I once parked a fly with a somewhat wayward cast on the tip of what seemed a good mud bank in a canal about 30 feet across where I was ankle deep in water. I was about to jiggle it into the adjoining water when I noticed the mud bank twitch a bit. Well it was early morning, things were still and the light low, but that “mud bank” suddenly took on the form of a huge 12-foot alligator (just plain ‘gator around here). It was March and mating season; after a pretty cool night luckily he/she was sluggish! (That probably saved my arse!) Anyway, it had landed on the back of his neck and the only course of action was a sensible retreat. I quietly laid the rod and line down on the bank, backed up a few steps, very slooowly, being sure he wasn’t gonna turn suddenly. I quickly calculated (since this was the biggest one I’d ever seen up this close!) that Mr. Gator was only about 3 body lengths away from my legs. Ummm, that means one turn and another couple of leaps and I’d be breakfast. And I’ve since learned that big gators can move even faster than the little fellas. After I was up a bit on the muddy bank and on the path… well I turned and ran like the Devil! I never believed I could run so fast in a 50-yard dash since my high school days. I stopped a safe distance away and luckily, my friend was swimming off the other way and amazingly had not dragged my rod out with him. I hesitated some time, but eventually VERY CAUTIOUSLY crept back to the bank to get my rod…From then on I’m very suspicious of dark gray mud banks in low light.

“Stories to Keep Ya Rowin’,” from MIKE in FL