Last week, I dropped by a local Sporting Mega-store to chat with the locals about fishing prospects and to pick up my non-res license. They mentioned gators, to which I was somewhat non-plussed. “Oh, we have a few out there – but they’re just little three or four footers.”

Yesterday, I finally had a chance to get out and fish a bit on the Wekiva River in my handy-dandy inflato-boat. I parked myself in a weed bed in what looked like a nice enough spot, looked up while getting my gear ready and saw this guy.

Honestly, the only thing I could think was, “I wonder if that kid at Gander Mountain knows how long ‘one foot’ is.”

My boat is 10-½’ long and that gator is at least another two feet longer.

I’m gonna need a bigger boat.