After reading the Q-kids post about water snakes, reminded me of a website I’ve seen. There is a river in Florida named the St. John’s and they fly fish alot there for bass and shad. The website said to NEVER wade where there were alligators over 9ft long. I personally thought that was pretty funny, cause I don’t care how long they are, I’m not getting in the water with alligators. What about you guys down there in the swamps, do you wade with alligators??? I wonder if swamp witches wade with alligators? lol
hNt
PS here is the website, i just found it. you’ll have to scroll down to the second paragraph from the bottom to see where he discusses wading with the alligators. It’s a very informative article, but I just can’t imagine wading with alligators. http://flyfishingthings.com/Categories/How_to/Shad%20Fishing.html
From what I have heard you could probably venture out in water with gator up to 12 - 13 ft. long before they would consider you a mouth full. I have talked to people who grew up in gator country, FL and LA, who do not think that much about jumping into water with the water lizards. I have an acquaintance who has told me he used to float tube in FL but he grew up down there. Who is going to go out and measure the gators to be sure they are the right size. Many years ago I fished in a lake in south MS where the lake mascot was a gator described as “just a tad under 19 ft.”
I would probably be more concerned about snakes than gators but you need to be smart regarding both. Gators are naturally wary of people but the tourist have fed them too many hot dogs that they may come looking for food if they see you. I had one slide up right under my feet when I stopped to check a place to fish at a ramp off “Alligator Alley” in south Florida.
I dont push my luck being around the Everglades…3 deaths last yr or so due to gator attacks…that being said I have stepped on the tails of several by accident while getting caught up in the moment…they dive into the water fast and hard but it is unsettling at best…I have also had a few that were mean and determined to eat me or my fish or both…one had 3 legs and he was the worst of all…its the saltwater crocs that concern me more and I see them also, some very close but its the manatees that actually do the damage lol…I know they eat dogs all the time and I wont let my dogs near most water…the Everglades has a overpopulation of boas and pythons that can and do eat the gators up to 8ft so many things to worry about…still looking for the Skunk Ape!!! these 1st 2 pictures are saltwater croc and the last a gator
I must admit when I lived in Miami and fished the Everglades on a regular basis, I waded all the time. As a rule I am not afraid of critters, but there was one occasion where I took pause and re-thought my approach to fishing. A friend and I were fishing a small “pond” that had been created when the water is low in the glades. When the dry season hits, several hundred acres of water drop down to become seven or eight 2- 3 acre"ponds". The fish are crammed into these ponds and always hungry, so 100+ fish days were common. There was a mat of vegetation about 10-12 feet wide all the way around this pond so I waded out until I was in slightly deeper tha my waist. I was catching fish and having a good time when I noticed the vegetation moving a bit about 10 feet to my left. I stopped fishing for a moment to watch what was going on. Slowly I realized that there was a huge 12-13 foot long alligator slowly swimming towards me with just his nose and eyes above the water. I froze and watched as he swam by me less than two feet from me with his back about 2 inches below the water. Only the laundry knows how scared I was. I could have reached out my hand and laid it on his back as he swam by. I think he was just giving me a swim-by warning to get out of his pond. I hollered over to my buddy that we need to leave this pond right now. He asked why and when I told him what happened, he agreed and we left that pond to the original occupant. I don’t think I ever waded in the glades again after that time. As I write this, I’m shaking my head at how really dumb I was to casually wade in the Everglades, sometimes chest deep at night pulling our john boat through the weeds to get to open water. I guess it’s true what they say, “God takes care of children, drunks and fools”. I’m not a kid and I don’t drink so I guess I know where I fit into that saying.
I have fished in ponds with alligators but I have always been in a boat or a canoe. Have caught them on a popping bug and also on a spinning rod. Not foul hooked either. The one on the spinning rod, son thought it was a big drum and grabbed the shock leader to unhook him. He surfaced next to the canoe with his jaws wide open. Son fell over backwards in the canoe and almost put both of us in the water with the gator.
And No, I will not wade in water that contains alligators. Even little ones. Cause I think where there are little ones, there is a big one in there somewhere too.
Here in SC we had a diver the other year lost an arm to a gator. Witnesses said he was trying to get real close to it and touch it. I guess he got to touch it all right.
Fished the St. John’s several times this winter. Shared the water with some big gators, but never had one approach me, and I did stay close to the boat. I really was more nervous around the manattee that would come up around the kayak to check you out or worse yet to come up under you and scratch their back on the yak.
