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Well my Santee trip was pretty fun and was a complete adventure. I made a new first for myself this trip as well. I caught my first alligator. Yep you read it right! I caught an alligator.
Tim (tighe) and I were fishing an area on the lower lake called Black's Camp. We found acres and acres of lily pads and decided to fish them with some spro frogs to see what we could catch. As we moved and casted I saw a nice opening in the back of the pads. I chunked my frog towards it and watched as it glided through the air. As my frog plunked down my eyes were still on it and suddenly I caught a glimpse of a gator nose. Before I could react or speak the gator rocketed out of the pads and SLAMMED my frog.
"I dont believe it! I just caught a friggin gator!" were the words out of my mouth.
Tim had to hear a repeat of what I said for obvious reason. "A gator... a gator... I caught a friggin gator!" lol
Not wanting to lose my spro frog... they cost a good bit... I started to reel the gator in. He fought well, as one would expect. Surprisingly my 17lb AN40 line didn't get cut, but then agian, gators teeth are made to puncture and hold not to cut and slash. Fortunately the gator was only 3 feet long so getting it too the boat wasnt too hard. When I got him to the side of the boat I began to drop to the deck to be able to kneel and grab him around the neck. As soon as I began moving to the deck he started to death roll, and twisted over and over along side the boat. As he did that my frog popped out of his mouth, no worse for the wear, and the gator fell back into the lake and after a brief pause to gain his berrings, he swam away.
I thought that was the coolest thing! A friggin gator! LOL!
I do have one regret though. As i reeled him in I was so amazed about what I had on the end of my line that I never thought to grab my camera so I didnt take any pictures of him!
However I did get a few pictures of his cousins who, after the gator swam away and we turned around, we realized were very close to us. At one point the biggest one was 10 foot from us but before I could get my camera out the wind drifted us further away and Tim insisted that I turn on the trolling motor and get us outta his range, which I reluctantly did lol
Tim (tighe) and I were fishing an area on the lower lake called Black's Camp. We found acres and acres of lily pads and decided to fish them with some spro frogs to see what we could catch. As we moved and casted I saw a nice opening in the back of the pads. I chunked my frog towards it and watched as it glided through the air. As my frog plunked down my eyes were still on it and suddenly I caught a glimpse of a gator nose. Before I could react or speak the gator rocketed out of the pads and SLAMMED my frog.
"I dont believe it! I just caught a friggin gator!" were the words out of my mouth.
Tim had to hear a repeat of what I said for obvious reason. "A gator... a gator... I caught a friggin gator!" lol
Not wanting to lose my spro frog... they cost a good bit... I started to reel the gator in. He fought well, as one would expect. Surprisingly my 17lb AN40 line didn't get cut, but then agian, gators teeth are made to puncture and hold not to cut and slash. Fortunately the gator was only 3 feet long so getting it too the boat wasnt too hard. When I got him to the side of the boat I began to drop to the deck to be able to kneel and grab him around the neck. As soon as I began moving to the deck he started to death roll, and twisted over and over along side the boat. As he did that my frog popped out of his mouth, no worse for the wear, and the gator fell back into the lake and after a brief pause to gain his berrings, he swam away.
I thought that was the coolest thing! A friggin gator! LOL!
I do have one regret though. As i reeled him in I was so amazed about what I had on the end of my line that I never thought to grab my camera so I didnt take any pictures of him!
However I did get a few pictures of his cousins who, after the gator swam away and we turned around, we realized were very close to us. At one point the biggest one was 10 foot from us but before I could get my camera out the wind drifted us further away and Tim insisted that I turn on the trolling motor and get us outta his range, which I reluctantly did lol
