Pond Critter in Florida

[Sam]

And you guys want to go pond fishing in Florida???

 

[TnRiver46]

Yep! And I like eating alligators in Florida also. The pond fishing is second to none in that state. I’ve fished around gators a whole bunch, yet to be eaten. It helps when you aren’t walking a toy dog on a leash near the waters edge 

[TOXIC]

When I lived in Jacksonville on the St Johns River in Mandarin, we had a pond on the property that gators would move into.  I think it was because there were also Nutria in the pond as well.  Occasionally small gators would get into the pool.  The big boys lived out in the river.  Had a friend catch a 13 foot gator out of Cresent lake.  Lots of good eating.  

[Hook2Jaw]

I routinely chase gators in my kayak in South Georgia.  They're great big sissy babies. 

[The Bassman]

I'm content to just keep spooking muskrats in Indiana.

[BigAngus752]

 

6 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

It helps when you aren’t walking a toy dog on a leash near the waters edge 

[soflabasser]

Earlier this week I saw one of the biggest alligators I have seen while fishing. It was easily over 12 feet and very healthy. I respect them and enjoy seeing them since I know they are an important part of the ecosystem.

[Koz]

8 hours ago, Hook2Jaw said:

I routinely chase gators in my kayak in South Georgia.  They're great big sissy babies. 

That's not my experience here in SC. I've been stalked by gators on more than one occasion as they hug the bank and weed cover closing in on me.

 

Once, when I caught a fish a gator came out of the water and chased me down the bank. He only stopped when he was blocked by my tackle bag laying in the grass. I've casted into cover and had hidden gators grab more than one topwater frog and had numerous other close encounters.

 

It all goes with the territory, but at least there's fantastic fishing.

 

Here's one gator encounter we had from three years ago.

 

 

 

 

[Hook2Jaw]

@Koz, sorry to hear that and I can understand that some alligators can be aggressive.  About 10 years ago, I was fishing an oxbow on the Altamaha River in late summer.  I had some 10" lizards in the Oxbow near me, and shortly after I had what I'm assuming was momma making a beeline for my 10' Pelican kayak.  I paddled right out of there right quick.

 

A few weeks ago, I was fishing 17' of water in McGowan Lake, again off the Altamaha River.  Suddenly, my sonar read 2', and I'm fairly certain a big one came up under me to inspect what had invaded their territory.  I pedaled to the other side of the lake.

 

Now, I'll tell you why I haven't bothered to drop the coin on a Hi-Point or something to not care about in the kayak.  As I fished the other side of that lake, I watched two smaller gators face off.  Suddenly, one of them decided to make his or her move and from a dead stop every bit of that animal cleared the water.  Jumped right out the water from a standstill.  This spooked the other gator and showed me the awesome power of these animals.

 

I'm pretty strong, and I'm pretty fast, but if a grown one decides they want me off my kayak I'm fairly certain not even Quickdraw McGraw could get some lead in one.

 

It actually makes me feel a bit better to get aggressive with them and put them in the mindstate of, "I think this human is hunting me.  This human is not food," and that's why I routinely beeline at alligators from my kayak.

 

I never throw a frog i don't want torn up near a little one, I've noticed the big ones around here don't care to chase such a little meal or know it's not an honest sandwich.

[DogBone_384]

Did the cat attack?

[Captain Phil]

I have lived and fished around gators all my life. I currently live on the Harris Chain.  The Chain of Lakes has numerous large alligators.  Any animal that large with teeth can be dangerous.  We had a small boy killed by an alligator some time ago.  He was swimming in a river teasing the alligators.  Some men told the boys to stop, but they didn't listen.  My handyman was attacked by an alligator while pruning bushes near a canal.  Everyone knows about the boy that was killed at Disney World.

 

It is highly unusual for an adult to be chased by an alligator. Unusual doesn't mean it can't happen.  Never let a small dog get near the water in Florida.  I know of two cases where an alligator snatched a dog from a jon boat.  A dog walking along the shoreline is an easy meal for an alligator.   If an alligator gets too large or starts showing aggressive behavior, call the game officials.  They will send a trapper to remove the gator.

 

Normally, if you stay away from gators they will leave you alone. 

[TnRiver46]

Here’s the world record they killed right where I camp every year in Alabama. 15’9” and 1100+ lbs. 

Here’s a little baby 10-12 footer that didn’t even flinch when a plastic worm came across it’s nose. I have an old photo of a buzzbait sitting on a 13-14 footers head too that never moved. Where we fish, the little ones chase lures and the big ones could care less (the guy in the picture on the trolling motor is 6’10”)

 

alligators are big and tough, but they got nothing on people in south Alabama. If they cause trouble, then end up on a plate. Paraphrasing from memory of the article, Mandy stokes shot the record gator in the middle of the night from a boat in a cypress slough. She hit it once with a 20 gauge and it took off like a rocket still tethered to the catch line and slammed their boat into a stump. Then she shot again and finished it off. I won’t even bass fish the area at night because of the bugs and they go lizard hunting in Jon boats 

[Koz]

4 hours ago, Hook2Jaw said:

@Koz, sorry to hear that and I can understand that some alligators can be aggressive.  About 10 years ago, I was fishing an oxbow on the Altamaha River in late summer.  I had some 10" lizards in the Oxbow near me, and shortly after I had what I'm assuming was momma making a beeline for my 10' Pelican kayak.  I paddled right out of there right quick.

