# Raining Bass and Gators



## TomFL (Oct 2, 2007)

Always enjoy your reports, but the second vid has me scratching my head. 

Throwing bass or any fish that far when returning them like that doesn't give fisherman a good rap. Also, the whole hitting an alligator with a rock thing doesn't go well with FWC if they see it either as it's illegal. 

Neither one looks too sportsman-like

My $.02

-T


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## Captain_Shane (Mar 27, 2007)

Most fish I catch are slipped back in at my feet. In this close quarters situation tossing the fish away keeps the gators from coming to me. Hopefully they won't associate people with food next time an angler walks by. Throwing rocks is the last resort to keep them back. If you have seen any of my other vids you would have seen me stomp, yell and flail my hands at them which works 99% of the time. No apologies here.


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

I fished that stretch of canal quite a bit 30 or more years ago. When the water is low the number of gators that can be in there is insane. My friends had grandfathered camps near there, so we were in there quite a bit either fishing or gigging frogs at night. When the gators are concentrated in there they're always bold and hungry from the competition for food. We never had a problem with them trying to bite us tho, they were always interested in the fish, but would come right to your feet or airboat trying to take one. Still, pretty unnerving, especially walking the banks or drag-overs, but the fishing can be well worth the fear and uncertainty.  

I doubt one would ever come out of the water to get you on the bank, maybe a smaller kid alone or a dog, but not a grown man. We'd never let them get a fish if we could avoid it or intentionally feed them, more like the other way around.  : That's still a fairly remote area too, so I'd have to imagine they still have a healthy fear of man out there. Walking up on a momma guarding a nest would be a different story tho.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

I am surprised they are that congregated during the summer. I don't see them pile up like that until winter when they find a place where the water is a bit warmer.

Do they gator farm in Florida? In Louisiana, the gator farmers gather wild eggs. In return for getting the wild eggs, the farmers have to return a certain percentage (higher than the natural survival rate) of 3-4' baby gators to the area where they were caught. As a result, you will stumble across certain areas where a herd of fearless little gators will surround you looking for groceries. 

Regarding chucking the fish and thunking the gator, Tom has a point. I winced also. I know why you did it and *I think you did what you needed to do in that situation*, but don't put that footage on the internet. Spare yourself the criticism. We are surrounded by a majority of people who neither hunt or fish. They have little connection to the natural world beyond mowing their lawns, yet they are more than willing to be offended by any misconception they dig up on the internet. As much as I want to tell them to get lost, they are still registered voters who can take privileges away from us.

Nate


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## mhinkle90 (Feb 24, 2011)

man you head has to be on a swivel 24/7 bro. Awesome fishing! I understand why you threw the fish the way you did and also understand you wouldn't normally do that. Its either you or the fish....you made the right decision


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