On this cool October 1st, I was sitting at the private hole landing “fo day”. I got up early to go check in with the bow hunters to make sure I would not mess anyone’s hunting spot up. When it became light I awakened from my doze and got to work. Fishing started at 7:00 with a Whopper Plopper but the fish were not particularly fired up as evidenced by wakes behind the bait and a blowup just as the bait was lifted from the water. The next thing to try was a DT-6 which received a marginally better reception. While all of this was going on, the turkeys roosted nearby gave both a serenade and a calling lesson. I loved it ! ! When I went to one of my favorite spots a four foot alligator awaited. I thought it might be the one Mickey fed the goo to but later I saw two more for a total of three, all made in the same mold. The fish were still not in the feeding mode and I had pulled out a shaky head to remedy the situation. It helped but was still not the answer. The bass were just biting very lightly. They picked up a little as the morning progressed and the DT-6 seemed to be doing better than anything else. The size was running a bit larger than the last few trips too. My DT-6 WAS a parrot color but has been abused by the fish in the last few trips. Not just the bass but all sorts of other fish too. Today there were gars, two goos, and those cylindrical (for lack of a better name) carp. The carp nailed the bait just as soon as it hit the water.

I’d say it’s a little skinned up. One of the alligators was determined to get some of those fish it saw splashing on the end of my line. So when I had one of the carp on, it just advanced on the boat and was coming  pretty rapidly. Thank goodness the hook came out and all was well.  A little later I hung what ended up to be a 5 1/4 pound goo and again the alligator advanced. This time the landing net solved the problem. With the goo in the bottom of the boat and the hook out of its mouth a commenced to work on its head with a cut off piece of hoe handle. When the goo went overboard it just floated . The gator saw it and as I trolled away to another spot it came, scarfed the goo, and took it under a bush. Two hours later as I left, the gator was still chomping on the goo trying to figure out how it was going to eat it. The gator’s mouth may have been 6 inches wide and the goo was 10 or 11 inches wide. A case of eyes too big for the breadbasket. I ended the day with 24 bass. The FOD was 3 3/4. The largest 5 weighed 15 1/2 pounds, not a tourny winner but a lot of fun was had. Edit: I almost forgot, when I was driving out a bear ran across the road. Looked nice and fluffy, almost like a large black poodle.