Catching Gators

Catching gators was the last thing I intended to do this afternoon but that's exactly what happened today when Odie and I went for a drive to scout out some of my favorite fishing spots.

It was well after noon when we left the house and the weather was just fantastic.  Very little wind, zero chance of rain, and a pleasant 74 degrees.

My plan was to drive over to Haulover Canal to check out the fishing and then heading out to Patillio Creek before heading back to the house.

Because Odie was with me, I really didn't plan on doing any serious fishing but as usual, I hade several rods with me in case I ran across some signs of fish.

As we crossed the bridge and Odie directed me into the entrance to Haulover Canal, I noticed several boats anchored at the mouth of the Mosquito Lagoon fishing the deep holes for reds and black drum.  

Several boats were anchored just off the bank with fishermen tossing lures and dunking baits, and a ton of people were fishing from the bank.   

A couple of kayak fishermen were also paddling along the bank of the canal getting in the way of the bank anglers.

We drove past the people fishing along the bank towards the turn around where the kayak rentals were located and found more fishermen trying their luck at the mouth of the Indian River.

I found that most of the anglers fishing from the bank were using dead shrimp for bait and were catching some Mangrove Snapper and a few black drum.

I located a spot near the bridge and let Odie out to do his business while I tossed a gold Johnson Sprite spoon around for awhile. 

I never got a hit but I did see some baitfish in the canal getting busted on by diving pelicans, so the fish had to be there.

After a few minutes, I loaded up Odie and we headed towards Patillio Creek.

We drove around several areas and found a few fishermen dunking shrimp trying for black drum before heading out to north Shiloh Road.

It was late when we got to the first set of culverts.  The water was dead calm and there was no sign of any topwater activity, so I decided to toss around a gold Johnson Sprite in the off chance I could pick up a redfish.

After several casts on both sides of the culvert, I had a bump on the spoon but missed the fish.  As  I was jumping the spoon off the bottom and letting it flutter back, I hooked up with what I thought was a snag.  

As I started pulling the spoon out of the "snag", it slowly started moving away from me in the narrow creek.

I thought I had a big red or a turtle on, but as I pulled the spoon closer, I was surprised to see that I had hooked a large gator.

The gator was apparently lethargic from the recent cold snap which made it relatively easy to gently pull it to the bank.  I could clearly see the lure hooked on it's back, so I skinned down the bank and after getting it closer, unhooked the gator.

I took several pics to show my wife before the gator slowly turned around and swam away.

I got back up the bank, loaded Odie up into the truck, and decided to head for the house.  I had enough fun for one day.

Till next time, Happy New Year & Tight Lines.