Tales from da Swamp Part 2 Mysterious Gator Attack

Tales from da Swamp

Part 2 Mysterious Gator Attack

A series of short stories and first-hand recollections of hair-raising moments from da Swamp.

Years ago, on a cold winter morning, me and my lab Buddy headed out to our duck hole in Sherburne WMA. It was a full moon and the visibility in the swamp was good that morning. This year was a dry year, with the water being low our honey hole was mostly mud. As I finished setting out my duck decoys I started making my way towards my hiding spot when I noticed the unmistakable ridges on the back of an alligator. The head was not visible at first just the plates on his back sticking up out the mud.

With my paddle I splashed water on him, the gator didn’t move. I banged a cypress stump right next to him, the gator didn’t move. I figured he was dead, why else would he be stuck in the mud.

The sun was coming up and I had to get ready for the fast flying wood ducks that would soon come in. I pushed my canoe past the gator and set up in the brush about 10 feet away. Soon after I shot the first duck of the day which Buddy quickly retrieved running right near the gator in the mud. It was a great day to duck hunt, the grey ducks came in flock after flock. A few quacks from the duck call and they circled in range of my 12 gauge. Buddy would have to run in the mud jump over the gator at the water’s edge to retrieve the ducks, he even stopped to smell him a few times.

After making the last retrieve of the day, I dragged the canoe out of the bushes and made my way through the sloppy swamp mud. With Buddy next to me with his nose down he sniffed and pushed on the gator, with lighting fast speed the gator rose up hissing and snapped at Buddy. With my shotgun pointing towards the gator I yelled at Buddy to get back.  Just as soon as I yelled the gator put his head back down in the mud and never moved again.

PHOTOGRAPH BY GEOFF WALSH

The next morning, we went back to the same spot and there was no sign of the gator until the sun came up. To the right of our honey hole was a willow tree coming out the water at an angle. Spread out a few feet above the water was the remains of the mysterious gator. Head still attached the body cavity was open and eaten out. Something dragged it across the mud, up the tree and ate most of it. Swamp cat? Maybe a Rougarou. My guess would be a large freshwater otter attacked the cold-blooded gator while he couldn’t move and had him for dinner.

Maybe it was the rougarou, or just another day in da Swamp.

Tales from da Swamp Part 1

Tales from da Swamp

A series of short stories and first-hand recollections of hair-raising moments from da Swamp.

Part 1 -  Just some sticks.

Just some sticks

For those of you that have hunted before I am sure you have walked in the woods at night, alone in the dark. Have you ever walked through the swamp, at 4 AM, the morning after watching Blair Witch Project? The only part I found scary was the ending until I woke up the next morning to go duck hunting in the Atchafalaya Basin.

Alone with my yellow lab Buddy, I made the walk down the ½ mile trail I had made many times before. This time was different, my head lamp seemed to be fading in and out, catching the shadows of the branches as I walked. The branches! Stick figures that haunted the characters from the film are now coming in and out of focus.

This can’t be I thought to myself, it’s just a movie. I push on. Feeling the hair raise on the back of my neck, the glare from my now fading light intensify my thoughts. Thoughts of those stick figures hanging from the branches of the cypress trees.  Never been more scared to walk through gator invested water than this night, so I had to do it.

Loaded my shotgun. Just in case.

 Old Buddy, he wasn’t scared he walked and sniffed around in the dark just like any other day. Turns out it was just another day in da Swamp.

A beginner’s guide to crawfishing.

A beginner’s guide to crawfishing.

Crawfishing at South Farm

How to crawfish with nets.

After making a few trips to South farm I decided to put together a little "How-To Crawfish with Nets" information. My friends always ask, how do you catch crawfish, what do you use for bait, where do you get the nets? If it is so easy how come more people don’t do it? Because it's hard work. It can be a great family fishing trip, kids love crawfishing and they will have memories that last a lifetime. You can use set nets in flooded timber or swampy bayous along the roads and spillways.

First, let’s talk about where to go. I have been going to a section of Sherburne WMA called South Farm. Just off I-10 at the Ramah exit. For directions, you can see my other post South Farm Crawfishing here

I don’t have a four-wheeler, so I have to walk with my garden wagon. I have seen people walking, riding lawnmowers with a cart attached, even saw a man with a wheel barrel walk out there.

The set up

I purchased my first set of nets a couple years ago from Superior Bait and Tackle. These are 19” high set nets and they work great until the water gets deep. This year with all the flooding and high water we had, I purchased a dozen 28 “nets from Alario Bros from Westwego LA.

The Bait

Almost everyone I talk to uses beef melt, which is a cow’s spleen, for their nets. Beef melt seems to be the best bait for nets, but they will eat it fast, so if you're using crawfish traps trying using fish for bait. Before you go to Walmart to buy bait, let me stop you right there. I have not seen it at any Walmart around the Baton Rouge area, so find a local butcher or make a trip to Oak Point Fresh Market or Scallans meat market on Airline Hwy. I have purchased from both places, so I know they sell beef melt.

Beef Melt in the net.

To attach the beef melt to the nets I use shower curtain hooks. After I cut all the bait into 3-4” inch square pieces, I pass the hook through the beef once or twice and then attach it to the middle of the net. You can purchase these from Walmart for around $2 or less per dozen.

Net placement

Once I set up the nets, I use my telescopic push pole to set the nets out in the water.  I am reaching out 6-10 feet or more with the pole. I will place the nets 10 feet or more from each other. Near grass seems to work best. After putting the nets out for the first time I may take a break for about 10 minutes and then pick the first one up.

Picking up the nets

Once we start picking up the nets, that is when the real work starts. Lifting the nets up with the pole and dumping the crawfish into a fish basket or galvanized tub. I keep the basket in the garden wagon I purchased from Academy and pull it to the next net, pick that one up, dump the crawfish into the basket and go to the next one. Once I pick up all the nets and walk back to where I started, it is about time to pick them up again. On a good day, after the 10 minutes or so it takes to pick up a dozen nets, the first net should have crawfish in it. If you wait too long, they will eat all your bait.  I have used anywhere from 12 -24 nets.  Once with a friend, we put out about 2 dozen nets each. If you think of a pond as a square, we put out nets on the left side and on the top close to the left corner, we walked back and forth picking up the nets, I think we made about 6-7 trips and we each had a sack of crawfish.

If one nets slows down, it may be time for fresh bait or move the net to a new spot. After I have caught enough for a boil it is time to pack up. Take the time to remove the beef melt from each net and store them by collapsing the nets and folding the twine part of the net around itself.

Now it’s time to have a drink and head home for a crawfish boil. If you're too tired to boil the crawfish that same day you can keep them over night. I put a sack of crawfish in the refrigerator and kept them alive for a few days. Note: this was an outdoor refrigerator that we use for drinks only and yes, I had to clean it out afterwards to get the smell out.

Crawfish boiling time! 

I am not going to talk about how to boil crawfish or how to peel them. I will say that most of the crawfish we get out of South farm is in the medium size range and lots of small ones. I don’t have a way to sort them while fishing if you do please share your methods with me. Most people I see out there just dump them in a bucket or something and take them all home. I will pick out the small ones while fishing but this is not easy when they are trying to pinch you.