Galveston area Gators

[gulfer]

For those of you that fish the Galveston area, could y'all help me out by letting me know where the known gator hangouts are? I'm not from the area and recently got back into kayak fishing. I would like to avoid areas where there could be some gators for safety reasons. My 10 yr old is still learning how to fish out of his kayak. Thanks

[MobyYack]

TWPD doesnt have a log of alligator sightings but there was a 16 ft gator that washed up on jamaica beach back in june....i think you have to worry more about bacteria than gators but im no expert

[SuperShane]

I personally haven't seen any this summer I know a couple have been spotted around el jardine beach but I would say stay out of trinity bay and they shouldn't be an issue unless your going way up in creeks around the Galveston area even there it would still be rare.

[FishingSETX]

Nothing to worry about. they just submerge and move on. they might get slightly more aggressive in the spring mating/nesting season, but other than that, they just submerge and swim away. you have a much higher chance of having issues with critters of the two legged variety or bacteria/viruses.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[kickingback]

I read in Ray Crawford's book that they have been seen in pierce marsh back in the day when he wrote his book. There may be others but this one I read about.

[TrailChaser]

They are pretty much everywhere, but the saltier the water the less chance you should encounter one.

With that being said, I'd also like to say that we are not on an alligator's menu. They normally eat small things like fish, turtles, frogs, and small mammals. They "should" be afraid of you and your plastic vessel, but if you are fighting a fish they will come to help you get it off the line, but will still only want your fish. Just don't have any small dogs on the kayak and you and your son should be fine. (BTW: I've been fishing around gators my entire life and still have all ten toes and fingers.)

This was in Shoalwater south of Charlies Bait Camp.


This is Indianola.
https://youtu.be/yj8FgY3FfaA?t=5m43s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is Port O'Connor, Boggy Bayou
https://youtu.be/PAsG1J29_F8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Cityfisher]

I wouldn't worry about gators on the south shorelines of the bay. The north side you might see one, and around Brazoria Wildlife Refuge or Chocolate Bay. I don't care to paddle with gators myself, but I have at Huntsville state park because I really wanted to fish it. They just go about their own business. Heck I watched them swim within 50ft of the swimming area there with a whole bunch of little ones splashing around.
Actually, and not to put another fear in you, I worry about rattle snakes in the bay more than anything. Well, not really worry, but I do keep my eyes open and watch my step if I get out on an island or unloading and loading. And I have seen them swimming from point A to point B a few times. Had a snake swim between me and the shore while I was wading in Drum Bay. I just kept my eys on it until it swam back into the grass.

[Jigawatt]

Females get feisty with young ones to protect. The newborns will stay near the bank. If you encounter an aggressive alligator in the daytime, it's a protective mother. Make a wide paddle around the bank there, if you have to come back that way. Alligators feed at night during the warm months, so I wouldn't go swimming after hours in a bayou or a creek. A twelve-foot gator is not something I would want in the water with me while practicing the back stroke or splashing around in the dark. You'll be okay in a kayak (famous last words).

[karstopo]

I have seen them in Bastrop Bayou around Clay Banks. Heard there are some in Salt Bayou in the BNWR. Some in Halls bayou. I put heat stroke, hypothermia, drowning, tidal dumps, boat wakes, collisions with boats, hook encounters, oyster encounters, vibrio infections, hardheads, stingrays, mosquitoes, rattlesnakes and many other calamities as more threatening and probable than alligator confrontations.

[gulfer]

Thanks for the info guys!

[Yaklash]

I have seen them in Bastrop Bayou around Clay Banks. Heard there are some in Salt Bayou in the BNWR. Some in Halls bayou.

To add to this post (he sticks to the west end of the system), Trinity could have a few out in the bay, parts of Clear Lake/Mud Lake can have them and anywhere you go back deep in a marsh near the mouth of a creek. bayou or river that flows fresh water into a bay.

But FWIW, I have fished the Galveston Bay system for many years and never seen one in a place where I was fishing, except on my drive down to the shoreline on the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge where they infest the canals and flooded fields, but none out where I wade fish.

[kickingback]

[vstrom650]

Just saw a nice 6 footer in the trinity river canal last Friday. We put in at Fort Anahuac park and then paddled out toward Trinity Bay. The gator surfaced between my son's kayak and his popping cork, looking toward the cork. There was a fish going after the bait, which probably attracted the gator's attention. As soon as the gator realized there was a kayak behind him, he dove back down with a splash. He then came up by me (I was maybe 40 ft away) and then splashed again going down.

My son needed a new set of under-roos, but was never in any real danger.

I'd avoid them when possible, but I have canoe fished in a lake full of gators. In most cases they kept their distance. Did have one try to come up where I beached the canoe at the campsite, late at night. Probably looking for a treat. That was scary. Also had one (same lake) that hung out by the fish cleaning station eating scraps. My son and nephew had a blast feeding it. Not a good idea, but then you know how kids are.

[picaroon]

There are Alligators almost everywhere on the Texas coast and far up stream. In my life time I have seen many and even caught a few.............When my son was a Cub Scout (he is now 40) we were invited to a ranch down near Bay City. The ranch of several thousand acres had several large lakes on it. During the day there were almost no Alligators to be seen any where on the lake.That night we drove a pick up down to one of the lakes and shined the head lights on the water. There were at lease a hundred Alligators out on the lake.

