Toliver
Senior Member
Our group couldn't get our schedules together until this week which was cutting it close to start with. Then the hurricane started becoming a threat. We were supposed to start hunting Sunday but then something came up for our permit holder who couldn't get here until Monday night. So thought we were only going to end up with one day to hunt. We hunted Tuesday morning. We saw a bunch of 6-7 footers but they were all up in that thick Seminole grass. We took a break for lunch and to refuel the boat. We went back out around 3 pm.
We were again seeing a lot of the young 6-7 footers and again they were holding tight in the grass beds. Finally one popped up that I estimated to be between 9-10 feet. He, too, was in the grass as we started the cat and mouse game. We got close enough to cast on him a couple of times but without a precise cast, the treble was just immediately caught up in weeds. About 30 minutes of the game beginning he erred and surfaced in open water away from the protective vegetation. A beautiful cast was made and we were connected. That gator had spirit. He pulled all over the place. Each time we got into a good position, I would throw the grappling hook. It took several attempts to get him but finally I had a good connection.
When he surfaced, the fight really started. He rolled himself up into my rope and I thought it was over. He would then roll the other way and unwrap himself. I feared he would manage to throw the grappling hook; he had already broken the fishing line so it was now the only connection we had. A harpoon tip was driven into him that was attached to a big float in case he came off the
grappling hook. He would not stop thrashing which made shooting him difficult. Each time the shooter was ready the gator would move, violently, and cause him to miss the sweet spot. It took 4 shots to finally stop him. He did a little damage to the side of the boat as he bit it. I watched one of his teeth sink in the water after he broke it off. At first I wasn't sure what it was and for a second thought someone had lost a finger tip to a tight rope or something. We finally got him taped and then on board. He measured out at about 9.5 feet. He was way more feisty than the 11 foot one we got in 2017 which made it considerably more exciting. Anyway, good times were had by all and I can't wait until next year to do it all over again.
We were again seeing a lot of the young 6-7 footers and again they were holding tight in the grass beds. Finally one popped up that I estimated to be between 9-10 feet. He, too, was in the grass as we started the cat and mouse game. We got close enough to cast on him a couple of times but without a precise cast, the treble was just immediately caught up in weeds. About 30 minutes of the game beginning he erred and surfaced in open water away from the protective vegetation. A beautiful cast was made and we were connected. That gator had spirit. He pulled all over the place. Each time we got into a good position, I would throw the grappling hook. It took several attempts to get him but finally I had a good connection.
When he surfaced, the fight really started. He rolled himself up into my rope and I thought it was over. He would then roll the other way and unwrap himself. I feared he would manage to throw the grappling hook; he had already broken the fishing line so it was now the only connection we had. A harpoon tip was driven into him that was attached to a big float in case he came off the
grappling hook. He would not stop thrashing which made shooting him difficult. Each time the shooter was ready the gator would move, violently, and cause him to miss the sweet spot. It took 4 shots to finally stop him. He did a little damage to the side of the boat as he bit it. I watched one of his teeth sink in the water after he broke it off. At first I wasn't sure what it was and for a second thought someone had lost a finger tip to a tight rope or something. We finally got him taped and then on board. He measured out at about 9.5 feet. He was way more feisty than the 11 foot one we got in 2017 which made it considerably more exciting. Anyway, good times were had by all and I can't wait until next year to do it all over again.
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