One day a friend and I decided to go fishing in Florida. It was a beautiful day and we were going in my friend's boat, so we got up at 4 AM and was on our way for about an hour's drive. We finally got there and backed the boat into the water, I do want to say one thing, there are some primitive boat ramps in Florida.

First thing I noticed was all the alligators, now I'm not afraid of gators but I do respect them. My friend's boat has one problem, the socket where the trolling motor plugs in didn't work, so, you had to wire it directly to the battery, which was no big deal.

Well, I couldn't wait to get going, I had just bought a brand new rod and reel and this was going to be my first time trying it out. The reel was a new Shamano and the rod was one that I paid more for than I should have at the time. So, I was excited to see how smooth this combination would cast and how easy it would be to use.

I laid my new rod and reel down by the edge of the boat and was ready to sit in the back of the boat and get going. My friend asked if I would grab the battery for the trolling motor and set it up by him so he could wire it up, I said "sure".

Well, I bent over to get the trolling motor and the heel of my shoe went right under the rod and then my brand new fishing rod and reel went in the canal we were fishing.

I tried and tried to get my rod and reel back, I mean how far could it have went, it just went in. I even contemplated on going in after it even though there were hundreds of gators.

After about 30 minutes of trying I came to realize I wasn't going to get it back, the current must have taken it far, far away and I left it for the gators. Mr. Alligator, Merry Christmas To You.