I fish the St John river frequently as I live very close to one of the lakes near the headwaters, Lake Washington, and no, I don’t wade in it. A couple years ago, I saw the state trapper at the ramp with both an 11 and a 12 ft gator he caught within a short distance from the ramp. Hence the reason I have a bass boat…
As far as the manatees go, I have been knocked out of my kayak by them when I paddled over one in the dark one morning, in the Banana River. What a hoot that was… LOL
Wading with alligators…say it out loud and pause for a moment…Did it work?
Okay lets try this, say it to yourself, wading with alligators…did it echo?.. Enjoy your trip.
And Jesus walked on water. How did he do this? Well he is God’s son and alligators! I am only a mere mortal and I am sure I could get going enough so that my shins show.
Do you know how little alligators get to be big alligators…they eat. The little alligators can only bite off so much but it might be my favorite…um…so much.
The mere thought of wading with alligators could be part of that Saturday Night skit “Oh Really”. So you want to wade with the alligators…“oh really”. But it was only a 5 footer…“oh really”. After a close call you show up at the house out of breath with no pants and missing a shoe and your wife asks you what the heck is going on and you tell her you were wading with the alligators…“oh really” I could go on and on but I stopped being funny an “oh really” ago.
I don’t know everything guys but I think alligators are God’s way of saying keep out. At 5 foot he is asking nicely ant 14 feet his arm is around your shoulder saying I told you to keep out…didn’t you see the signs.
I agree with Sean, i’m not going to go in if i know they are there. i don’t think I’d be real comfortable in a boat to be honest. (And if you aren’t comfortable and thus enjoying yourself, where is the fun at???)
That last pic may be a gator bonewhisperer, but that deer is probably close to a human size don’t you think?
Fortunately, I live far enough North in South Carolina that gators are a genuinely rare and usually transplanted occurrence. Now the Southern part of the state (Jim Hatch country) is another situation altogether. My general rule of thumb is to avoid water that contains big gators (also big sharks, poisonous snakes, etc. etc). I just don’t think it’s a sound idea to trust in the benevolence of something that might find me tasty and delicious. As I’ve said in previous posts, if I must fish dangerous water, I always try to do so with an overweight friend or with large groups of people. My belief is that the overweight friend is more likely to be attacked first because he or she appears larger and meatier. Ask yourself, which piece of fish do you put on your plate at a fish fry, the tiny little bluegill fillet or the substantial bass fillet—hey, bass fillet every time—right? The second point in favor of fishing dangerous water with an overweight friend concerns physical conditioning. You can probably beat your friend to safety in any type of running, swimming or paddling situation. You don’t have to out swim the gator, just your friend. Finally, large groups are just a question of playing the odds. If you are going to wade a dangerous pond all alone and there is going to be a gator attack, you are the victim that the EMTs will have to reassemble—100% certainly. That chance drops to 50% with 2 people, 20% with 5 people or 5% with twenty people. At 5% risk, I might be willing to take the chance for some really great fishing. Just my 2% of a dollar. My apologies in advance to those humorless souls whom I seem to constantly offend. 8T
8T,
While fishing with Jim Hatch on Lake Moultrie some years ago (year before the drought), we had a BIG gator slide off a high bank into the water about 20-30 feet from Jim’s boat. That’ll wake ya up!
Jim also told me the following story…he took some photos & made a pamphlet about Moultrie some years ago. He would paddle his kayak while doing so. He actually had a big gator go right OVER his yak, flipping him. :shock: He was able to right his yak & said his side hurt where the gator hit him. It didn’t seem to phase ol’ Jim, but if that would’ve been me, someone would have gotten a GREAT buy on a used kayak!
Your post reminded me that I have to call Jim & see what he’s up to. When the drought was so extended, I know he got back into radio controlled planes, etc. I’ll post a followup soon.
Mike
Great story, Mike. I had a standing invitation to go fish with Jim for three or four years but unfortunately we could never get out calendars to match. Similarly, I could never get him up to the mountains for a little trout fishing. I believe that he felt trout were just too tame in comparison to his redears. 8T
I grew up in northern Louisiana where gators were rare and did float tube some, but upon moving to south Louisiana, I put up the float tube. I just didn’t like the idea of placing fins on my feet and dangling them around below the surface. While the gator probably wouldn’t attack a human, those fins would have all the appeal of a big ol’ slow moving fish…
Jim just doesn’t like to leave home. As he told me, he has everything he wants and/or needs right there. He always caught some big ol’ redear. Seems sorta strange about the not wanting to travel from an ol’ retired Navy guy, doesn’t it? Hatch is one of a kind.
Mike
What about you guys down there in the swamps, do you wade with alligators??? I wonder if swamp witches wade with alligators? lol
