Getting geared for gators

Coastal group joins growing legion of Mississippi alligator hunters

Before teams hit the water for Mississippi’s public alligator season, they search the stores and the Internet to find the gear they will need to tangle with giant reptiles that can exceed 14 feet in length and 700 pounds in weight.

That’s a lot of power to be harnessed.

When our featured Pascagoula crew hits the bayous, this is their equipment list:

* Peak Performance 1,000,000 Candle Power Corded Spotlight

* Penn 750 SSm reel with 65-pound braided fishing line

* Penn Slammer SL1530S70F Rod

* Bass rod and reel combo

* 650-pound test nylon cord hand line

* 10-, 12- or 14-ought weighted treble hooks

* 3/8-inch anchor rope for snare

* 2” X 2” X 6’ wooden snare pole

* Aluminum gaff

* Shotgun with No. 6 shot

* Bowie knife

* Duct tape

The first trip the crew made they had one battery-operated spotlight that didn’t last the entire night searching for gators. They recommend spending a little more money and getting a pair of externally powered spotlights.

“Bright lights with longevity are a key,” Scott Gruel said. “Lights that run off internal batteries don’t last. Use a light that runs off the cigarette lighter (or with clamps to hook directly to a battery).

Added Cory Moore: “I have two in the boat now that are non-battery. Just plug it into the cigarette lighter and go.”

They have a large spinning combo spooled with 65-pound braided line — other teams used up to 150-pound braid — for the heavy work but plan on using heavy bass tackle for the initial hookup.

“You have better aim to get a hook on them with a bass rod,” Gruel said. “Once you get this rod (heavier Penn Combo) on her, it’s over.”

Added Moore: “We’ll get them with the smaller rods then use the heavier rods to try to winch them up. We’ll use those rods (heavier Penn combo) to get them off the bottom.”

If needed, the crew has a larger weighted treble hook attached to a length of 650-pound nylon rope that can be used to get the alligator close enough to the boat to secure with a larger rope.

Moore uses anchor line wrapped around a 6-foot wooden 2 X 2 snare pole with a lasso on the end to secure the rope around the alligator’s neck or one of its legs, as required by law before the gator can be killed.

Gruel and Moore have an aluminum gaff onboard to help position the gator to get the lasso over the neck or around a leg. They leave the gaff’s point covered to keep the gaff from penetrating the skin and making the alligator even more angry.

Moore uses a .410 shotgun to dispatch the alligator. The shot has to be placed on a quarter-size spot on the back of an alligator’s head.

“There’s only one place to shoot an alligator, and they teach you that in class,” Moore. “If you shoot one anywhere else it’ll just make them mad. You have to sever the spinal cord. If you go too far forward and hit the skull plate, that thick bone, what it’ll do is knock it out. If you hit it wrong he’ll just lay out. Forty-five minutes later he’ll wake up and say ‘hi’ to you!”

Once the alligator’s mouth has been taped shut then brought aboard and secured properly, Moore uses a Bowie knife to ensure the spinal cord has been severed.

“They teach you in class that you have to tape the mouth and secure the legs,” Moore said. “(During the class) Scott said ‘I’m going to make a few extra turns.’

“After you drag him in to the boat you secure the legs; tie them up behind their back. Just in case it comes alive in that 45 minutes he can’t do that much damage; his mouth is taped and his legs are secure.”