Sipfishing

Just read it and I saw where you talked about them raising their back and sitting off shore to let you know they don’t want you there. Back in June I think that might have happened to me. I entered a cove and there was a big gator, maybe 11-12ft, facing the bank when I entered. I watched him as I rode past and after I was maybe 50 yards away from him I turned around and noticed he was now sitting in the middle of the cove. He body was angled slightly towards the exit/mouth of the cove. I started taking pics etc and as I moved closer he raised his back out of the water and lowered it once I backed off. He swam off pretty fast once a pontoon boat came zooming in the cove. He didn’t seem afraid of me and I don’t know if he would have left if I continued to get closer or if he would have took it as a challenge and responded. I have a short vid but it’s not letting me post.

I try to watch like a hawk when I’m out there. I’ve only been fishing from a boat for little over a year. I haven’t had any negative experiences with any and I’ve been as close as 20ft from one that was longer than my boat. I was behind a few cypress trees and a mat of floating water hyacinth when we kind of ran into each other while we both were on the move. I stopped moving when I saw him and he stopped swimming once when he saw me and he lowered his back under the surface when I stood up to get a better look at him. He just sat there with just his head above the surface while I stood and watched him and he swam off once I sat back down and turned my back. When I was bank fishing I’ve had some big ones swim close to me and just sit and wait until I caught a fish and then try to steal it before I reeled it in. They were never too close to the point where I felt uncomfortable and I knew they weren’t there for me just the fish. I’ve never had one that I thought was actively stalking me to make me a meal. I’ve even had a 10 footer come out of nowhere and eat my bobber while bream fishing. I had to eventually move because he just wouldn’t leave the bobbers alone (I previously thought only the small ones liked bobbers). I’ve also noticed that they are a lot more timid on lakes that don’t receive a lot of human traffic.

I’ve seen three videos that went viral. One was of a guy that was flipped out his kayak when a gator slammed into it. The gator didn’t look very big and the way it came flying at the kayak with its mouth open looked like a defensive attack I think it was a mama gator. The second one was a guy that was kayaking with a small dog and the gator attacked. I’m pretty positive the gator was going for the dog. The last one I saw was a gator that kept approaching a kayaker. Every time the kayaker would back up the gator would move in again. That was the only video I was unsure about. I couldn’t tell if the gator was acting territorial or if somebody had been feeding it. From everything I’ve read online unprovoked attacks usually happen when pets are involved, a small child, or if someone is swimming since the splashing triggers predatory instincts. I just wanted to see what people’s experiences have been with them while fishing in small boats, kayaks, etc... since they are wild animals

Hi all, I have a small boat (10ft) and I fish on lakes that have plenty of alligators. I’ve never had a bad experience with any (and I’ve seen some longer than my boat), but I wanted to see if this is always the case. I’ve heard the typical stuff about them being naturally fearful of humans and only being aggressive if they are mating/protecting babies or if somebody has fed them, so would most folks say this is true? My boat sits pretty low to the surface, almost like a kayak, so it’s always a worry in the back of my mind that one might ambush underneath the surface and come lunging out of nowhere. I don’t know if that should be a concern or not with alligators but any insight on their behavior towards humans and small boats would be appreciated.