Once again I was unable to rally a crew to hunt with (despite high levels of pre-season interest) and unfortunately this time my phone list let me down, so disregarding the "critics” (i.e. mom), I decided to go out alone and try to subdue a monster of the night by myself. For those of you questioning the safety of such an endeavor, I was in my flats boat and that has relatively high sides so I felt pretty safe attempting the unmentionable. Besides, it ultimately only takes the flip of a knife blade to cut any lines connecting me to a pissed off gator, sending both of us on our merry way. Anyway, my solo venture started out as a really slow night so I began moving around, covering a lot of water as quickly as I could. Just trying to get some action going, I covered about 4-5 miles in an hour or so and ultimately ended up where I've been hunting for the better part of the first phase, a large lagoon off of Middle River. I took a few casts at some good gators but nothing panned out. I finally hooked into a 6 footer at about 10:30 p.m. but as I wrestled it at the boat, all of a sudden, it just came off. So, what I thought was the end of a tough night just became the beginning of an even tougher night. I had already lost two before that one even though they were just on the line for a second or two, but I was feeling pretty bummed out and short a few hooks at the point too; I think I only had two left. I took a little break and drank my red bull, had an apple, sat for a bit, and regrouped. I decided I would head toward the boat ramp and just hunt what I could find as I went down the river. It didn’t take long to figure out how the gators were acting that particular night so I quickly developed a plan where I approached gators from along the shoreline, waited ‘til they moved off the shoreline towards the middle of the river, and then casted at them. I practiced this method several times until I came to what I could tell was a very large gator. I used my “action plan” and SUCCESS!!! My second GOOD hook up of the night. In the tiny window of time in which I was able to see the gator’s full body, I was able to tell it was around 11 feet. So, there goes this monster gator with the current of the river and about two minutes into the fight pulling me downstream it give one massive thrust and POP… it’s gone. Expletive…Expletive…you get the conversation I had with myself. So there’s my second-to-last hook in the ass of yet another gator and I’m reaching around to “put” (that is, slam) my hookless rod down when the light from my headlamp catches a pair of eyes watching me over from the shoreline about 50 yards away in the darkness. OH Boy, here we go again. I set my large rod down and grab my last fishing rod with a hook, which was a fishing rod I just grabbed on the way out the door that I normally use to catch fish in the Indian River Lagoon that are no bigger than 4-5 pounds. In one sweeping motion I set the one rod down, grab the other and flip the grappling hook toward where I thought the body would be lying in the water behind the glowing eyes. Splash! Got another one!!! I could tell right away this wasn’t the 11 footer but it was a good one and it was on. I wasn’t willing to let this gator get away so I wanted to be as perfect as possible to avoid anymore heartache. I had pre-loaded the speargun during my “break” and I grabbed that and set it at my feet so it was close and ready. As soon as I saw her head I took the best shot I could into her neck, hoping that would slow her down significantly, and it did-- enough. I was able to catch my breath and load the bangstick for use in a moment or two. Keep in mind I’m alone and it’s extremely difficult to manage this chaos by yourself. I then was able to get a rope around her neck and it was much easier to handle her after that. I actually had the sense of mind to grab the video camera and document some of the mayhem. Hopefully I can get that uploaded for you…once I got a few .357 rounds in the gator, I went to sever the spinal cord and PLOP…there goes my knife into the deep dark water…sh!t…However, I eventually got the gator in the boat (leaving my $90 knife in the murky depths of Middle River) and patted myself on the back. I cleaned up the boat then headed to the ramp where I was met by the grouper troopers who held me up there for almost an hour “just chatting”. I got home, took some self- portraits and started skinning. I butchered from 4:30-6:00 a.m., cleaned up the table/knives and was ready to take a shower by 7:00 a.m. That’s when I fell asleep sitting in my easy-chair till about 7:30 when Blythe got up with the baby. Then I called in late to work, fell back asleep till 9:00, woke up, went to the store, picked up salt for the hide and finished rolling that up and was to work by 10:30 a.m. Not too shabby…
As a summary:
A 15-20 pound class river rod
My last hook
+ 20 pound power pro line
Penn 450 spinning reel
110-120 pound 7’3’’ gator
No help_____________
= 36 more pounds of meat in the freezer!!!
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