Alligators Revisited

On the last evening of our Florida vacation Dad and I decided to do a little more fishing. We had both just won money on a couple of college basketball games and we were feeling lucky. So we might as well see how the fishing gods were feeling that day.

The gods were not pleased with me. On my second cast I hooked a fish but it broke my line. I was using 8-pound test line but some of these fish were big - very big. A few minutes later Dad snapped his line reeling one in too. As we were both sitting in the grass tying our lures I noticed a pair of alligator eyes pop out of the water. It was about 15 fifteen feet off the shore and about fifty feet to my right. I felt okay with the distance but it was close enough to check on every time I casted.

Meanwhile, Dad hooked another big fish, bigger than the last one that got away. But he was working it good and it looked as if he was going to bring him in. It jumped in the air about ten feet out and we saw that it was a snook. And it was with that splash that I noticed the alligator moving.

Dad worked the fish in the rest of the way and laid it flat on the grass. The alligator kept coming. "Um, Dad that gator is kind of moving toward us." He was oblivious as he shined in the glow of his huge catch. The snook was every bit of two-feet long and I couldn't guess as to how much it weighed. It was by far the largest fish we caught all week.

"Dad really, you need to turn around and look at the alligator. Dad!" With that last yell he turned to see the gator and immediately ran up the hill. I was close behind him. When we got to a safe distance we turned around and watched as the gator slowly crept out of the lake and grabbed the fish by the tail. The snook flapped once or twice and the gator shook his head back and forth. He rose up on his front legs as if he was posing for us. Or at least he was trying to say something like "thanks for dinner, boys!" Then he jumped around and dove into the lake.

We were amazed. With our hearts thumping we called a few people and started telling our story. Most people thought we were nuts but enough of them believed us. A few hours later on the way home from dinner Dad got a call from his friend and neighbor, Glenn. He had been out of town when Dad told him our story earlier. But when he got home his wife told him how she was sitting on the back porch watching the sunset when an alligator came out of the water with a big silver fish in its mouth. She said it sat there still for a few minutes then with one big movement tossed the fish in the air and ate it in one bite. So at least our story has some confirmation.

Boy, Florida is dangerous.