Florida Swamp Lizards

[KayakMacGyver]

What part of Florida you from? My GF comes from the glades

I'm in NW Florida, not far from Tallahassee.

 

[Sytes]

Damn... Just added another thrill to my, "bucket list"!

What a fantastic time! Great write-up and pics. It's what makes HT great.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Irrelevant]

Hooks are approximately 12/0. You can actually see one in the pic of the two gators in the boat. Hook is on the gator on the right.

I use 80 lb test spider wire invisibraid most of the time. This allows me to cast around 75 yards. I can use thinner line for longer casts, but feel don't like the trade off for accuracy. Within 75 yards I'm pretty spot on with my casts, within the 5 or so feet needed most of the time for a hookup. Beyond 75, my accuracy really diminishes and as mentioned in my OP you usually get just one shot on the really big ones.

I believe FWC issues approximately 6,000 tags available through Lottery. Number of gators you see really depends on the unit you draw. Just like big game hunting out west, some units have higher populations and quality than others. Where we hunted these gators, one could reasonably expect to see over 50 gators per outing. More if you're out there spot lighting. I hunt some tough hunting county tags and you're lucky to see a dozen gators in an evening sometimes.

That sounds awesome, how close do you have to land the hook to snag one at 75 yards?

 

[KayakMacGyver]

That sounds awesome, how close do you have to land the hook to snag one at 75 yards?

You've got to throw it over the gators back. So, you've got about 5 feet or so in either direction if your aiming dead center.

 

[Irrelevant]

You've got to throw it over the gators back. So, you've got about 5 feet or so in either direction if your aiming dead center.

I meant to they feel it on they're back or dive out of the way as soon as the hook hits, do you aim for like 5 feet past them and give a giant yank?

 

[KayakMacGyver]

I meant to they feel it on they're back or dive out of the way as soon as the hook hits, do you aim for like 5 feet past them and give a giant yank?

10 feet past them is ideal, but more or less still works most of the time. As soon as the hook hits the water you start reeling as fast as you can. Once you connect, it feels like you snagged a log. Sometimes they start thrashing/running as soon as the hook sets and other times they barely react not even realizing they've been hooked. It's definitely a major thrill.

 

[Art Vandelay]

That is way cool. Thanks for sharing!

 

[TexanSam]

I'm in NW Florida, not far from Tallahassee.

Unrelated but are you anywhere close to cape San blas? That might be my favorite place in the world.

 

[Mica Man]

Bucket list adventure for sure! Thanks for the write up.

 

[KayakMacGyver]

Unrelated but are you anywhere close to cape San blas? That might be my favorite place in the world.

I'm about 50 miles from Cape San Blas.
..special place for sure! Don't know if you have seen that area since Hurricane Michael last year, but it sure took a smackin'. Sad stuff, how much damage was done from Cape San Blas over to Panama Ciry.

 

[LCH]

That's pretty neat. Good luck on your remaining tag (s).

 

[Geno67]

 

[TexanSam]

I'm about 50 miles from Cape San Blas.
..special place for sure! Don't know if you have seen that area since Hurricane Michael last year, but it sure took a smackin'. Sad stuff, how much damage was done from Cape San Blas over to Panama Ciry.

Yeah I was there back in May, it looked pretty bad

 

[duckhunt]

That looks like a blast

 

[midwesthunter]

Makes me want to make another trip down there. Congrats on the great gators.

 

[brockel]

Very cool. Curious how much meat you get off say a 10' gator. One of my bucket list items

 

[thusby]

Thanks for the pics... brings back some great memories. I only had the chance to hunt gators one season in Louisiana before I moved away. The leg meat was delicious. That is not something I can come across up in Wisconsin now.

 

[FLS]

Very cool. Our gator season opens in Sept here in SC. I hunted the first two seasons with my bow. Like you said pretty much everyone snags them now. The dumb ones are all dead.

 

[kansasdad]

Amazingly different than any hunting I have done. Hope you connect on the big boy.

 

[ashersdad]

I did this once with my boys and it was one of the funnest things we have ever done. I can’t imagine hooking into one the size you guys are getting. That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing.