Nothing spreads a smile across a face like landing a whopper of a fish.
And on Wednesday smiles were contagious as a few anglers pulled in some huge red snapper on the party boat Sweet Jody.
"This is the biggest snapper I've ever caught," said Jack Rench of Colorado as he held up a 17.6-pounder. "And it was the only fish I caught all day," Rench said, noting he was targeting snapper and grouper.
When asked if it put up a fight, he was quick to reply, "Oh yeah," as a big smile spread across his face.
Rench's snapper is the second largest fish he's ever caught. The largest was a 35-pound salmon in Alaska.
Rench wasn't the only one all excited about his catch.
Donna Schindele of Minnesota could hardly wait for the deckhands to pull her snapper out of the fish box.
Once the snapper was on the docks, she didn't hesitate to pick it up and start posing for photographs to send back home.
"This is the biggest fish I've ever caught," she said. "It was nothing like I've ever felt before. I didn't think I had the strength to pull in. But it was worth every moment."
Mike Myer of South Dakota, who was standing next to Schindele on the boat throughout the day, said "There was a lot of screaming going on."
Myer and his son Jesse got in on the big snapper action. They each landed their two for the day, each weighing about 15 pounds.
In addition to the 27 head of red snapper on the Sweet Jody, the crew of 40 pulled in mingo, white snapper, amberine and triggerfish.
Eleven-year-old Carmen Rosado of California had a variety of fish on her stringer, including a red snapper, amberine, mingo and a porgy.
The party boat Destiny also had a good day on the water.
"It was a beautiful day … foggy but calm," said Capt. Chris McConnell of the Destiny. "About 15 miles off the beach we finally got through the fog."
Not only were the conditions pretty good but the bite as well.
"I think we found a pocket of warm water. The fish were wanting to bite a bit better," McConnell said after weathering days of cooler temps that led to a lukewarm bite.
However, on Wednesday, the 53 anglers aboard the Destiny had 10 red snapper, several amberine, mingo, porgy and one red grouper.
Larry VanderMarkt of Missouri was the lucky angler with the red grouper.
"It was work getting it in," he said. His first fish over the rail was a 10-plus pound red snapper, then right behind it was the red grouper.
"The grouper jerked a little bit harder," he said. VanderMarkt also pulled a few white snapper and amberine.
Almost every stringer that came off the Destiny had an amberine on it.
"The amberine were swimming on top today," said one of the deckhands.
Charles Donajkowski and Nick Peplinski, both of Michigan, were more than happy to show off their stringer of fish. A smile was quick to spread across their faces as they held up their mingo, red snapper and amberine.
"I like 'em fried and I like 'em grilled," Donajkowski said.
"I like them anyway," Peplinski said, when it comes to cooking up the fish.
I'm thinking fish are infected with endorphins that are sure to put a smile on the face of the be-holder.
See you on the docks.