple of my shallow water grouper holes and I just "happened" to have a couple of rods rigged with Stretch 12s. Ten minutes later lines were out and we passed over the first pile of rocks and ... nothing. Almost an hour later the sun was heading down and she started talking about home so with a resigned sigh I turned and started back towards the light house.

As I sat programming the gps for the return trip my wife looks back and says" Honey I think something is wrong with that rod." Looking over my shoulder I see the port rod doubled over and throbbing with the runs of a nice fish. Throwing the engine in neutral I grabbed the rod and started trying to gain some line. As my non fishing wife and my two sons watched I finally got the fish turned and I asked her to reel the other line in. She sat on the gunnel and leaving the rod in the holder started winding. Suddenly she uttered a rather colorful expletive and as I looked over the rod bowed to the water. Looking at me in panic she asked " What do I do?" Of course I told her to keep reeling and as I finally got my grouper in the boat she went to work with a vengeance. Our oldest son who was 4 at the time wraps his arms around her waist and says he will help her catch the fish and sure enough a few minutes her first and last grouper lay flopping on the deck.

We ran across the newly found rock one more time and picked up one more nice fish before racing the sun back to the dock. I have caught many fish in my life and plan on catching even more but nothing will ever compare to those fifteen minutes watching her.