Jason Nabors can't get rid of his Shimano...

My Second-Chance Shimano

We were tied to a production platform about 16.5 miles off the Galveston Tx Jetties. I had my brother's spankin' new $400 Snapper rig dangling off the side of the boat with a bare hook, and a Trigger fish smacks the hook and yanks the rod into the water—75 feet down.

I was upset, to say the least.

About 30 minutes later, I was soaking a Sardine off the corner of that same rig for a snapper, when I hooked into a good 7-pounder. I was working him up when, all of a sudden, these HUGE pockets of bubbles started boiling the water below the boat.

I was yelling "Back off, back off!" I thought I had snagged a valve or ruptured a high pressure methane line or who knows what.

Well, just then a commercial diver/underwater welder surfaces three feet from our boat, holding my brother's Allstar rod and Calcutta 700 reel and says "Did you boys lose a rod?"

Drinks were on me that night, since I didn't have to replace that bad boy.