Snakes?

I have become really afraid of snakes as I have gotten older and have seen the results of a bite. I am relatively new to crappie fishing and I am very cautious when pulling up to timber. So I am wondering if anyone has ever had any issues with snakes in the trees or of them getting in the boat.

No, on rare occasions snakes have been seen swimming and they get tired of in middle of lake and want to climb aboard. Back in brushy coves have seen a few.

I wouldn't care for a snake to crawl into my sleeping bag but they are part of a delicate ecosystem and SHOULD BE LEFT ALONE! I have been all over the lakes east of Dallas and have seen many snakes. None of those have been poisonous. Water snakes and they will try to get away from you if you will let them. I grew up on Sam Rayburn and you will encounter Cottonmouths in East Texas. They too will try to flee but can become aggressive if you antagonize them. A cottonmouth is bad news in close quarters. I have yet to see one while on our area lakes.

I don’t like snakes of any kind, but I give the non-venomous ones a pass unless they are in my pond. I’ve never been too worried about them from a boat, but when we used to fish the Red River and run lines at night, I knocked a few of them off of limbs with a boat paddle before running the line. I wouldn’t care to put my hand on any snake, they will ALL BITE if handled.

Been fishing the timber for crappie for 24 years and I've seen maybe two snakes in the timber, just move on, no biggie.

https://youtu.be/zQSDI-GlPBc

Go to :50 seconds. This is what I don't want to happen to me.

Most snakes I have encountered are the harmless Brown Diamond water snakes. See them a lot from early spring till early November. On rare occasions I have seen a Water Moccasin. Very lucky each time I have seen a Water Moccasin it was swimming in the opposite direction.

Usually snakes avoid people, but, years ago while bass fishing with my oldest son, he was about 5 at the time, I took the bassboat up a creek. While plugging the bank I saw a snake on a tree root, didnt bother him, but he came in the water, swam to the back of the boat and came aboard. I grabbed my son who was on the back deck, and swatted the snake with my rod. He went back in the water, swam back to the root from which he came. It was very strange.

Thanks for sharing this was hilarious!

Learning about the snakes in Texas could reduce your anxiety. Venomous snake bites are extremely rare and half of the bites are dry bites, indicating that there was no venom injected. The main aquatic species of concern is the western cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) commonly called the water moccasin. They can be very aggressive and are my least favorite snake. I have had them try and eat fish off of my stringer. Besides the cottonmouth, other venomous snakes, like copperheads, rattlesnakes, and coral snakes, could be encountered around aquatic resources. You should learn how to identify those snakes.

Most of the snakes you encounter will be non-venomous. There are several very common aquatic non-venomous snakes in Texas. They will all bite, usually smell bad, and are aggressive. Thrashing a rod tip in the water will often attract them. They are usually just looking for a dying fish.

Stay aware of your surroundings while fishing. There are horror stories out there, and I have my own, but if you are afraid of all the things that can happen, you would never go fishing or even leave the house.

https://www.dshs.texas.gov/idcu/health/zoonosis/Animal/Bites/Information/venom/snake/

We have had them fall in the boat on several occasions but almost every time they are just "Water Rattlers" and they are harmless...unless you panic and do something stupid.

Had one fall out in the front of the boat once and I picked it up and tossed to my buddy in the back.

He decided it was time to go for a swim!

Cotton Mouth Water Moccasins can be aggressive but most of the time they will head the other way.

OK. . . So I wasn't fishin' today, but I was changing the SD cards in my game cams. I changed the card out in this one, and didn't notice Mr. Cottonmouth coiled up just 3 feet next to me. He was sleeping-in that morning. Yeah, I should have been more alert of my surroundings. I know better. I am always scared of pulling up to trees, and having one fall in my boat. Hadn't happened yet.

Two weeks ago I was fishing Fayette and I had a Texas coral snake in my center coin box. He was getting real cozy under my stuff to probably get out of the heat. I figured out where is head was and pinned it down so I could grab it and toss it back into the lake. It cooperated so I did not have to hurt it. Two years ago I had a water moccasin come in my boat on the same lake. That turned out to be one pissed off snake and the fight was on to throw its [censored] out of the boat. I had to put some nookies on its head to get it convinced it was in its best interest to leave the boat.

I hope that sucker is dead now ! Speaking of the cottonmouth in the picture.

Thanks Osborn, very good info. So I guess I may have worded it inaccurately, I not terrified of snakes, just understand and respect their bite. I am not afraid of seeing one, I just don't want to see one up close. I am cautious pulling up to timber just don't know how cautious to be.

Thanks for all of y'all's responses.

Back in the early '80's I had a baby rattler crawl up on the back of my bass boat next to the motor while the boat was beached at McCown Valley Park. I didn't notice him until I was out on the lake. With the help of my 7" spinning rod, I made him striper bait. Not a pleasant experience.

I am not terrified of them either, but I have had cottonmouths scare me really bad. I had one penetrate my waders when I stepped on it in a wetland, and had another one leave scratches on my forearm when it just missed me. I was in high school and I can still see its fangs coming out when it opened its mouth. I have spent thousands of hours in the field and had very few situations like that, but they do get your attention.

That was a cute little rat snake.

Look really close at the branches next to one of my favorite stumps.

Fishing Ray Roberts with customers near Johnson Branch swim beach. Summer with lots of folks in water and a Copperhead swam by. Figured it would be a good thing to dispose of it. Picked up a rod and snagged it. My customers asked what I was going to do now since the snake wasn’t coming into the boat. I just pulled the trolling motor barely out of the water and dropped ol sneaky into it. 36 volt high did a great job.

Two instances, both in Florida as a kid: went night fishing and while going under and old bridge to Cherry Lake had a cottonmouth drop in the boat. The two guys I was with beat the aluminum boat so bad with oars trying to kill it we simply went home when the deed was done. 2nd was was at Church Lake near Leesburg, I was wade fishing and must have got close to a nest because a 3 foot cottonmouth charged and was weaving in and out of my legs as I danced and flailed an kept it off with my rod and net. My uncle saw this and after got out commented he knew what was happening because only people with cottonmouth sickness jerked like that.

You can use a 12' pole or better yet just stay out of the trees. Crappie can be found lots of places other than trees for example dock shooting, brush piles, drop offs......don't let snakes take away your enjoyment of fishing. Best of luck to you!

One night when we were frog gigging a cottonmouth tried to get in the boat with us. He ran his head up on the gunwale and my brother-in-law hit him with a boat paddle. He wrecked the snake’s head but he wrecked the paddle too ! Ever try to paddle with a baseball bat ?