There is a thread going on in another areas about alligators in the dfw metro area. Anyone in the tube gang ever see one or have had an encounter with the toothy creatures?

Makes me kind of nervous ...knowing I may be on the menu whilst tubing. Inquiring minds need to know. I am pretty comfortable when fishing Purtiss, have never seen a gator in the 12 years I have been fishing it. Though I have head some reports of one working the lake.

There has never been a fatal alligator attack reported in Texas.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20040503a

Gators are one of those things that you leave alone and pay them no mind and they will get out of you way 99.999% of the time. I grew up with them always around and never had any trouble that I didn't start first.

i saw an 8 footer while tubing in the n. end of lewisville about 2 years ago. but like K.D. said- there not a prob.

We've bank fished in Brazo Bend State Park. Gators there know an easy meal. They will wait in the area you are fishing. Once you hook one, it can be a race to see if the gator gets the fish before you can get it out of the water. There are several fishing piers there. I've had them swim under the pier......just waiting. Real spooky feeling to have one right under your shoes. I've also had them chase my topwater baits.

It's just like ringing the dinner bell.

Fourjs

I was raised in the Beaumont area and have swam, tubed, frog gigged and skied with the gators for over 40 years. They are good neighbors and easy to deal with. I have never heard of anyone being attacked and we used to even try and get them to come and play when I was little. We would swim out to them and blow bubbles in the water and pat the surface to get their attention. No luck fortunately. We had watched too many Tarzan movies and wanted to rassel with the rascals! Not smart!! The point is that even when I was 8 years old and not near as imposing as I am now, I couldn�t get a gator to come near me. I have even gigged a couple while wading and gigging in the swamps and other than hurt their feelings it didn�t cause a problem. I have tubed with then more times than I can count and still do. Huntsville State Parks Lake Raven has a nice population of gators and their has never been a swimmer snacked on. A gator is nothing like a croc, he is sort of lazy and doesn�t want to mess with anything big enough to hurt him. If he can�t swallow it in one bite he probably won�t even try unless he is starving. What happens is some dummy feeds one and after a while the gator starts to associate the human shape with food. They are not real smart and when you show up without a snack they will come to you trying to force you to feed them. All they know is that in their pea brains people mean food. DO NOT feed gators!! I think that we don�t have the problem in Texas that they have in Florida is because we don�t have the numbers of Northern Urbanites coming in, retiring here, and doing silly things like feeding the cute alligators!!

me and my brother fish a large pong on the grand prairie / irving border in tubes. he went out on day by hisself and said he got tired and so went to shore on the far end to rest, and looked over and saw a 10 ft or so, now thats what he said i have fished that same pond 100 times a year and aint never saw it.

Yikes - I think if it's me or the gator gets the fish - He can have it!

I grew up in fishing and hunting in the swamps of Louisiana. I've even been part of traping a few (with the proper permits of course). I onece caught a few wild ones(small ones) in a college zoology class way back when, and it was hard to get close to them for that.

I once stepped on a big one once under water thinking it was log, that is untill it moved. The things you think are cool when you are young and dumb!?!

They are pretty much a docile creature. That being said, I've had them chase some topwater lures, go very close to stringers, and even take a turkey net on the five foot long string I was crabbing with.

Just be smart and exercise common sense. If you see a nest, stay away. Do not attach your stringer to you or your float. Don't provoke them. They really will leave you alone if you leave them alone.

Yep, for the biggest part, they will leave you alone if you do NOT bother them or tempt them with food.

Also, do NOT get between them and their nest if you can help it. They are very protective and will come up the bank and their nest if anything is around that nest.

I will also say that I and a buddy were flyfishing bluegills in the grass and buggy whips in East Lake Toho in St. Cloud, FL and had not one but two 8 to 9 footers swim between us while we were in the water thrashing for fish. And we were only about 20 yards apart. They just swam by as if we were not there but I guarantee you they had us spotted. Thank goodness we were pulling a small aluminum boat behind us and were depositing caught fish in the boat's cooler that day! Normally we would have had stringers of caught fish tied to our belts as we waded along.

One last thing...had a friend lose a lab to a gator while duck hunting down in the Houston area. The lab was swimming for a downed duck when the gator took him.

Just be watchful and careful....good fishing.....

if i see a gator EVER i am