So I saw the pictures a year or two ago of the gator in a neighborhood next to Joe Pool.

That still doesn't quite prepare you or have the impact of realizing your sitting low in the water in a yak in the same creek as an alligator.

I decided to check my normal creek on Joe Pool to see how the crappie were biting. After being out for about an hour I hear a big splash. From the sound I figured it was an 8 to 10 lb bass. When I turned to look I see another splash and immediately knew this was not a fish. (The long thin tail gave it away.)

I sat in awe as I watched a 4 to 5 foot gator tailslap 4 times going from one side of the creek to the other. At this point I start paddling backwards. Then I realized I have worked with this size gator before. At this size they really aren't life threatening to an adult. So I slowly started forward for a better look.

Something had this thing really worked up as it started tail slapping back across. When she reached the bank she walked along the edge of the bank a little then dove back in. She seemed to settle down and just cruise with only her head above water. At this point I remembered I actually brought my phone with me. I usually don't as the Pool has eaten a few of my phones. As quickly as I could I pulled it out and switched to video. I managed to get 1 tail slap and that was it. She submerged after that and I didn't see her for a bit.

I couldn't find her again until I had already passed over her and she slapped again behind me. So I turned around and came back. As I was sitting in her territory I paddled over to the jug line that was tangled up in a fallen tree. I was just about to reach in and check the jug to see if there was anything on it. That was when I remembered the video on here of a guy pulling up a giant gator on a jug line. (Oh hell no). It got me wondering if maybe a bigger gator was agitating the one I saw. Might explain all the tail slapping

Yea I didn't check that jug.

FYI keep your eyes open in the creeks.

Cool story. I was wondering to myself the other day if the water was too cold for them now, guess that answers my question. Gators are amazing animals. I like to fish the creeks in my yak too, but it is usually winter time when I'm fishing them.

as long as they arent starving or provoked, they usually arent much of a threat. as kids, in louisiana we used to swim in the canals and river battures in southeast louisiana and see them swimming around the area frequently. Just give them a wide berth, and dont poke em with a stick.

I dont like hearing stories like especially since I fish jp from my tube often lol

Hey Epic!! WHAT CREEK WAS IT?? Walnut or Mountain?

The way you tell the story .. sounds like you encountered a beaver and not an alligator. I grew up in Loxahatchee Florida where gators are as common as a crow. I've never seen one swimming around "slapping" it's tail, get out of the water and walk along the bank and then slip back in the water and do some more "tail slapping".

I've heard other people spotting gators in the creeks coming out of JP and I also saw the picture of the gator in the neighborhood in Cedar Hill.Gators are on all these area lakes just that we are building more into their territory so we see them more.

You and me both.

It's which ever one you fish.

Jk it was mountain creek.

Funny enough, there was a beaver damn right in this area before the floods washed it away.

I had the [censored] scared out of me by the thing. I was creeping toward the bank and all of a sudden I heard somethI got running straight towards me in the brush. A huge beaver dove right in front of my kayak. Man that got my heart racing until I realized what it was.

If I can get photo bucket to cooperate I will post the little video I got. So far it won't load for some reason

Gators in just about every north Texas Lakes. Pretty much their thing is not being seen.

I have Photo Bucket myself and it can be silly sometimes.

There were plenty of alligators around when I was growing up in South Mississippi and South Louisiana. My Uncle Johnny was missing a lower leg and claimed an alligator bit him but my day said he thought one of his ex-wives shot it off. I don't recall knowing anyone or hearing of anyone that actually got attacked. But we watched those old Johnny Weismuller Tarzan movies with the crocodiles and it made our imaginations run wild. My most recent experience with alligators was at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - I got a chance to wade fish in a limited access area of the Banana River. The fishing was fine with lots of speckled trout and redfish caught - but there were 4 or 5 alligators that were curious enough to come pretty close. My host didn't seem to mind so I acted like it didn't bother me but I'll admit I was nervous all the same. I reckon I will just keep ignoring them and they will keep ignoring me...

Upload it to Youtube

There are gators in every lake around here. You just don't see them.