Alligators, Buffalo and Mudfish
Dateline 04/26/99
I accidently on purpose caught an alligator once. It pulled good. Linda and I were fishing in the Altamaha River out of Two Way Fish Camp, a marina close enought to the coast of Georgia that you can go to saltwater or fresh. We were looking for the tarpon that move into the rivers every July, but were not seeing much.
We had been shocked to see alligators everywhere. I never thought about them being in saltwater, but the marsh grass seemed to be full of them, and they all came out and moved around at high and low tide when there was little current. Most kept their distance, which was fine with me!
I was casting a big DB3 plug, thinking it looked a lot like the menhaden the tarpon feed on. A baby alligator happened to swim fairly close by and I cast at it. This little one was only about two feet long and I hooked it with the plug! It was all I could handle on my 7 1/2 foot flipping stick rigged with 20 pound test line. Those things can really swim hard!
When the gator got right beside the boat, Linda looked at me and said "What are you going to do now?" I did not want to lose my plug that was hooked in the animals back, near its tail, but I was not about to reach down near it. Even a two foot long alligator has sharp teeth! Fortunately, the hooks suddenly pulled loose and the gator took off! So did we.
Mudfish are also called bowfin and are prehistoric fish with sharp teeth. One summer while Bob Pierce and I were fishing at Bartlet's Ferry Lake on the Chattahoochee River, I hooked something on a worm that pulled like crazy. I saw a flash in the water and was sure I had a six pound bass. When Bob netted it, it twisted all up in the net. He knew what it was but I had never seen one before.
When I went to untangle it, Bob warned me to watch for teeth. Bowfin have a row of stubby, spiky teeth in their wide mouth that look like they could chew off your hand. I was very careful unhooking it! That was in the mid 1970's and I have had many close encounters of the bowfin kind since then.
The biggest bowfin I ever caught was a ten pounder that hit at West Point. I was sliding a Little George along the surface of an old road bed, hoping for a bass, when something thumped it. I set the hook and was in for a fight! Since it was a club tournament, I just knew I had a winner!
Rather than a winner, I had something to talk about. I weighed the fish on the club scales, but they would not let it count! That bowfin destroyed the Little George, bending the spinner and hook and even putting holes in the lead body. I think they are the only fish that could tear up a Little George!
Buffalo are another fish I am not familiar with. While fishing the BASS Southern Regional in at Kentucky Lake in 1983, I hooked a strong fish on a jig and pig. It was just a few minutes before weigh-in on the last day of the tournament, and I just knew I had a winner!
It turned out to be a buffalo, a fish I had never seen. It looked a lot like a silver carp and fought like crazy, but was still something I could not take to the scales. It probably weighed about six pounds and I understand that is a very small one. It still felt huge on my line and looked big in the water!
Had any unusual catches? Any interesting trips lately? Tell me about it. If so, you can also post information about it for others on my message board - you must register to post but can read the board as a guest. Also, if you have thoughts you want to share about this topic, let me know about it at fishing.guide@about.com. for a "Fishtale"or discuss it in the chat room on every night at 8:00 EST. Tell others what you like.
ONE YEAR AGO THIS WEEK - 04/27/98
- Trick Worms
Fishing weightless worms for bass in the spring.
TWO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK - 04/28/97
- Make the Connection, Use the Right Line
The line you choose is arguably the most important piece of equipment you
use. If it fails, you lose the fish. And if you don't tie a good knot,
even the best line can't save your fish.
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