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Saved a Gator

Posted on 7/5/11 at 8:36 am
Posted by Redfish2010
Member since Jul 2007
15228 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 8:36 am
Riding around the other day we noticed a trot line tied up to a tree. This tree was shaking in the water so of course we had to take a look. When we pulled the line up, we found a gator snagged on the bottom of its tail. We cut the line but didn't dare reach for the hook itself.

When we started pulling it up by the boat, he just sat there calmly. I assumed he had been snagged for a few days and had began losing his strength. Pretty cool experience I guess.

Worthless without pics, I know, so see below.










Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
86461 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 8:37 am to
That's an 800 lber.
Posted by meauxjeaux2
watson
Member since Oct 2007
60283 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 8:39 am to
dat's a big ole gatah.
Posted by INFIDEL
The couch
Member since Aug 2006
16199 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 8:43 am to
Quit checking other peoples lines. What would you have done there were a 40# op on there?
Posted by tigerfoot
Alexandria
Member since Sep 2006
60724 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 8:48 am to
that's a twee shaka.

I dont know how you kept it from lunging out of the water and just eating the both of you.

That is what they do.
Posted by Redfish2010
Member since Jul 2007
15228 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 8:49 am to
quote:

What would you have done there were a 40# op on there?



op?

Fwiw, there was a 40+lb catfish on the middle line which was almost white. Been dead a while. This line had been untouched for quite some time.
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
86461 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 8:54 am to
quote:

op?
Flathead, spotted cat, Opelousas, goujon etc.
Posted by INFIDEL
The couch
Member since Aug 2006
16199 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 9:00 am to
Regardless. Tree moving=something on the line=more reason not to mess with it. Lot of work and time put into runnin lines. Some people weren't raised right and don't know not to screw with em. Just lettin you know.
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
86461 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 9:04 am to
Wow, I thought you were kidding.
Posted by INFIDEL
The couch
Member since Aug 2006
16199 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 9:04 am to
Oh, that does look like a big arse gator.
Posted by Redfish2010
Member since Jul 2007
15228 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 9:04 am to
quote:

. Some people weren't raised right and don't know not to screw with em



Raised just fine. Not my fault someone set a line and failed to come back and check it. I see nothing wrong with letting the gator off of it.
Posted by INFIDEL
The couch
Member since Aug 2006
16199 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 9:05 am to
Fair enough.
Posted by INFIDEL
The couch
Member since Aug 2006
16199 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 9:09 am to
FTR the problem isn't letting the gator go. Problem is checkin the line to begin with. Unless you had good reason to expect a small child to be entangled in said line, why check it?
Posted by NewtonDevice
Member since Jun 2011
25 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 9:11 am to
quote:

Saved a Gator

quote:
. Some people weren't raised right and don't know not to screw with em




Raised just fine. Not my fault someone set a line and failed to come back and check it. I see nothing wrong with letting the gator off of it.


LOL, no lie, some people weren't raised right and don't check their lines often enough. And going by a line that's going crazy and seeing a gator in the water isn't "checking" it EDIT: unless you guys didn't see the gator until you pulled it up). I've cut egrets and other stuff out of abandoned lines plenty of times. If people don't want their lines cut, don't leave 'em hooked and unattended for days and weeks. Respect the wildlife if you want to keep it around.
This post was edited on 7/5/11 at 9:12 am
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
86461 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 9:11 am to
Or a snagged gator. I've seen what lines look like with fish on them. So he checked it? He took no fish that you are aware of and saved a gator.
Posted by Redfish2010
Member since Jul 2007
15228 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 9:12 am to
You're taking this thread in a whole other direction.

1. The dead and floating catfish in the middle made it apparent that the line had been out there for quite some time.
2. Curiosity. Fish don't shake trees like that.
Posted by Redfish2010
Member since Jul 2007
15228 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 9:14 am to
quote:

He took no fish that you are aware of and saved a gator.



Took nothing. Except where we cut the line the gator was attached to. Even if we wanted to take something, we couldn't because the one fish attached had been dead for a few days.

If people want to run trot lines, fine. But don't leave that shite out there and not check it. If you're line is unattended, then
Posted by Boats n Hose
NOLA
Member since Apr 2011
37248 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 9:14 am to
I won't touch them no matter how abandoned they look, simply because my dad got threatened at gunpoint when he was younger by some crazy redneck who ran trot lines across a public canal. My dad and his buddy got one tangled in their prop and the dude started going ballistic. I don't want anything to do with that kind of shite, some stupid people out there
Posted by Crawdaddy
Slidell. The jewel of Louisiana
Member since Sep 2006
19099 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 9:15 am to
one swoosh of its p0werful tail would have pulverized your bones. Now that's livin on the edge.
Posted by INFIDEL
The couch
Member since Aug 2006
16199 posts
Posted on 7/5/11 at 9:16 am to
No problem with cutting anything other then fish outta lines. No problem with cutting my lines if the hung in your trolling motor. But don't check it just you think somethings on it. OP didn't know it was a gator. Just saw limb move.

How do you know the lines weren't being run again? Catfish will die and turn white in less then a day in this heat.
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