Florida gators
03-01-2006 | 10:06 AM
#22
Fork Horn
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 165
Likes: 0
From: Lake Wales, FL
RE: Florida gators
a 14 fter is guesstimated to be around 80 yrs old.... so just imagine how old a 18fter would be...
gators grow alot in the first couple of years, but slow down after that... alot of peeps think that they continue that growth rate after they are a couple of years old...
gators grow alot in the first couple of years, but slow down after that... alot of peeps think that they continue that growth rate after they are a couple of years old...
03-11-2006 | 12:42 PM
#23
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 387
Likes: 0
From: Orlando, Florida
RE: Florida gators
I lost one this year that would have been in contention for the state record of 14' 5/8 ". We got him in Lake Jessup, the lake that connects to Lake Monroe where the other one was caught. I was in a 14 foot jon boat and he was every bit as long as the boat. We fought with him for over 2 hours. We managed to get him to the boat a bunch of times and bang stick'em three times. He broke 600# bowfishing line! We were able to get him on tape before we lost him. I gaffed him once under the jaw when we though he was dead after one of the bangstick hits. He came back alive and almost pulled me in with the gaff. Here are some stills from the footage. We're still not over it, but we learned a lot of what to do and what not to do on something that size. It was just a shame to lose something that big. We went back to look for a few days after, but never recovered him.
03-11-2006 | 12:48 PM
#24
Dominant Buck
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 26,323
Likes: 0
From: WC FL
RE: Florida gators
ORIGINAL: bigboar23
I lost one this year that would have been in contention for the state record of 14' 5/8 ". We got him in Lake Jessup, the lake that connects to Lake Monroe where the other one was caught. I was in a 14 foot jon boat and he was every bit as long as the boat. We fought with him for over 2 hours. We managed to get him to the boat a bunch of times and bang stick'em three times. He broke 600# bowfishing line! We were able to get him on tape before we lost him. I gaffed him once under the jaw when we though he was dead after one of the bangstick hits. He came back alive and almost pulled me in with the gaff. Here are some stills from the footage. We're still not over it, but we learned a lot of what to do and what not to do on something that size. It was just a shame to lose something that big. We went back to look for a few days after, but never recovered him.
I lost one this year that would have been in contention for the state record of 14' 5/8 ". We got him in Lake Jessup, the lake that connects to Lake Monroe where the other one was caught. I was in a 14 foot jon boat and he was every bit as long as the boat. We fought with him for over 2 hours. We managed to get him to the boat a bunch of times and bang stick'em three times. He broke 600# bowfishing line! We were able to get him on tape before we lost him. I gaffed him once under the jaw when we though he was dead after one of the bangstick hits. He came back alive and almost pulled me in with the gaff. Here are some stills from the footage. We're still not over it, but we learned a lot of what to do and what not to do on something that size. It was just a shame to lose something that big. We went back to look for a few days after, but never recovered him.
WOW! You lost a good one! Lots of good eating there!
03-11-2006 | 02:01 PM
#25
Fork Horn
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 165
Likes: 0
From: Lake Wales, FL
RE: Florida gators
ORIGINAL: bigboar23
He came back alive and almost pulled me in with the gaff....... We're still not over it,
He came back alive and almost pulled me in with the gaff....... We're still not over it,
HECK!! I wouldnt be either!!!
betcha got a bigger boat after that dincha