 

A few weeks ago, I was fishing 17' of water in McGowan Lake, again off the Altamaha River.  Suddenly, my sonar read 2', and I'm fairly certain a big one came up under me to inspect what had invaded their territory.  I pedaled to the other side of the lake.

 

Now, I'll tell you why I haven't bothered to drop the coin on a Hi-Point or something to not care about in the kayak.  As I fished the other side of that lake, I watched two smaller gators face off.  Suddenly, one of them decided to make his or her move and from a dead stop every bit of that animal cleared the water.  Jumped right out the water from a standstill.  This spooked the other gator and showed me the awesome power of these animals.

 

I'm pretty strong, and I'm pretty fast, but if a grown one decides they want me off my kayak I'm fairly certain not even Quickdraw McGraw could get some lead in one.

 

It actually makes me feel a bit better to get aggressive with them and put them in the mindstate of, "I think this human is hunting me.  This human is not food," and that's why I routinely beeline at alligators from my kayak.

 

I never throw a frog i don't want torn up near a little one, I've noticed the big ones around here don't care to chase such a little meal or know it's not an honest sandwich.

I've stomped and shouted at gators to try and drive them off. Most duck under the water and then hang out marking their turf. A few decided to make a run at me instead. Either way, I just go fish somewhere else. As you mentioned, they are quick and strong and if I do catch something chances are they will turn up their aggression level to 11.

 

My son and I fished a concrete fishing slab at Chapin Park on Hilton Head one year. Within 20 minutes he had 6 or 8 gators all around us just sitting there or cruising. Since they were not aggressive we fished on. But as soon as I caught one that changed.

 

As I got the fish close two gators started battling and death rolling. I yelled for my son to run up the gangplank as I tried to release the fish. Another gator started slamming into the concrete slab. I released the fish and got out of there. When I git to the top of the gangplank two gators climbed up on that raised slab.

 

I did call local officials and since it was a town park they said they would relocate the larger gators. But the other areas I fish are gated residential communities and they almost never remove aggressive gators until a person is attacked. Over the past 4 years we've had a handful of gator attacks and two deaths. But if I remember correctly in both deaths people were walking dogs near the lagoons. The other attacks were unprovoked.

 

Fishing with gators around is just a fact of life in the SC Lowcountry. But every moment I am on the water my head is on a swivel and I'm keeping an eye out for them. Their presence also limits the areas I fish. I never fish in tight quarters where I can't make a quick egress and won't fish over areas of high, thick vegetation where I can't see what's on the other side.

 

I made the mistake once of going on the wooded backside of a lagoon and when I went to traverse a narrow gap between the lagoon and some bushes I hear the gator grunt. I immediately ran back the way I came. When I stopped on the other side of the lagoon there was a 12-14 footer entering the water from those bushes.

[Don51]

They are a wild animal and as with any wild animal their behavior can be unpredictable. For the most part I have found them to be more curious than anything else. They will watch you and lose interest and swim off. All bets are off if you stumble across a mother with hatchlings!  That is a dangerous situation that you need to immediately remove yourself from!  

[Sam]

36 minutes ago, Don51 said:

They are a wild animal and as with any wild animal their behavior can be unpredictable. For the most part I have found them to be more curious than anything else. They will watch you and lose interest and swim off. All bets are off if you stumble across a mother with hatchlings!  That is a dangerous situation that you need to immediately remove yourself from!  

X2

[Hook2Jaw]

1 hour ago, Koz said:

I've stomped and shouted at gators to try and drive them off. Most duck under the water and then hang out marking their turf. A few decided to make a run at me instead. Either way, I just go fish somewhere else. As you mentioned, they are quick and strong and if I do catch something chances are they will turn up their aggression level to 11.

 

My son and I fished a concrete fishing slab at Chapin Park on Hilton Head one year. Within 20 minutes he had 6 or 8 gators all around us just sitting there or cruising. Since they were not aggressive we fished on. But as soon as I caught one that changed.

 

As I got the fish close two gators started battling and death rolling. I yelled for my son to run up the gangplank as I tried to release the fish. Another gator started slamming into the concrete slab. I released the fish and got out of there. When I git to the top of the gangplank two gators climbed up on that raised slab.

 

I did call local officials and since it was a town park they said they would relocate the larger gators. But the other areas I fish are gated residential communities and they almost never remove aggressive gators until a person is attacked. Over the past 4 years we've had a handful of gator attacks and two deaths. But if I remember correctly in both deaths people were walking dogs near the lagoons. The other attacks were unprovoked.

