Alligator season on public lands continues through Monday
The craziness of alligator season in Mississippi hit a fevered pitch last Monday when program coordinator Ricky Flynt couldn’t find any other way to describe what he’d seen.
“Crazy. This is just crazy. It’s crazy,” he said, shortly after certifying the weights of three monster gators in the span of 90 minutes.
Those three totaled more than a ton of lizard.
Included among them were two new state records, the first being a 723.5-pound gator caught overnight Sunday in the Yazoo River diversion channel near the U.S. Highway 61 bridge.
“New record,” Flynt text this writer, “but not sure for how long. Got two more giants to go, and both are big.”
Within an hour, Flynt text back: “Another new record, this one 727.”
That gator, which remains the record, was caught by three men in the Mississippi River. Dustin Bockman of Vicksburg is the hunter of record. (Click here to read about it.)
Half an hour later, Flynt reported back via text: “Third one was JUST 673 pounds.”
Add it up: Three gators, 2,023.5 pounds.
The initial week of the first truly statewide season was insane. By the time the two record males were caught, Flynt had already confirmed a state record female.
A team led by Brandon Maskew of Ellisville caught a 295.3-pound female that measured an even 10 feet, both new records for sport hunting in Mississippi. The previous records, held by two different alligators, were 9 feet 9 inches and 283 pounds.
“At 10-feet, that alligator is just two inches short of the national record for longest female alligator ever taken anywhere by anyone,” Flynt said. “It was 10 feet, two inches and I captured it, tagged it and released it on the Pearl River at Barnett Reservoir.
“You think about it, now. Think about all the alligators that have been caught over the years in Louisiana, Florida and now here in Mississippi, and that’s the biggest.”
As of Friday (Sept. 6) at noon, exactly one week after the season had opened, Flynt’s updated harvest rates for the season read:
* A total of 372 alligators had been killed.
* Exactly half, 186, have been under 7 feet and half over 7 feet.
* Hunters have captured and released alive 354 more gators.
* Only 298 of the 920 permit holders have reported in as hunting (not required until an alligator is harvested), with 294 of those having harvested at least one alligator.
* Average size of hunting party (permit holder plus assistants) is 4.01.
* Total number of hours hunted was 3,472, and the average time to harvest an alligator was 9.78 hours.
Of the 298 hunters reporting, 259 rated the experience as very enjoyable, 37 as enjoyable and 2 said it was not enjoyable.
The season continues through noon on Monday (Sept. 9).
Ponds gambles, loses
Madison bass pro Pete Ponds finished 47th in the Angler of the Year standings on the B.A.S.S. Elite Series tour, and wonders now if his last-day decision in the final Elite event in Michigan cost him a berth in the 2014 Bassmasters Classic.
“Fred Roumbanis called me and told me he got the last spot, and he finished 39th in the standings,” Ponds said. “When I started thinking about that, I realized I probably could have just run out in Lake St. Clair and caught a 15- or 16-pound limit and made the Classic. I figured I had to take a chance, make a long run to Lake Erie and try to get a 20-pound bag to move up.”
Ponds wound up catching just two fish weighing 8 pounds, 3 ounces and fell to 50th place with a three-day total of 38-13. Add eight pounds (for a 16-pound bag like he caught on Day 1 in St. Clair) and he would have moved up between 13 or 14 places in the standings, adding 13 or 14 points to his season total. Ponds finished 15 pounds behind Roumbanis.
“It would have been close,” Ponds said.
Only one Mississippian has secured a spot in the Classic. Cliff Pace of Petal is an automatic qualifier because he is the defending Classic champion.
Ponds has another chance, if he wins one of the two remaining B.A.S.S. Central Opens, one in Oklahoma next week or the one on his home waters of Barnett Reservoir Oct. 17-19. All Open winners get Classic berths, if they fish all three of the Opens in that region (Southern, Central and Northern).
Several other Mississippians are fishing all of the Central Opens and could get a Classic berth with a win on Barnett.
One big-name pro who fished the first Central Open, Mike Iaconelli of New Jersey, failed to qualify through the Elite Series and is likely to participate in the Barnett Event.
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