Penn’s Outdoors

Recently, the crew at Tennessee Valley Angler discussed whether it is better to see or not see a big fish before it breaks you off.  This is a story about the “big one” that my brother-in-law did have a chance to see and then desperately tried to get it to break off.

My brother-in-law moved to Florida a couple of years ago.  He fished a lot here in Pennsylvania but has not had the chance to do much fishing in Florida before this year.  Last week he called me as he had been bank fishing at a local lake and had the biggest largemouth bass of his life break him off.  I could hear by the excitement in his voice that the fish was quite big.

He stayed fishing for awhile and a local pro fisherman gave my brother-in-law some pointers on how to fish that area.  His biggest suggestion was that my brother-in-law should use no less than 20lb test to fish the slop in the back of the cove. 

So, my brother-in-law respooled with heavy line and headed back to the same spot on Saturday in search of the big bass.  He didn’t have much action and spotted a log floating in the water.  He cast by the log.  Like any good cover fisherman, he made sure the plastic frog that he was using made contact with the log.  As soon as he did, the log exploded and ate his plastic frog. 

If you haven’t already figured out where this one is going, the log was an alligator.  Keep reading for the rest of the story and pictures. 

My brother-in-law tried to break it off but that new 20lb test held like a champ.  As he got the gator closer to bank, he had no clue what to do since he didn’t have a knife to cut the line.  So, he called on his cell phone, the one person who has less experience landing alligators than he does–me.  From 1000 miles away, I started firing out advice like I was an expert.

• Don’t lip it.
• Run Forest Run!
• Use the landing net that I gave you for trout fishing.
• Man up and get your frog back.  Those things cost $5.  Get in there and wrestle that little reptile.  The Crocodile Hunter wouldn’t be freaking out.
• Put it on a stringer and take it home. I hear they taste like chicken.

None of this advice appeared welcome as the alligator got closer to shore.

Finally, he was able to put enough tension on the line that it snapped.  Thankfully, he wasn’t using braid. 

Here are a few more pics of the alligator. 

If you are headed to Florida bank fishing, watch where you step, don’t wade and make sure the log that you are casting toward is really a log.