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Bad trip: First no fish, then no ring

BELMAR, N.J. - A New Jersey man was reunited with his wedding ring this month after it fell off his finger and sank to the bottom of the ocean while he was fishing.

BELMAR, N.J. - A New Jersey man was reunited with his wedding ring this month after it fell off his finger and sank to the bottom of the ocean while he was fishing.

Jay Bradford's ring dropped in the water off Long Branch, Monmouth County, while he was pulling in an anchor during a frustrating day searching for blackfish, the Asbury Park Press reported.

"He texted me and said his day was going wrong. I said, 'Don't worry, you will find the fish,' " said his wife, Meagan, 29. "He texted me back, 'It's not the fishing. I lost my ring in the water.' I nearly threw up."

Jay Bradford, 27, and Capt. Nick Barsa returned to the spot four days later with salvage diver Mark Thompson. Barsa steered the boat using GPS coordinates to the exact spot where the ring was lost, while dealing with 35 m.p.h. winds and a big southeast swell.

"People thought I was crazy to try and go back for it," Barsa said. "The odds are against finding it. It's a big ocean out there."

Thompson, who said he has found people's lost cellphones and watches in the ocean, dove in and searched rock ledges and sifted through thousands of mussels. He found the ring, he said, resting on a rock - in 10 minutes.

"When they found it, I was ecstatic, I was amazed," Meagan Bradford said. "I nicknamed Nick 'Capt. St. Nicholas' for this time of year, because these two did perform a Christmas miracle for us. . . ."

Jay Bradford said he would likely wear a cheap metal or rubber ring the next time he goes fishing.