Florida gator unwelcomed hookups

[Dwight Hottle]

My last three fishing trips have all involved hooking a gator underwater on treble hook baits. One on a jerkbait & two on a lipless crankbait. I have also previously hooked a gator on a 10" worm fished on the bottom. Two of the gators were hooked inside the mouth. The other two never surfaced so I don't know if they were snagged or not. It sure seems like an awfully high hookup percentage for not targeting or casting towards visible gators. So what has been your experience?   

[TnRiver46]

We catch them all the time in Alabama. Bass fight way harder believe it or not. Go Vols beat them Florida Gators!!

[NittyGrittyBoy]

I've hooked them in central Fla under the water. Seems like I snag them with cranks more or less

 

Most get hooked with topwater plugs and looking around not paying attention. I am guilty of enticing them too. I hate trying to get my lure back from a ticked off 6 footer ...

[crypt]

get em hooked any which way all the time. I don't target them,but those beasts will bite anything.

[Don51]

I gave up on topwater for that reason. It just calls them in!  I did hook one on a worm once. I just let him break off. They usually are not a problem!

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Look up Stephen C. Foster state park, those canals are slap full of Gators. 

 

We warmouth fish there, the alligators are so use to people you can almost fish beside them and they won't move. Sketchy stuff, but the fishing is good!

[Alec McMillan]

I've hooked a few big ol gators on cranks and topwaters. They actually don't seem to fight as much as I thought they would for me. I try to get the lure back unless if it's a really ticked off one. It's a pain.

[BigAngus752]

On 4/26/2019 at 2:07 PM, NittyGrittyBoy said:

I've hooked them in central Fla under the water. Seems like I snag them with cranks more or less

 

Most get hooked with topwater plugs and looking around not paying attention. I am guilty of enticing them too. I hate trying to get my lure back from a ticked off 6 footer ...

 

12 minutes ago, Alec McMillan said:

I've hooked a few big ol gators on cranks and topwaters. They actually don't seem to fight as much as I thought they would for me. I try to get the lure back unless if it's a really ticked off one. It's a pain.

How do you try to get your lure back?  

[Chris at Tech]

Weird -- my incidents with gators involve them being attracted to fish I have on the line, never with the lures I'm throwing.

 

Could be worse though -- like a big croc chasing you up on the bank to eat your fish ?

[Manly Studson]

I used to fish in south GA. The gators would go after my crank baits. They became a nuisance. They wouldn’t go after bottom baits, just lures with a fast retrieve. They like commotion.

[NittyGrittyBoy]

3 hours ago, BigAngus752 said:

How do you try to get your lure back?  

Depends on size. Smaller ones, bring em in the boat with long shank needle nose.

 

Large ones, get as close as you can(boat of course) and give your pole a couple violent shakes(hung in a tree type shakes) try that a few times. If that fails, gator gets to wear some jewelry till it falls off. 

 

That's my methods. Actually had a huge gator in Lake Tiger off Kissimmee Chain almost break my dad's trolling motor off, because he told me, "don't fish that Spinnerbait by that gator". Needless to say we got the Spinnerbait back, but I sure thought that gator was a Log. ?

[BigAngus752]

12 minutes ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Depends on size. Smaller ones, bring em in the boat with long shank needle nose.

 

Large ones, get as close as you can(boat of course) and give your pole a couple violent shakes(hung in a tree type shakes) try that a few times. If that fails, gator gets to wear some jewelry till it falls off. 

 

That's my methods. Actually had a huge gator in Lake Tiger off Kissimmee Chain almost break my dad's trolling motor off, because he told me, "don't fish that Spinnerbait by that gator". Needless to say we got the Spinnerbait back, but I sure thought that gator was a Log. ?

I get mad because I catch so many channel cats and crappie when I'm bass fishing, LOL.  Good luck with those things. 

[gnappi]

Last year (for the first time ever living in So.Flo since 1977) I had three on the line, they've taken to chasing or hiding submerged waiting for frogs. In the past I never had issues with top water lures, weird.

 

In all cases I yanked the hooks from their mouth but was prepared to cut the line if needed.

 

[N Florida Mike]

On 4/30/2019 at 8:46 PM, Manly Studson said:

I used to fish in south GA. The gators would go after my crank baits. They became a nuisance. They wouldn’t go after bottom baits, just lures with a fast retrieve. They like commotion.

That's it. I've fished in Florida all my life but never had one bite a soft plastic bait, which is mainly what I use.

I have only hooked 1 gator in my life, which ate a bream I had on the line.He was a very heavy bodied 7-8 footer and never knew he was " on the line " before he slowly swam off and broke off.

[N Florida Mike]

On 4/27/2019 at 7:13 AM, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Look up Stephen C. Foster state park, those canals are slap full of Gators. 

 

We warmouth fish there, the alligators are so use to people you can almost fish beside them and they won't move. Sketchy stuff, but the fishing is good!

Exactly. I haven't been in years, but the okefenokee is full of warmouth and gators. Don't go in the summer though - you'll get eaten alive by yellow flies.!

I saw a 12 ft gator eat a big mudfish my son's friend had hooked and pulled up on a mud bank. He was fixing to jump down and unhook it when that Gator suddenly came up and gulped it down.

[NittyGrittyBoy]

@N Florida Mike Spring and fall is when we usually go, fishing live crawfish under a slip cork. Easily catch 200+ on a good day! And fliers on yellow Sally's all day! 

 

Yellow flies are horrible, and the heat with no wind in the swamp can get rough. You better stay hydrated or you'll see the swamp monster. Gotta love the Okefenokee! 

[N Florida Mike]

Crawfish !  We just used worms. And never see another person fishing all day. We'd rent a boat on the Folkston side.

Did y'all ever catch any bass in there ?

We didn't. 

 

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Never any Bass. Sometimes we'd get bored and throw inline spinners down middle of canal and catch mudfish and pikerals 

 

We usually fish folkston side, but if we wanna catch black cats and warmouth we go to Fargo. Few people have experienced the great Okefenok. Glad to run to a fellow angler! 

[I'm Blue]

Fished St Johns last week. ONLY thing I saw move was two gators chasing my buzzbait... 23 miles of Deadzone for sure.
Beautiful day, but from palatka to mouth of Ok river, think I only saw 2 other boats.. No idea what the problem was. Evidently everyone knew better than me not to waste time there.

[rboat]

The young gators love to chase topwater. A high speed reel is a must to get your lure back quickly. Big momma is usually close by so don't mess with those curious little gators. If you want to see some wild videos fishing around gators, check out some of the videos by Captain Shane Procell, a member here who knows a lot about fishing near gators.

[Koz]

Today the gators were a complete nuisance at almost every lagoon I fished. They weren't interested in my bait - they were interested in me. I spooked one gator a I was rounding a narrow point and he went into the water and wouldn't leave the area. Sometimes if I smack my rod in the water they'll go away. Not this time - he came right at me. I was cornered with dense woods behind me and had to sprint down the shoreline.

 

At other lagoons they just came and hugged the shoreline wherever I was fishing today. It's getting to be mating season here and that's when the gators tend to get aggressive. But in a few months I'm moving 200 miles north and won't have to worry about them on the water anymore. I might even by a kayak now. I just hope the fishing is good up there.

[GreenPig]

On 4/26/2019 at 3:07 PM, NittyGrittyBoy said:

I've hooked them in central Fla under the water. Seems like I snag them with cranks more or less

 

Most get hooked with topwater plugs and looking around not paying attention. I am guilty of enticing them too. I hate trying to get my lure back from a ticked off 6 footer ...

Caught it on a popper.