Steve Mourmouris was taken to a local hospital and is expected to be OK.
"I don't know what else to say. It's a miracle. It really is," said Mourmouris's wife Anastasia.
After hours of waiting and worrying, she finally learned her husband was alive.
Mourmouris had gone on out alone on his boat on Wednesday. He was fishing in the Gulf of Mexico when he fell overboard without a life jacket.
"He went to grab the life vest, and the boat flew away from him so fast he couldn't catch up with it," described his wife.
Mourmouris was treading water through the night. At 1 a.m. Thursday, he spotted a shrimp boat and thought he was about to be rescued. But when he got about 100 yards from it, the boat pulled away without seeing him.
Night turned to day, as searchers combed the water. A family out scalloping had heard about the missing fisherman and they were on the lookout. They spotted him out in the water, and within minutes, Mourmouris was back on shore. He was weak and dehydrated - but alive.
As for his solo fishing trips, his wife says those days are over.