They are there you just do not see them..............

[gulfer]

My son needed a new set of under-roos, but was never in any real danger.


I'm sure I would of been just as scared too! I do not want to get my son scared to the point the he wouldn't want to fish anymore in his yak. So I just want to avoid them as much as possible.

[Chief Brody]

You really aren't likely to run into one along the coast - in the bays it is more likely the further inland you go. I'd worry more about sharks - but then, look at my name...

[Russ in Rockport]

I confess to knowing nothing about the area but I have had a lot of contact and near contact with gators. And while I agree with those who say that they are reclusive and will try to get away 99 times out of a hundred, I am afraid that, as a father and grandfather, I would be far more conservative about taking a smaller person into their territory. To be sure, the odds against his being harmed would be huge--the result of a whole series of freak accidents. But my thought is that the marshes will still be there when he grows up and, until then, you can find fish in other areas for him to catch.

Best regards,

Russ

[Cityfisher]

I confess to knowing nothing about the area but I have had a lot of contact and near contact with gators. And while I agree with those who say that they are reclusive and will try to get away 99 times out of a hundred, I am afraid that, as a father and grandfather, I would be far more conservative about taking a smaller person into their territory. To be sure, the odds against his being harmed would be huge--the result of a whole series of freak accidents. But my thought is that the marshes will still be there when he grows up and, until then, you can find fish in other areas for him to catch.

Best regards,

Russ

This is good advice. Follow your gut when making your decisions.
If I might might make a suggestion, go out to Galveston State Park. Really nice facilities, and safe, and fish to be had.

[Russ in Rockport]

In my younger years, I confess to having been something of an idiot--even after three big bouncers at the Continental Club in Austin introduced my head to the Congress Avenue curb and I had to quit drinking. So one day while watching a canoe race from the last bridge over the Guadalupe before it empties into San Antonio Bay, I heard the crowd of spectators screaming and pointing at three gators that were all about six to eight feet long, swimming under the bridge--probably hoping for some illegal morsels of Colonel Sanders Original Recipe. A couple of women ran to their cars. I explained that the critters were harmless and terrified of people--but no one would believe me. So I sprinted over to the edge of the bridge and did a perfect cannonball--right in the middle of them. I have never witnessed such terror in any poor dumb animals since. They nearly drowned me trying to get away.

Never tried that with twelve footers!

Russ

[vstrom650]

My son needed a new set of under-roos, but was never in any real danger.


I'm sure I would of been just as scared too! I do not want to get my son scared to the point the he wouldn't want to fish anymore in his yak. So I just want to avoid them as much as possible.

The under-roos was a joke, my son is 20 years old now. He might have soiled his britches, but it'd be a cold day in hell before he'd admit it to anyone. When we got home, his mom asked how the trip went and his response was "ehh. Didn't catch nothing but hardheads. Saw a gator. I'm hungry, is there anything to eat?" I had to supply the details about screaming, paddling away, how big, how close, etc. He just shrugged his shoulders and pretended like it didn't happen. Typical.

[FishingSETX]

fished, swam, and been around them most of my life (even caught a few). I don't even give them a second thought other than to show them to someone who might have never seen them. the only encounter I've had that amounted to anything was paddling up a really shallow canal right before daybreak. tide was way out and the center of the canal was maybe 8-12" deep. had a big gator I didn't see come off the bank about 20 yards ahead of me. hit the water and made a beeline for a deeper area. I just happened to be between him and the deeper water! when he went under my yak, he almost tossed me out and I got soaked with water/mud. it was one heck of a ride in the dark! The only ones I would be concerned about are the ones that hang out around people and are used to being hand fed. they loose their fear of people. the ones encountered in the bays, lakes, and rivers will disappear quick if you get close. the little ones are curious and will come to splashing/top waters and can approach the kayak. a gentle nudge with the paddle sends them on their way and they are too small to be a threat anyway.

never encountered a momma with eggs/babies, but heard they can be a bit more aggressive but usually let you know way ahead of time to get back.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[Chief Brody]

one just attacked a commercial lawnmower because it got right on top of her nest before the operator knew what was there - so they quickly lose all fear if the nest is threatened.

But i've fished in their company many times, never had the feeling that they were interested in me anymore than I'm interested in a cow when I drive by...

[eightweight]

Gators, no worries.

But Rayguards are a good idea.

[hipshot]

Back in the sixties several of us were SCUBA diving in the canal at the old Brown's Airfield in Miami. As we swam around a corner just above the thick grass, I was right behind my friend Tommy. We encountered a large gator at point blank range coming around the corner, swimming toward us. I don't know whether the gator or Tommy was the most scared, but both did abrupt 360*s and fled in terror. I nearly drowned from uncontrollable underwater laughing. Tommy had a severe case of acne; I imagine that was a very scary image for that gator to endure. He may never have recovered.......

[TroutSupport.com]

There was at one time some sightings in the Carancahua marsh... they'll follow your topwaters right to your if you let them.. hint.. don't do that

there was a wade fisherman attacked by a gator in West Matty on half moon ... the wader was walking the shoreline edge and the gator struck from the water, bit his leg and held him for some several minutes.. the wader now laying on the ground in inches of water.. after several minutes the gator let go and swam off.. I'm not sure if the guy was injured or not.. I know he lived though.