For most anglers, the worst thing that can happen after the first cast is a snag, a backlash in the reel, or watching the fish of a lifetime throw the hook. For 71-year-old North Fort Myers angler James Grayson McMicken, his first cast turned into a fight for survival. Just moments after his lure hit the water, an alligator exploded from the canal.
“I started reeling, and it jumped out of the water and grabbed me,” McMicken recalled in an interview with WINK News.
The alligator clamped onto his right leg and dragged him off the bank into the canal before he had time to react.
Years of Experience Made the Difference
For Florida anglers, sharing the water with alligators is part of the outdoors. Most encounters end with little more than a cautious stare from a distance. This one became a life-or-death struggle.
Fortunately, McMicken wasn’t facing his first gator. Having hunted alligators in the past, he knew the eyes were one of the few vulnerable targets available. His fishing rod became more than a tool to catch fish, it became a defensive weapon.
“He rolled me down off the bank into the water. I stuck my thumb in one eye, and I just took that fishing pole and jabbed him in that other eye and jabbed him and jabbed him and jabbed him,” he told WINK News. ”It seemed like forever, but it wasn’t that long. But then, he turned loose.”
Man’s Best Friend To The Rescue
After the alligator let go, McMicken was left with severe bite wounds to his right leg. Unable to crawl all the way home, he called his dog for help.
“I’d have never made it crawling this far, so I called my dog over. She stood there and let me get up on her back to where I could get stood up.”
Once inside, his wife cleaned his wounds before family members took him to the hospital, where doctors treated the injuries with stitches and staples.
McMicken said hospital staff were surprised by his account of the attack.
“All the nurses on the floor had to come by and go, ‘Wow, you did what?'”
Already Planning His Next Fishing Trip
Despite the attack, McMicken said he plans to return to fishing after recovering.
He is recovering at home and undergoing physical therapy. He said he expects to be more aware of his surroundings, particularly when fishing near the shoreline during the evening.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said nuisance alligator trappers were continuing to search for the alligator involved in the attack.
Although alligators are common throughout Florida, attacks on people are rare. Wildlife officials recommend keeping a safe distance from alligators, avoiding the water’s edge at dawn and dusk, and never feeding or approaching the animals.
