The alligator mating season has been occurring in Florida since the beginning of time, Shealy argues. You might as well say, It s alligator mating season, so take all the bass boats off Lake Okeechobee. Richard Greenwell travels from his Key Largo home to fish in Big Cypress about five times a year. He likes to fish the Turner River Canal, and doesn t think the fishing ban is justified. I ve fished around alligators and caught fish before.
Alligators are just as scared of people as barracudas are.
Greenwell says drought and alligators are nothing new in the preserve. Jansen said all but the southernmost portion of the canal will be reopened to fishing once the rainy season begins and water levels in the canal rise. They re going to protect this place to death. Jansen said preserve biologists have observed alligators following bait on fishing lines, and people throwing fish and bait to alligators in the crowded pools in recent weeks. Males in particular tend to get a bit more territorial.