 

Fishing with gators around is just a fact of life in the SC Lowcountry. But every moment I am on the water my head is on a swivel and I'm keeping an eye out for them. Their presence also limits the areas I fish. I never fish in tight quarters where I can't make a quick egress and won't fish over areas of high, thick vegetation where I can't see what's on the other side.

 

I made the mistake once of going on the wooded backside of a lagoon and when I went to traverse a narrow gap between the lagoon and some bushes I hear the gator grunt. I immediately ran back the way I came. When I stopped on the other side of the lagoon there was a 12-14 footer entering the water from those bushes.

I pretty well stepped on about a 7 footer two years ago at work, I'm over here in the Savannah, Georgia low country.  I remember when that poor woman got killed while walking her dog in Hilton Head.

[soflabasser]

Alligators over 12 feet in length are rare animals to see in the wild and most people overestimate the size of the alligators they see. Any alligator over 10 feet is a very large one and average size alligator I see is around 4-10 feet. One way to estimate the length of alligators is to see the distance between the midpoint of the eyes to the midpoint of the nostrils. For example if there is 12 or more inches between the eyes and nostrils of alligator then there is a good chance the alligator you saw is over 12 feet in length.

[Koz]

3 hours ago, Hook2Jaw said:

I pretty well stepped on about a 7 footer two years ago at work, I'm over here in the Savannah, Georgia low country.  I remember when that poor woman got killed while walking her dog in Hilton Head.

I lived in Hilton Head and Bluffton for years but never got down to the Savannah area to fish. There were just too many great places to fish near me (literally thousands of lagoons) and I prefer walking the banks and covering lots of ground on foot. Some days I might walk for miles and cover a dozen lagoons, especially if gators decide to camp out where I'm fishing.

[Koz]

1 hour ago, soflabasser said:

Alligators over 12 feet in length are rare animals to see in the wild and most people overestimate the size of the alligators they see. Any alligator over 10 feet is a very large one and average size alligator I see is around 4-10 feet. One way to estimate the length of alligators is to see the distance between the midpoint of the eyes to the midpoint of the nostrils. For example if there is 12 or more inches between the eyes and nostrils of alligator then there is a good chance the alligator you saw is over 12 feet in length.

Trust me - when you come across a 12 foot bull alligator you know it.

 

Most are 6-9 feet in the areas I fish. But over the years we've come across some big ones. The biggest I came across was just over 14 feet where I used to live in Moss Creek Plantation. I was playing a par three with a lagoon on the left and a big, blind bunker between the lagoon and the green.

 

I hit my ball into the bunker and when I approached I saw my ball next to the hulking gator. I turned to my dad and told him I'm going back to the tee to hit another.  He thought my ball was in the water and chided me on playing by the rules and taking a drop instead of re-hitting.

 

I asked him to come over to the bunker, pointed at the gator, and then said to him, "Local rules."

 

The HOA soon determined that gator was too big and was worried that it would become a nuisance so they had it relocated. The removal folks measured it and it was just over 14 feet. Absolutely massive in length and girth.

[soflabasser]

55 minutes ago, Koz said:

Trust me - when you come across a 12 foot bull alligator you know it.

I grew up in South Florida and have seen thousands of alligators, crocodiles, and caimans in the places I have fished. In that time I have seen alligators over 14 feet and crocodiles up to 16 feet. Have dived next to alligators and crocodiles along other animals. With that said a legit 12 foot or bigger alligator is not a common sight and it is something I stop fishing to watch to appreciate. They are impressive animals and I am glad to see them when I go fishing.

[NittyGrittyBoy]

On 10/11/2020 at 5:12 PM, Hook2Jaw said:

I routinely chase gators in my kayak in South Georgia.  They're great big sissy babies. 

Oh yeah? ??

[Don51]

7 hours ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Oh yeah? ??

Sounds like he has been very lucky with his encounters!

[Hook2Jaw]

10 hours ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Oh yeah? ??

Oh yeah!  Glad to see you're back.

 

2 hours ago, Don51 said:

Sounds like he has been very lucky with his encounters!

Nah, just aware that for the most part alligators aren't aggressive barring babies and mating season.  I would rather know if they're gonna stand their ground or leave.

[NittyGrittyBoy]

5 hours ago, Hook2Jaw said:

Oh yeah!  Glad to see you're back.

Life got busy, still been fishing a bit, but glad to be back for sure. 

 

Just fished Chatuge this past weekend catching spots around docks on jigs!! Believe it or not but on a kayak! I think I'm hooked. 

[Hook2Jaw]

7 minutes ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Life got busy, still been fishing a bit, but glad to be back for sure. 

 

Just fished Chatuge this past weekend catching spots around docks on jigs!! Believe it or not but on a kayak! I think I'm hooked. 

Hell yeah!  I had to hang up my jon boat as soon as I was in a kayak.  I'm headed to Wildwood Park on Clark's Hill this weekend.  I'm planning to beat that creek arm down.