This is mine. I mostly fish a small pond near my house, and it is full of gators. I fish from the bank, have a gimpy knee and am not originally from SC, which is the gator capital of the world as far as I can tell. So, I am not entirely comfortable when they get real close.

This little guy is a baby, a little over 3 feet long and I have a pet name for him, but it is not a term of affection and not suitable for posting on a family friendly forum. Every time I get a fish on, he shows up and tries to scoop it up before I can land it. He is small enough that I could probably beat him in hand to hand, combat but I think he would score some serious damage to me in the process.

This is annoying because I can't get a bite these days except on light tackle, currently 6lb floro, and I can't land larger fish quickly on that. I went to worms yesterday and got a large catfish on and it was a close call.

The real problem though, is he has a Momma and she is about 9 feet long and not at all a lady. She doesn't seem to accept my explanation that he is bothering me, I am not bothering him. She gets very aggressive and I take the cowardly way out and walk away when I see her coming at me. Problem is, she snuck up on me a while back and roared. I jumped, wrenched my knee and hobbled away as fast as I could while screaming like a little girl, well, not out loud anyway.

I have told this story before and always end it with the comment: if you don't hear from me again you will know what happened.

Is your fishing buddy this much fun?

I had an aggresive goose giving me fits yesterday. Nothing as scary as a gator but he didnt want me around his lady at all.

Geeze, my fishing buddy's are @Fishing Rhino, @Mr. Aquarium, and @Saltysmalljaws ....

I once had a fawn swim to my kayak and check me out then swim away.

Another time a copperhead snake swam towards my kayak. I pedaled away as fast as I could.

10 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I had an aggresive goose giving me fits yesterday. Nothing as scary as a gator but he didnt want me around his lady at all.

I dunno, geese can be very nasty.

My fishing buddy is a 78 year old grumpy old man.

Since moving to Iowa I have no more gator friends like in Florida. Occasionally a mean goose if I fish a pond they are nesting at. And I actually don’t have any actual fishing friends lol. Just me myself and I

I have several fishing buddies.

My buddy Deric that I met through the Kansas Kayak Anglers, he's always good for a lost big fish story.

My wife, who ususally catches the big fish of the day even though she'll spend way less time fishing during the day than I will.

Jon who has been my fishing buddy for almost 2 decades now. We've been through everything together through our jobs and the closest thing to a brother I'll ever have.

My boys, they're probably never going to be as into it as I am, but I love it when they go with me.

And my buddy Stony who is one of the nicest people you could meet.

Sadly, just a couple days ago my fishing bud said he's done fishing and selling everything fishing related. I think I've talked him into keeping a few rods so he can go with me occasionally. He turns 87 in November and said every trip takes him 4 days. Day one is prep, Day two is the fishing trip, and Day three & four are for recovery. I'm certainly gonna miss him on the water, but I'll be checking in on him regularly.

Mine has 4 legs. She doesn't ever complain or ask to leave. But she also cannot net a fish without opposable thumbs.

Just the critters I run into out on the lake. Birds, rabbits, squirrels, and an occasional tick.

6poundbass of course. I’m glad he caught the fishing bug. He’s also my hunting buddy.

The Mrs. Likes to get in on the action once in a while too.

18 hours ago, Joedodge said:

Since moving to Iowa I have no more gator friends like in Florida. Occasionally a mean goose if I fish a pond they are nesting at. And I actually don’t have any actual fishing friends lol. Just me myself and I

Joe, I think you have lotsa buddies on this site. They are just "long distance" buddies.

This guy and my wife. They don’t go with me a ton but those are the best days. He just got his drivers license so it’ll be even more sporadic now, but he gives me a few great trips every year.

49 minutes ago, Lottabass said:

Joe, I think you have lotsa buddies on this site. They are just "long distance" buddies.

Well said. You are correct!

This is my main man and river fishing partner.

I will trade you a dozen gator's for this guy.

Yes

A-Jay

Had an owl follow me all day trying to take fish from me. Scared the crap out of me at first because he flew in from behind me, He missed the fish but grabbed my thumb while smacking me upside the head with his wing. Cut my thumb pretty good from knuckle to fingernail.

He never got brave enough to try that again, but he followed and watched for 4 hours straight.

If fish with The Kid and am looking forward to fishing with Bob!

My son, my Father, and my dog.

My Dad and Brother.

Wife will join me on sunny summer afternoons...she brings snacks(!)

I see that you’re in the SC Lowcountry. I lived on both Hilton Head and in Bluffton for decades and did a lot of bank fishing and had to contend with gators. Somewhere here on BR I posted some gator safety tips.

Number one is keep your head on a swivel. Even then I’ve been stalked and chased and it’s no fun. Now I’m in GA and travel the country fishing in my kayak and ai seem to run across more gators than ever.

BTW, if you get a chance to fish in Sun City Hilton Head there’s some great fishing and lots of big bass including double digit bass. You also have almost 400 lagoons to choose from in there.

Only my Border Collie; my friends always have reasons not to go out with me. Probably because of my rules when in my boat :

1. Catch and release.

2. No smoking.

3. Don't pee over the side.

4. No alcohol.

Guess I'm just not much fun to be around.

From this site - glad when I’m able to get out on the water or walk the bank with @Gutierrez or @FishTax or @IcatchDinks !

I now fish with an older gentleman named Johnathan after he did some work on my outboard - he’s won quite a bite of money fishing local tournaments and specializes in offshore structure so I’ve been learning a lot from him! I fish with a pond hopping big bait guy that I befriended during Covid named Tremaine. We like to walk the banks at the giant factories quite a bit after work.

My son Jake and my wife Meagan are my favorite fishing buddies and we go out just about weekly - slowed down a lot since Jake is a teenager and has girl friends and sports and buddies in the neighborhood - but we still try to get out and whack em once a week together and sometimes he has a day off school and we fish the backyard!

Watching your son grow up is about as bittersweet a thing as it gets (very very blessed and thankful that he’s my son AND that he gets to grow up) but I’m very grateful he loves to fish and he even ropes his neighborhood buddies into doing it occasionally when the bite is hot!