Even though we had not gotten a good look at him before we snagged him it was obvious by the way he moved off when I set the first rod on him that he was big. As he surged off I could feel every sweep of his big tail telegraph up the line, something you can't feel on smaller gators until they tire some.
It took us about 5 minutes to get a second light rod hooked up, at which point we just set about following him until he settled so we could set the big rods on him. As is usual with the big ones he did not move very far before deciding that the small anoyance that the hooks ( We had him snagged with bass sized tackle so there was no real pressure on him. ) were causing him was not worth any real effort to avoid.
That was a mistake on his part. As soon as he stoped we got right on top of where the lines went into the water and broke out the big rods. The big rods being grouper sized with 80# mono. Of course as soon as we set down on him with the first big rod he knew he had a problem.
Over the next 30 minutes or so we had the big rods on him a couple of times only to have him knock them out. Fortunatly one of the small rods always stayed hooked up.
Finally got both big rods hooked up solid and set about trying to haul him to the surface for the harpoon. After setting 2 harpoons ( Gators this big ALWAYS get at least 2 harpoons from us. ) we banged him and then tried to haul him in the boat.
After about 30 minutes we finally faced the fact that the three of us old guys were not man enough to get him into the boat without a better plan than just mussel.
It was at this point that someone suggested that we use the trolling motor to haul him up into shallower water so we could get out and lift him.
That did not work either!!
Getting old sucks!!
Ended up lashing him to the side of the boat. About a hour and a half later we got to the ramp where we lashed the block & tackle high up on a piling and finally got him pulled across the stern of the boat.
He was right at 13 and well over 700 pounds.................
It took us about 5 minutes to get a second light rod hooked up, at which point we just set about following him until he settled so we could set the big rods on him. As is usual with the big ones he did not move very far before deciding that the small anoyance that the hooks ( We had him snagged with bass sized tackle so there was no real pressure on him. ) were causing him was not worth any real effort to avoid.
That was a mistake on his part. As soon as he stoped we got right on top of where the lines went into the water and broke out the big rods. The big rods being grouper sized with 80# mono. Of course as soon as we set down on him with the first big rod he knew he had a problem.
Over the next 30 minutes or so we had the big rods on him a couple of times only to have him knock them out. Fortunatly one of the small rods always stayed hooked up.
Finally got both big rods hooked up solid and set about trying to haul him to the surface for the harpoon. After setting 2 harpoons ( Gators this big ALWAYS get at least 2 harpoons from us. ) we banged him and then tried to haul him in the boat.
After about 30 minutes we finally faced the fact that the three of us old guys were not man enough to get him into the boat without a better plan than just mussel.
It was at this point that someone suggested that we use the trolling motor to haul him up into shallower water so we could get out and lift him.
That did not work either!!
Getting old sucks!!
Ended up lashing him to the side of the boat. About a hour and a half later we got to the ramp where we lashed the block & tackle high up on a piling and finally got him pulled across the stern of the boat.
He was right at 13 and well over 700 pounds.................
