A Clarke County man hauled in a giant alligator near Coffeeville after a gritty, hour-long river fight that started at sunset and ended with a boat-loading struggle.
Madison Anderson said he first spotted the gator laid up on a bank along the Tombigbee River. “He was laid up on the bank and we saw his whole body. We knew he was big,” Anderson told Fox 10 News.
Anderson tracked the alligator for three days before the season window lined up. Alabama’s alligator season runs at night, so he waited from late afternoon until legal hunting time.
“We originally spotted him about two hours before dark,” he said. “You can only hunt from sunset to sunrise, so we sat and watched him all evening.”
Once it was legal to hunt, Anderson and his crew went to work with rod and line. They used a fishing pole rigged with 65-pound braid and a big treble hook to snag the gator.
“We fought him for about an hour on just one fishing pole,” Anderson said. “We could never get another hook in him.”
The gator finally began to wear down as it surfaced for air. That gave the team a narrow opening. John David Skipper threw a heavy-rope snatch over the animal to gain control.
With the rope set, the crew eased the alligator toward the boat. “It was everything we could do to get him in the boat with three people,” Anderson said.
The alligator measured 12 feet, 8 inches and weighed a whopping 770 pounds. At that size, it ranks among the heaviest reported this season.
The team ran the gator along the causeway to get it weighed and tagged, then prepared to process it. They also kept the meat, as Alabama regulations allow.
Anderson credited patience and persistence. He said he and two friends—Skipper and Louis Sullivan—stayed on the river until they had the right angle and the right shot with the treble hook.
He also noted the sheer number of gators in the area. Hunting in the Southwest Zone, he said they saw upward of 30 alligators in one night. “The waterways are overpopulated with alligators,” he said.
Alabama issues 260 alligator tags statewide each year through a lottery system. Successful applicants can harvest up to two gators, depending on zone rules. Season rules require night-only hunting, specialized capture gear, and check-in for weighing and tagging.
Anderson plans to look up recipes before firing up the grill. “I guess so,” he joked when asked if he’ll be cooking gator for the crew.
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